(MENAFN) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro drove through central Caracas on Friday in an effort to project stability at a time of rising U.S. threats toward his government. Videos circulating on social media showed him navigating San Martin Boulevard—one of the capital’s busiest thoroughfares—while highlighting the normal bustle of daily life.

As he passed metro stations and festive street decorations, Maduro remarked to those accompanying him, “Everything is fine, as you can see. Normal life continues.” Gesturing toward a metro stop and a nearby café, he added: “Here we are on San Martin Boulevard. The Caracas metro is operating over there. That’s a nice cafe, I recommend it. The streets are dressed up with decorative lights ahead of the holidays.”

When someone in the vehicle noted, “But the whole world says you’re trembling with fear, hiding in tunnels, and never leaving your house,” Maduro responded by sending a message to the public: “Sending warm greetings to everyone from here, long live our homeland.” He then underscored a patriotic theme, declaring, “We are the children of (legendary liberator of South America) Simon Bolivar.”

The show of confidence comes after Washington labeled the so-called Cartel de los Soles—a group it claims is led by Maduro and other senior officials—as a foreign terrorist organization. Venezuelan authorities rejected the allegation, arguing that the United States is fabricating a justification for possible intervention.

Amid this friction, general reports note that the U.S. has deployed its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, along with its strike group, to Latin American waters under the banner of counter-narcotics operations. In response, Maduro announced that 4.5 million members of Venezuela’s militia would be mobilized, asserting that the nation is ready to confront any external aggression.

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