Khaberni - As Washington strengthens its military deployment around Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro has developed a different approach to face the threat.
Maduro confirmed that he does not care about the American threats to his country, inviting hundreds of students who attended an event at the presidential palace on Friday, to join him and his wife in a Rumba dance.
Since August, Washington has enhanced its military deployment in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean in an operation whose declared goal is to combat drug smuggling into the United States, including launching strikes on boats suspected of being used in drug trafficking, resulting in dozens of deaths.
But Caracas accuses Washington of using drugs as a pretext to "impose regime change" in Venezuela and to seize its oil.
During a celebration in Miraflores Palace, Maduro addressed the hundreds of students saying, "It's Friday, and what happens on Friday? What do we do today?... Venezuela lives in peace, Friday night means full Rumba, Rumba, Rumba, Rumba."
He added, "It's Friday and I will dance the Rumba! And no one will stop me!", calling for the music to start, before he and his wife danced to its rhythm.
The president urged Venezuelan students to connect with their counterparts in American student movements and demand them to "stop the war. No to war, Venezuela wants peace."
A young woman from a platform in front of the presidential palace shouted, "Maduro, I love you!", to which the president replied: "I love you all too."
He added: "Love gives me the strength to overcome all the demons that must be defeated, and all the barriers and threats that must be overcome."
First-year law student Isabel Copari told Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of the celebration at the presidential palace, "They just want an excuse to invade."
So far, American strikes on boats suspected of transporting drugs have killed more than 80 people, according to Washington.
Caracas describes these attacks as "extrajudicial executions."
The administration of President Donald Trump also intends to designate the "Cartel of the Suns," which it accuses Maduro of leading, as a terrorist organization. This would provide a legal basis for any American military action against Venezuela.
