It’s already beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.
That’s the verdict of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, at least, who has announced he is moving the holiday from December to October this year.
It’s a novel approach to 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.
More than five weeks after the election — which both Maduro's governing party and the leading opposition group claimed to have won — Maduro said Monday he would move the holiday 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 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 actions since the election have been less than festive, 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 election, which sparked widespread protests and international condemnation.
It is not the first time Maduro has moved Christmas for political purposes — he did it during the Covid-19 pandemic — but this is the earliest alternate date for Venezuela's festive period.
Not everyone in the country is convinced that the move will lead to an increase in good cheer.
"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?"
Venezeula's Supreme Court, which is loyal to the president, declared him the winner of the July 28 election and said that online voting tallies compiled by opposition parties suggesting he had in fact lost by a landslide were forged.
Election observers from the United Nations and the Carter Center said the official results lacked credibility.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that the U.S. condemned 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 the 28th of July," he said.
Kirby said the U.S. government had "already enforced and calibrated our sanctions towards Venezuela," including the seizure of a passenger plane used by Maduro.
