Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro has announced that Christmas will come earlier than usual this year, with festivities being brought forward to October 1.
“It’s September and it already smells like Christmas. As a thank you to the fighting people, I will advance Christmas by decree to October 1,” Maduro told his supporters on television.
It is not the first time that Maduro has made this unusual move to distract from the South American country’s dire problems.
During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, he moved Christmas to October 15, and the following year to October 4.
At the time, Maduro posted a video of the Miraflores presidential palace decorated with Christmas trees and ornaments. The socialist government traditionally distributes food parcels, such as pork knuckles, to the country’s poor neighborhoods during the Christmas season.
After the July 28 presidential election, which was clouded by allegations of fraud, the electoral authority loyal to the ruling party Maduro, in power since 2013, declared the winner.
The opposition accuses the government in Caracas of electoral fraud and claims victory for its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.
On Monday, a court issued an arrest warrant for the former diplomat at the request of the pro-government Public Prosecution Service.
The US and several Latin American countries have already recognized González’s election victory. The European Union and the Organization of American States are also questioning the official election results.
In Venezuela and beyond, scores of government opponents have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest what they see as a rigged election result.
