If you've read any of my articles on Venezuela, you know that I like to point out that the closer he is to falling, the louder and more defiant the country's illegitimate narco-terrorist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, becomes. For the last few months, as the United States has increased pressure on him through sanctions, threats, military activity, increasing the reward for his arrest, ending diplomatic talks, and various other actions, he's wavered between defiant cries of anti-imperialism and begging Donald Trump to leave him alone and just talk it out.
He's dramatically warned Trump not to listen to Marco Rubio, calling Rubio the "lord of death and war" and claiming that if Trump comes after Venezuela, he'll have blood on his hands for centuries to come. He's begged the people in the United States to ask Trump to leave him alone. He's offered up the country's bountiful natural resources in exchange for being left in power. He's even joked that he's more popular in the United States than Taylor Swift because he's on CNN and Fox News every night. Oh, and he declared it Christmas in Venezuela on October 1, trying to drum up some holiday cheer in a country where he is largely mocked, feared, and hated. So dramatic.
Now, he's pulling out the John Lennon karaoke. It'd be kind of hilarious if he wasn't oppressing an entire nation.
"Do everything for peace. Like John Lennon said, right?" Maduro said during a speech this weekend. He added, "What a beautiful song, the lyrics — for younger listeners, look them up. It's an inspiration for all time. It's an anthem for all eras and generations, a gift from John Lennon to humanity. Long live the eternal memory of that great poet and musician, John Lennon."
I highly recommend watching the video. He's mostly speaking Spanish, but he actually breaks out into song.
Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro breaks into singing John Lennon's 'Imagine' as he talks about US tensions. pic.twitter.com/R270tpM5AF
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 16, 2025
In longer, more propagandistic versions of the video, he sways and dances and claims in his broken English that the people of the United States, South America, and Caribbean want peace, not endless wars.
He's right. We do want peace, and most people who are not on his payroll want him out of there because he's preventing Venezuela and the entire Western Hemisphere from having it. Here's what happened last July when he declared himself the winner of the of the country's 2024 elections despite significant evidence that Edmundo González won. Many of these people were disappeared, threatened into silence, or remain in custody as political prisoners.
A massive crowd of citizens in Venezuela’s Capitol of Caracus, are rising up against Meduro!
— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) July 30, 2024
This is not settling down, and it shouldn’t.
Soon to be getting dark there. pic.twitter.com/xCQKTtFX2S
I still don't know exactly what the Trump administration has planned for Maduro in the weeks ahead — no one does, not even the most confident MSM outlet with a tantalizing headline and an article stacked with fancy anonymous sources — but one thing is certain: The Cartel de los Soles leader knows his days are numbered.
While Maduro was belting out a 55-year-old song about Communism like the cornered rat he is on Saturday, U.S. Southern Command reported that the stunning USS Gerald R. Ford is officially on station in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday morning. "Our nation’s leaders have called upon the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group as the most capable, adaptable, and lethal platform in the world to be where it matters, when it matters," said Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12. "Our force will augment existing capabilities to protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere."
With more than 4,000 Sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft aboard, Gerald R. Ford provides combatant commanders and America’s civilian leaders increased capacity to project power through sustained operations at sea. The first-in-class carrier can simultaneously catapult launch and recover fixed-wing aircraft on its flight deck, day or night, in support of tasked operations.
Alongside Gerald R. Ford, the carrier strike group brings additional capable, lethal, and adaptable warfighting assets, including the nine embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Eight, Destroyer Squadron Two’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and USS Mahan (DDG 72), and the integrated air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81).
And SouthCom actually just announced another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization, though it didn't specify which one. This one was caught — or, should I say, blown up— in the Eastern Pacific. It's all part of Operation Southern Spear, a U.S. "mission to enhance security and stability across the Western Hemisphere by detecting, disrupting, and degrading transnational criminal and illicit maritime networks," which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday.
Related: Get In, Losers. We're About to Blow Up a Lot More Narcos.
On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,… pic.twitter.com/iM1PhIsroj
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) November 16, 2025
Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado called on Venezuelan military personnel still loyal to Maduro to lay down their arms on Sunday and help the country facilitate freedom instead...when the time is right, and she assured them that they'd know when that time comes. "Be a hero and not a criminal, be a source of pride and not a disgrace to your family, be part of Venezuela's bright future.... That day is approaching," she said.
I think if you zoom in closely on that video of Maduro, you might see a wet spot on his pants.
While he's putting on a jolly brave kumbaya face for the few Venezuelans who still pay attention — and trust me, it's not many — there are rumors behind the scenes that Maduro's regime is planning to sabotage internal infrastructure in the country and blame the U.S. and/or his opposition. This is a pattern we've seen from desperate dictators throughout history, from everyone from Hitler to Saddam Hussein.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) posted the following on X on Saturday:
We are tracking reports that the Maduro narco-regime may be preparing to sabotage key Venezuelan infrastructure, including major bridges, tunnels, and refineries, and later blame the United States or the democratic opposition.
While unverified, these claims match the desperate tactics of a collapsing dictatorship. The United States will continue to stand firmly with the Venezuelan people against tyranny, corruption, and any attempt by the regime to manufacture chaos or manipulate the truth for political survival.
🚨 BREAKING -> We are tracking reports that the Maduro narco-regime may be preparing to sabotage key Venezuelan infrastructure, including major bridges, tunnels, and refineries, and later blame the United States or the democratic opposition.
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) November 15, 2025
While unverified, these claims match…
As I've been reporting, something is happening in Latin America. People are fed up with dictators, organized crime, and socialism, and they're voting for candidates who are pro-democracy, pro-Western values, pro-capitalism, and tough on crime. That's exactly what the people of Venezuela did in 2024, and its time they get what they asked for. The last 15 months of Maduro's regime have been a cancer on the entire Western Hemisphere, and if we can get him out of there, I think more countries will follow.
Imagine there's no Maduro. It's easy if you try... and that's exactly what Trump, Rubio, the other allied leaders in the Americas, and millions of Venezuelans who want their country back are doing right now.
