It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – in Venezuela, that is. President Nicolás Maduro has changed the nation’s celebration from December to October in the wake of the recent hotly disputed presidential election.
“It’s September, and it already smells like Christmas,” the Marxist strongman announced on 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.”
Maduro’s proclamation comes just after both the ruling party and the opposition claimed victory in the election, leading to widespread unrest and crackdowns on dissent. The opposition was able to get copies of vote tallies that proved they received at least 50% more votes than Maduro. Maduro’s insistence that he won led to more than 2,000 arrests, including journalists, politicians and aid workers, according to Newsweek. The country’s economic struggles continue to weigh heavily on its citizens, with the minimum wage stuck at 130 bolivars per month — roughly $3.55 — since 2022. Even with food assistance and government benefits, many Venezuelans are finding it difficult to make ends meet.
Jose Ernesto Ruiz, a 57-year-old office worker from Caracas said: “Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, family reunions, parties, presents. But without money and with this political crisis, who can believe that there will be an early Christmas?”
Inés Quevedo, a 39-year-old secretary and mother of two, echoed this view: “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? With the political crisis deepening and the economic situation dire, we’ll see what this Christmas is all about.”
The government’s announcement of Maduro as the winner, without providing detailed election results, has drawn sharp international criticism. Meanwhile, the opposition presented its own evidence, asserting that González secured the most votes. Just hours before Maduro’s holiday announcement, a Venezuelan judge issued an arrest warrant for the opposition’s former presidential candidate, Edmundo González, accusing him of conspiracy, falsifying documents, and usurping powers.
This week, the United States seized Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic.
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice