In a bizarre move, the country’s president has postponed the date for Christmas to October 1

Santa Claus better dress up because in one country Christmas is earlier this year.

The South American country’s controversial leader, Nicolás Maduro, has announced that the holiday season will begin on October 1 this year instead, as he is already in the mood to decorate the halls.

The 61-year-old president of Venezuela revealed the strange program update during his weekly television show. With Maduro+on Monday (September 2) and said he considered this an early gift to his people.

He told viewers: “It’s September and it already smells like Christmas.

“And that is why this year, as a tribute to you and out of gratitude to you, I will order that Christmas be brought forward to October 1st. Christmas is for everyone, in peace, joy and safety!”

However, not everyone is convinced by the last part of his statement.

Maduro’s decision to condemn December 25 is widely seen as an attempt to distract from the current political climate in his country following the recent presidential elections.

Maduro began his third term in July this year, after serving in office since 2013. However, this result sparked outrage among opposition parties and around the world.

Opposition leader Edmundo González is among those questioning the validity of the election result. His team said their own polling data showed that he had actually won.

The vote count sheets printed out by each electronic voting machine are said to have shown that González actually received more than 80 percent of the votes.

As a result, Maduro’s rival has now become a target and is said to have gone into hiding.

Just hours before the Christmas announcement, Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for González, accusing him of “crimes related to terrorism.”

Venezuelan prosecutors said the 75-year-old politician had failed to comply with three summonses issued as part of an investigation into his claims about the election results.

“Nobody in this country is above the laws, above the institutions,” Maduro told viewers of his show on Monday.

Then he drastically changed the subject and announced that he would change the date of Christmas this year.

The holidays in Venezuela now strangely begin on October 1 (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It is believed that the President may be trying to win over his people with this announcement, as his administration had previously increased aid and food packages for those in need during the Christmas season.

This is not the first time he has started changing the calendar. In 2020, Christmas was already brought forward to October 15th.

In 2021, it came even earlier: Maduro postponed the date to October 4 after Venezuela experienced a year of economic hardship.

And last year, he moved Christmas to November 1, regretting not doing so sooner, CNN reported.

From the sounds of it, you don’t know if you’ll get along well with this guy or not.

The Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference on Tuesday sharply criticized Maduro’s latest stunt and said Christmas “must not be abused for political or propaganda purposes.”

“Christmas begins on December 25th,” it said in a defiant statement.

But no matter what day Maduro chooses to eat his Christmas dinner, it will not be able to drown out the noise around the world about the recent election.

The European Union has already rejected his presidency unless his government provides proof of his alleged election victory. The United States also believes there is plenty of evidence that González did indeed receive the most votes.