When dictators are relying on Santa Claus to save them, that’s seldom a sign things are going well.
But that, at least, is one of the tactics Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is relying upon to keep unhappy Venezuelans quiet. On Monday, the embattled successor to socialist dictator Hugo Chavez — who refuses to leave office and has declared himself the victor of an election last month which every objective foreign observer contends he lost in a landslide — said that the Christmas season will begin on Oct. 1 in the South American country.
“September smells like Christmas!” Maduro said in his weekly TV show, according to CNN.
“This year and to honor you all, to thank you all, I am going to decree the beginning of Christmas on Oct. 1,” he added. “Christmas arrived for everyone, in peace, joy and security!”
In the midst of a political crisis triggered by a widely contested presidential election and accusations of brutal repression against his political opponents, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro has announced Christmas in the country will now start in October. pic.twitter.com/LxWdC5WGpy
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 5, 2024
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As CNN noted, the decree to move the season earlier in Venezuela is “not the first of its kind, but the earliest.” In addition to a forced attempt at yuletide cheer, there’s also a practical element to the move — public employees often get bigger paychecks and the people often get more government handouts during the Christmas season.
It was also a festive, if truly weird, way to distract from what had happened just hours earlier: the publication of an arrest warrant against opposition leader Edmundo González, who is widely acknowledged to have won July’s elections, for “crimes associated with terrorism.”
As The Washington Post noted, a “review of more than 23,000 precinct-level tally sheets collected by the opposition, a sample that represents nearly 80 percent of voting machines nationwide” by the outlet concluded that González won by an estimated 67 percent to 30 percent for Maduro.
Should Maduro be ousted?
However, Venezuela’s national electoral council declared Maduro the winner by a 52 percent to 43 percent for González. They were not, however, able to produce any of the tabulation results from the voting machines, which were closely monitored by poll watchers who expected some kind of vote-rigging by the unpopular Maduro. (Maduro’s government also controls the national electoral council, unsurprisingly.)
“The Post analyzed only those sheets that included valid, scannable QR codes that could yield data. That represented about 97 percent of the sheets published by the opposition,” the Post noted in an Aug. 4 report.
“To corroborate the authenticity of tally sheets posted online, a Washington Post reporter reviewed hundreds of physical tally sheets, which are being stored by the opposition in cardboard boxes in secret locations across the country to evade a government crackdown.”
However, that government crackdown has been swift — and, unlike the festive face being put on the conditions in Venezuela by Maduro’s Christmastide announcement, far from merry.
“Protests over the vote in the streets of Venezuela have been fiercely repressed. Some 2,400 people have been arrested, and many others are now fleeing the country. Some are hiding in their homes, telling CNN they are afraid to step foot outside due to intimidation by government supporters,” the outlet reported.
The Post reported that those as young as 13 have been put into detention — and Maduro himself has bragged about arresting at least 2,000 people as the opposition rallies to protest Maduro’s claimed win.
Furthermore, the socialist strongman named one of his most hardline allies, Diosdado Cabello, as the new overseer of the country’s police forces, a sign that the crackdown will only intensify over the extended holiday season.
The crackdown, in fact, has taken on a Christmasy name: “Operation Knock-Knock,” which references a Venezuelan children’s Christmas tune to emphasize what authorities will do to your door if you protest the regime’s continued existence.
“Knock Knock! Don’t be a crybaby … You’re going to Tocorón [a jail],” Maduro boasted at a rally last month.
And as for him negotiating an end to his rule, don’t count on that, either: “When it is my turn to hand over the command, I will hand it over to a chavista [follower of Hugo Chavez] and revolutionary president,” he said.
Unfortunately, options for those opposing Maduro from abroad appear limited. The American Department of Justice seized one of Maduro’s private jets this past week and is considering more sanctions on Venezuelan government officials, but both the Trump and Biden administration have been through this dance with Maduro before and he still remains in power.
Furthermore, the Post reported, the Biden administration is loath to isolate the country more via sanctions, feeling that it might further impoverish the nation.
“No one wants to blow up Venezuela with more economic sanctions,” an anonymous source in contact with Biden administration officials told the Post. “There’s a lot of frustration. There’s not a lot of optimism or hope at this point that anything is going to work.”
Maybe they can ask Santa Claus for some help. After all, Maduro certainly seems to be relying on Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick to get him through this rough patch.
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