MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro announces Xmas celebration for Oct. 1

Maduro's measure came the same day that an arrest warrant against González Urrutia was issued

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro brought forward Christmas to Oct. 1 for the third time in his administration, he announced Tuesday in his TV show “Con Maduro+” broadcasted on YouTube.

“It is September and it already smells like Christmas, and that is why this year, in homage to you, in gratitude to you, I am going to decree an early Christmas on October 1,” he said in a country still shattered by the controversial July 28 elections he claimed to have won without producing any document to back-up that assessment other than the announcement by the National Electoral Council (CNE) and its ratification by the Supreme Court's Electoral Branch.

“Christmas starts on October 1. For everyone, Christmas has arrived, with peace, happiness, and security,” Maduro rambled on. Such an announcement is expected to trigger a series of government handouts of food and other supplies in less-favored neighborhoods.

In 2020, Maduro celebrated Christmas on Oct. 15, and in 2021 it was on Oct. 4.

Maduro's measure came the same day that an arrest warrant was issued against opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, whom the Unitarian Democratic Platform (PUD) holds as the true President-elect. Messages of support for González Urrutia keep pouring in from the international community with calls to Maduro's regime to respect his freedom and security.