President Maduro Declares Early Christmas In Venezuela
By
OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has declared Christmas will start three months earlier in the country, in a move which some have suggested was made to further his own political goals.
Venezuela has been grappling with protests over July’s contested presidential election, which saw Mr Maduro re-elected for a third term despite global criticism over the results.
But despite the arrests of thousands of his critics, the former bus driver-turned-politician seems to have been focusing on something else, which is- Christmas.
“It’s September, and it already smells like Christmas,” he said on Monday night during his weekly television show.
“That’s why this year, as a way of paying tribute to you all, and in gratitude to you all, I’m going to decree an early Christmas for October 1.”
The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference Tuesday criticised the announcement as they warned the holiday “is not to be used for political or propaganda goals”.
They added in a statement that Christmas starts on 25 December, CNN reported.
Inés Quevedo, a 39-year-old secretary and mother of two children, said: “We are all worried about how we are going to put food on the table, how we are going to pay for the bus, send the children to school and buy medicine when we need it.
“I don’t think they will improve our salaries or pay us the ‘aguinaldo’,” she added, referring to the Christmas bonuses that workers usually receive at the end of the year.
The minimum wage in Venezuela has not changed since 2022: 130 bolivars per month, or about $3.55 (£2.70).
This is not the first time 61-year-old Maduro has declared the early arrival of Christmas.
He did so during the COVID-19 pandemic, but never this early.
Despite the particularly tense political mood, Mr Maduro said the season will come “with peace, happiness and security”.
Protests erupted over Mr Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, claiming yet another term at the helms of the South American nation. Over 2,000 people have been arrested.
Just hours before Mr Maduro’s holiday announcement, a Venezuelan judge issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo González, the main political opponent, accusing him of various crimes including conspiracy, falsifying documents and usurpation of powers.
The opposition party provided evidence of it winning the most votes in the July election.
