Christmas in October? In Venezuela, Maduro moves his holiday after disputed elections

It’s already starting to smell a lot like Christmas.

At least that’s the verdict of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who announced that he would move the holiday from December to October this year.

It is a new take on the age-old pastime of politicians trying to curry favor with the public, especially after a divisive and highly contested election that was followed by a crackdown on dissent.

More than five weeks after the election, which both the ruling party and the main opposition group claimed to have won, Maduro said Monday he would move the party and create a season filled with “peace, happiness and security.”

“It’s September and it already smells like Christmas,” Maduro said Monday night during his weekly television show. “That’s why this year, as a tribute to all of you and as a thank you, I’m going to decree an early Christmas, on October 1.”

Maduro’s actions since the election have been far from celebratory, with critics accusing him of brutal repression against his political opponents.

Hours before the Christmas announcement, an arrest warrant was issued for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, a former diplomat.

More than 2,000 people – including journalists, politicians and aid workers – have been arrested since the elections, which sparked widespread protests and international condemnation.

This is not the first time Maduro has moved Christmas for political reasons – he did so during the Covid-19 pandemic – but it is the earliest alternative date for the holiday season in Venezuela.

Not everyone in the country is convinced that this measure will lead to an improvement in good mood.

“Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, family reunions, parties, gifts,” José Ernesto Ruiz, a 57-year-old office worker in the capital Caracas, told The Associated Press. “With no money and this political crisis, who can believe there will be an early Christmas?”

Venezuela’s Supreme Court, loyal to the president, declared him the winner of the July 28 election and said online vote tallies compiled by opposition parties suggesting he had in fact lost by a landslide were falsified.

Election observers from the United Nations and the Carter Center said the official results lacked credibility.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that the United States condemns the arrest warrant 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 July 28,” he said.

Kirby said the U.S. government has “already applied and calibrated its sanctions against Venezuela,” including the seizure of a passenger plane used by Maduro.