According to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who announced he is moving the holiday from December to October this year, it’s already beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.
This is a novel take on the age-old pastime of politicians trying to win favor with the public, especially after a divisive and highly contested election that was followed by a crackdown on dissent.
After the election, which both Maduro’s party and the main opposition group claimed to have won, more than five weeks has passed. On Monday, Maduro announced that he would move the holiday and usher in a season “filled with peace, happiness and security.”
“September has arrived, and the smell of Christmas is already there,” Maduro remarked on Monday night during his weekly TV program. That’s why I’m going to declare an early Christmas on October 1 this year as a way to honor and thank each and every one of you.
Since the election, Maduro has not exactly been in a celebratory mood; his detractors accuse him of ruthless persecution against his political rivals.
A few hours prior to the Christmas announcement, retired ambassador Edmundo González, the opposition presidential candidate, had an arrest warrant issued for him.
Since the election, over 2,000 individuals have been arrested, including journalists, lawmakers, and relief workers. This has led to massive protests and international condemnation.
Although Maduro has previously shifted Christmas to an earlier date for political reasons (during the Covid-19 outbreak), this is the first alternate date for Venezuela’s holiday season.
Not everyone in the nation is certain that the change will make them happier.
“Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, family reunions, parties, presents,” José Ernesto Ruiz, a 57-year-old office worker in the capital, Caracas, told The Associated Press news agency. “Without money and with this political crisis, who can believe that there will be an early Christmas?”
The president-aligned Supreme Court of Venezeula pronounced him the victor of the July 28 poll, claiming that internet counts collated by rival parties, which suggested he had really lost by a landslide, were fake.
UN and Carter Center election observers criticized the official results for being untrustworthy.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby informed reporters that the United States disapproved of the arrest warrant that was issued for Gonzalez.
This is just another example of Mr. Maduro’s efforts to maintain power by force and to refuse to recognize that Mr. Gonzalez won the most votes on the 28th of July,” he stated.
With the information as at the time of filling this report, According to Kirby, the United States has “already enforced and calibrated our sanctions towards Venezuela,” which include the taking of Maduro’s personal aircraft.