Overview
- PSUV leader Diosdado Cabello reaffirmed that the Christmas season begins on October 1, echoing Nicolás Maduro’s early-September announcement.
- Caracas has begun installing decorations in public spaces, including Paseo Los Próceres near the Fuerte Tiuna military complex.
- Maduro says bringing forward festivities is a repeat "formula" to boost the economy, culture and public morale, calling it a "vaccine" against government critics.
- Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said a presidential decree of "conmoción externa" is in place to be activated immediately if Venezuela faces aggression.
- Opposition figures decry the move as political theater during economic hardship and a contested post-2024 landscape marked by arrests and exile of opponents, as reports note U.S. naval deployments near Venezuelan waters.