Christmas will commence next month in Venezuela, as decreed by authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro, even as thousands of Venezuelans face the prospect of spending the holidays behind bars due to the government’s crackdown on political dissent.
“September smells like Christmas!” Maduro declared during his weekly television show on Monday, to the apparent enthusiasm of his audience.
“This year, to honor you all and thank you, I am going to decree the beginning of Christmas on October 1. Christmas has arrived for everyone, in peace, joy, and security!” he said.
Maduro’s decree—one of the earliest of its kind—comes as Venezuela deals with the aftermath of the July presidential election, where Maduro secured a third term amidst widespread global skepticism and opposition discontent.
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Just hours before Maduro’s announcement, Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for his primary rival, opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of “crimes associated with terrorism.” Gonzalez has not responded to three summonses related to an investigation into an opposition website that published results from the disputed vote, according to the Venezuela Prosecutor’s Office.
Maduro has faced domestic and international pressure since his election victory. The opposition coalition supporting Gonzalez claims the election was fraudulent and has published online vote tally sheets indicating that Maduro actually lost by a significant margin.
The US and other neighboring nations have demanded detailed voting data to verify the election results. This week, US authorities also announced the seizure of a Venezuelan plane used by Maduro for international travel.
Protests against the election results in Venezuela have been met with harsh repression. Approximately 2,400 individuals have been arrested, with many others fleeing the country or hiding at home due to intimidation from government supporters.
Despite his cheerful declaration, Maduro has been leading the crackdown, opening two new prisons to house detained protesters and calling for widespread imprisonment of street demonstrators. He has also endorsed what is colloquially known as “Operation Knock-Knock”—a reference to a popular Venezuelan Christmas song repurposed to symbolize government security services’ visits to critics’ homes.
“Knock Knock! Don’t be a crybaby … You’re going to Tocorón (a jail),” Maduro shouted at a recent rally.
This is not the first time Maduro has advanced the official Christmas season. Last year, he moved the start date to November 1, later regretting not beginning earlier. In 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, Maduro declared that Christmas would start on October 4 as a measure to boost the economy.
The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference has protested this unilateral acceleration of Christmas, stating that the holiday “is not to be used for political or propaganda goals.”
“Christmas commences on December 25,” the Conference said in a statement.
(Includes inputs from online sources)
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