Maduro Sings Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ in Peace Appeal to U.S. on Eve of U.S.–Trinidad Drills

Overview

• At a Miranda ceremony installing Bolivarian base committees, Nicolás Maduro sang parts of John Lennon’s Imagine and urged Venezuelans to do everything for peace.
• Maduro asked Communications Minister Alfred Nazareth to recall the song’s lyrics as part of a message directed at the United States.
• Trinidad and Tobago’s joint exercises with U.S. forces were scheduled to start on November 16, a move that drew renewed criticism from Caracas.
• The U.S. government under President Donald Trump frames recent Caribbean operations as targeting drug traffickers, while Venezuela says they are intended to pressure or destabilize Maduro’s government.
• Government officials on stage made peace gestures as the music played, and Maduro called for permanent mobilization in six eastern regions near Trinidad.