Venezuela: Prescribed Christmas in times of crisis

As of: October 2nd, 2024 8:24 p.m

In Venezuela, the authoritarian President Maduro has brought Christmas forward – as a “thank you to the fighting people”. But not everyone feels festive in times of crisis.

Anne Demmer

There is a large artificial Christmas tree with colorful balls in Plaza Bolívar in the center of Caracas. A nativity scene was set up at the entrance to a government building, with stars dangling from the ceiling. It’s very Christmas in the Venezuelan capital – at the beginning of October. Food packages are distributed primarily in poor areas, and bonuses are paid out earlier.

Alída García sells at a market. She is counting on the early Christmas business, she explains in an interview with CNN: “We thank President Nicolás Maduro from the bottom of our hearts because he always brightens up our lives and gives us Christmas already.

She says she is truly grateful that people were able to come to this time of Christmas in peace. “For this I thank God, the President, the people who buy from us, the hallacas, the traditional Christmas dumplings and delicious desserts.”

Maduro’s supporters are also turning away

María, as she calls herself for the interview, has nothing to say about early Christmas. She is angry. She lives in the poor neighborhood of Petare, where residents have traditionally supported Nicolás Maduro. That has changed: “Even the people who say they are Maduristas, Chavistas, are being oppressed. Every day I hear that they would like to leave this regime, but they can’t, and that they are forced to go to government marches to go.”

For them, the prescribed Christmas season is a provocation, a diversionary tactic after Maduro was accused of electoral fraud by the opposition, international observers and many Venezuelans after the presidential elections.

Thousands of arrests, many deaths

In the protests that followed, more than 2,000 people were arbitrarily arrested and at least 24 were killed. The government security forces are increasingly repressive against demonstrators and critics. María had to leave her house at times because she was afraid of being arrested.

The political scientist and former deputy of the National Assembly Luís Farías also considers it an absurd political maneuver: “They believe that they can make the Venezuelan people forget what happened on July 28, the day of the presidential elections, the fraud – the disregard for the will to the change that was expressed clearly and distinctly.”

Not only the opposition is aware of this, but also government supporters and even the armed forces,” said Farías. “The whole world has seen it, about 800 to 900 international observers, there are UN reports, the Carter Commission report, the various Statements from governments and even from allied governments such as Brazil and Colombia, demanding that the government provide the minutes of the election results, as established by law.”

Opposition hopes for further protests

The Electoral Council is still not prepared to publish the results of the presidential elections. The opposition candidate Edmundo Gónzalez has already fled into exile in Spain. An arrest warrant was issued against him for alleged conspiracy and sabotage.

David, who also does not want to give his real name, had his passport confiscated so that he cannot leave the country. He hopes there will be another major wave of protests across the country in the near future.

At the weekend, only a few people followed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s call – the fear of repression is great: “We can only beat the government when the right moment comes. We have to wait for it, otherwise we have to continue to look after ourselves. In the meantime We work, we have to live on something, we should keep our house in order.”

However, not everyone wants to wait for this moment anymore. Many are already planning now; to leave the country – they have lost hope.

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