Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro invoked Beatles frontman John Lennon and even sang a few lines from his iconic song “Imagine" on Saturday, in an unusual appeal for peace at a time when tensions with the United States are rising in the Caribbean.

Maduro made the remarks during a rally with supporters in Petare, one of the most populous neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Caracas. Pausing mid-speech, he asked his communications minister, Alfred Nazareth, to remind him of the song’s name before humming a short passage from “Imagine" over the event’s sound system.

“For the young ones, look up the lyrics," Maduro told the crowd. “It is an inspiration for all times. It is an anthem for all eras and generations, left by John Lennon as a gift to humanity. Long live the eternal memory of that

See Full Page