Overview

• President Nicolás Maduro decreed the start of the Christmas season on October 1, launching concerts and light displays from Plaza Bolívar to the Paseo Los Próceres and lighting the Waraira Repano cross.
• Maduro pitched the early festivities as a proven formula to lift morale and spur consumption, even as IMF projections cite 254% inflation and a bolívar that has lost over 70% of its value against the dollar.
• Officials continue to frame nearby U.S. naval and air deployments as a threat, while Washington says the mission targets narcotrafficking; President Donald Trump touted strikes on “narcoterrorists.”
• Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said Maduro signed a ‘decreto de conmoción externa’ granting special defense and security powers, alongside calls since August for mobilizations and militia training.
• Opposition figures, including Henrique Capriles, criticized the timing given falling purchasing power, though schools, transport, workplaces and commerce largely operate as usual.