Maduro anticipates Christmas in Venezuela to October 1st

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Monday (October 1st) that Christmas celebrations in the country will be moved up to October 1st. This is the second consecutive year that the government has adopted this measure. The move comes days after a US attack on a drug-laden boat sailing through the Caribbean. According to President Donald Trump, the vessel had departed. The announcement was made during Maduro’s program on state-owned VTV, which began with a Christmas song. The president stated he decided to advance Christmas because Venezuelans ‘are constantly in search of happiness’. ‘With joy, commerce, activity, culture, Christmas songs, gaitas… It is a way to defend happiness, the right to happiness, the right to joy’, he affirmed. ‘No one and nothing in this world will take away our right to happiness, to life, and to joy.’ The declaration comes amid escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela. Currently, eight US Navy ships have been deployed near the country. According to Reuters, seven are in the Caribbean and one in the Pacific Ocean. The US government justifies the action as part of an operation against narco-terrorism. In 2024, Christmas in Venezuela also started on October 1st. At that time, experts pointed out that the measure was an attempt to distract while the government arrested opponents who contested the results of the presidential elections. Maduro also anticipated Christmas in 2020, during the pandemic, and in 2013, the year he took office.