By Gloria Ogbonna
Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro drew global attention on Thursday after staging a bizarre, theatrical “comedy sketch” centered around an antique rotary phone during his weekly state-run podcast. The performance appeared to reference his newly revealed phone conversation with President Donald Trump a call that has raised questions across both countries.
Every week, Maduro uses an array of radio and television programs to project control and promote his socialist regime. On Thursdays, he hosts Maduro, Live Suddenly, a lengthy podcast aired across Venezuela’s tightly controlled media networks.
This week’s episode, which stretched to about 90 minutes, featured the dictator sitting beside his wife, Cilia Flores, several high-ranking regime loyalists, and a peculiar white-and-gold vintage telephone placed prominently on his desk. From the moment the show began, it became clear the phone would be the star of the evening.
Throughout the broadcast, Maduro acted out several scripted “sketches” in which he pretended to answer the antique telephone, responding to imaginary callers speaking in unintelligible sounds. In one scene, he held the phone to his ear and announced, “Look, I’m waiting for the call you told me about. The call is coming in, there it is as always from the moon making the connection.” He then referenced a lyric from Ismael Rivera’s 1974 salsa classic Satélite, and even sang a portion to emphasize the theatrics.
At another point, Maduro pretended to receive a call that failed to connect and instructed his wife to “stay alert” for the important call he was expecting. Despite never identifying the mysterious caller, the tone and timing of the act left viewers speculating that it was a not-so-subtle reference to the recent phone conversation he confirmed having with President Trump.
The episode also featured other unusual moments. For several minutes, Maduro read aloud pro-government news headlines while tapping a small xylophone, imitating a nostalgic style once used by Latin American broadcasters to signal transitions between news items.
Later, he played a parody remix titled Not War, Yes Peace, prompting regime officials around him to wave their hands and flash peace signs in rehearsed choreography. Maduro claimed Venezuelans dance to the track “at every discotheque in the country,” a statement many critics dismissed as another piece of regime propaganda.
Following the broadcast, Maduro took to Instagram to praise his own show, calling it full of “good news, joy, music, sports, commentary, and plenty of action throughout the country.”
Despite the theatrics, Maduro never explained the meaning behind the antique telephone performance. However, it came just days after both he and President Trump publicly acknowledged speaking by phone. Trump, when questioned by reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, downplayed the significance of the call, saying only, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call.” He declined to reveal any details.
Maduro, meanwhile, portrayed the conversation in a much more favorable light. During a Wednesday event, he insisted the call was “respectful in tone” and even “cordial,” asserting that he and Trump exchanged polite remarks as two heads of state.
The comments stood in contrast to the ongoing tensions between the United States and Venezuela, as Washington continues deploying military assets to the Caribbean to disrupt the drug trafficking routes linked to Maduro’s regime.
Maduro has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the U.S. deployment is part of a plot to overthrow him and seize Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources.
Reports from the Miami Herald and Reuters this week suggest the phone call may have included far more serious conversations than either leader has publicly admitted.
According to those reports, President Trump issued an ultimatum urging Maduro to leave Venezuela with his family in exchange for safe passage.
Maduro, in turn, reportedly countered with demands of his own, including complete amnesty for himself and his inner circle and the removal of U.S. sanctions imposed on more than 100 members of his government. Many of these officials have been accused of corruption, drug trafficking, and human rights abuses.
Maduro’s strange performance with the antique telephone — comedic on the surface — appears to be a deliberate attempt to mock, distract, or hint at the private negotiations unfolding between the two leaders.
As tensions escalate and conflicting accounts circulate, the surreal spectacle only underscores how unpredictable and volatile the relationship between the United States and Venezuela has become.
Source Breitbrat
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