The world's attention on Venezuela has been focused in the last weeks on the fallout from a highly contested presidential election that both the ruling party and its opponents claim to have won, the ensuing persecution of critics and the arrest warrant against the former opposition presidential candidate.
But as political tensions escalate, President Nicolas Maduro decided there was a more important matter to discuss: Christmas and the need to kick off the jolly season a tad early this year. In October, to be precise.
"It's September, and it already smells like Christmas," Maduro said Monday night during his weekly television show. "That's why this year, as a way of paying tribute to you all, and in gratitude to you all, I'm going to decree an early Christmas for Oct. 1."
But not everyone seems eager to start singing Christmas carols.
"Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, family reunions, parties, presents," Jose Ernesto Ruiz, a 57-year-old office worker, said Tuesday in Caracas, the capital. "(But) without money and with this political crisis, who can believe that there will be an early Christmas?"
This is not the first time that Maduro, in power since 2013, has declared the early arrival of Christmas. He did so during the COVID-19 pandemic, but never this early. Also, this year the political mood is particularly tense, even if Maduro said the season will come "with peace, happiness and security."
Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 election without showing any detailed results to back up their claim as they did in previous presidential elections.
But the lack of transparency has drawn international condemnation against Maduro and his allies, while the main opposition faction has presented electronic copies of its own electoral tallies showing that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez got the most votes.
Just hours before Maduro's holiday announcement, a Venezuelan judge issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, a former diplomat, accusing him of various crimes including conspiracy, falsifying documents and usurpation of powers.
Protests against Maduro's proclamation erupted after the election, and the government responded by arresting several people. More than 2,000 people -- including journalists, politicians and aid workers -- have been arrested since then.
"We are all worried about how we are going to put food on the table, how we are going to pay for the bus, send the children to school and buy medicine when we need it," said Ines Quevedo, a 39-year-old secretary and mother of two children.
"I don't think they will improve our salaries or pay us the 'aguinaldo'," she added, referring to the Christmas bonuses that workers usually receive at the end of the year.
The minimum wage has not changed since 2022: 130 bolivars per month, or about US$3.55. Workers also earn a monthly food assistance bonus of about US$40, and those who have signed up for a system of government benefits get an additional US$90.
"We'll see what this Christmas is all about," Quevedo said.
Israel pressed forward on two fronts Wednesday, pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children.
A B.C. man has been ordered to pay a total of $4,000 to a Coquitlam company and its two owners because of a negative review he posted on Google.
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Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet says his ultimatum to the government stands, after the Liberals voted against a motion seeking money to boost seniors' benefits on Wednesday.
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A regional airport in southwest Japan was closed on Wednesday after a U.S. bombshell, likely dropped during the Second World War to stem "kamikaze" attacks, exploded near its runway, causing nearly 90 flight cancellations.
A project team from Newfoundland's Marine Institute has uncovered a nearly 10,000-square-metre cold-water soft coral garden, hidden just underneath the surface of the province's Funk Island Deep.
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A B.C. man has been ordered to pay a total of $4,000 to a Coquitlam company and its two owners because of a negative review he posted on Google.
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Alberta will not allow the sale of liquor in grocery and convenience stores, the province announced on Wednesday.
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Donald Trump 'resorted to crimes' after losing the 2020 election, federal prosecutors said in a court filing unsealed Wednesday.
A total of 68 suspected gang members, with ties to White supremacy, were charged in the Los Angeles area Wednesday in a large-scale takedown, federal prosecutors said.
The United Nations on Wednesday called Israel’s ban on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres entering the country a political statement by its foreign minister.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran's nuclear program in response to Iran's missile attack on Israel.
U.S. authorities charged five Chinese nationals with lying and trying to cover their tracks, more than a year after they were confronted in the dark near a remote Michigan military site where thousands of people had gathered for summer drills.
Whether a two-year-old beaver named Nibi gets to stay with the rescuers she has known since she was a baby or must be released into the wild as winter approaches in Massachusetts has ended up in court -- and caused such an uproar that even the governor has weighed in.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet says his ultimatum to the government stands, after the Liberals voted against a motion seeking money to boost seniors' benefits on Wednesday.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel Wednesday, but said the international community must do everything it can to help avoid a bigger regional war.
A woman with the rare condition of two uteruses delivered twins, one from each womb, last month at a hospital in northwestern China, according to health officials and state media.
A medallion containing some of the original mould involved in the discovery of penicillin is expected to fetch up to US$50,000 when it goes up for auction later this month.
Black-coloured plastic used in children’s toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.
Amazon Web Services’ director of global artificial intelligence is encouraging Canada not to go it alone when it comes to regulating the technology.
The bracket for 2024's Fat Bear Week contest was revealed Tuesday night, but only after a deadly bear-on-bear attack at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve on Monday delayed the unveiling.
A medallion containing some of the original mould involved in the discovery of penicillin is expected to fetch up to US$50,000 when it goes up for auction later this month.
A San Diego doctor became the third person to plead guilty in the case of Matthew Perry's fatal drug overdose, as prosecutors collect cooperators in an attempt to convict two bigger targets they say are responsible for the death of the 'Friends' star.
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Jacob Hoggard wrapped up his time on the stand in his sexual assault trial this morning after the Crown cross-examined him on apparent gaps in his memory.
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General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle division will pay a US$1.5 million penalty after the unit failed to fully report a crash involving a pedestrian, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday.
The last living member of the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team, Kaye Kaminishi, died on Saturday, Sept. 28, surrounded by family. He was 102 years old.
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Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
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New data from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley shows a surge in supply and drop in demand in the region's historically hot real estate market.
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A man was shot multiple times across from the Drop-In Centre in downtown Calgary on Wednesday evening.
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Edmonton city council approved its new district policy and plans for 14 districts on Wednesday.
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Five cruise ships docked across Cape Breton on Wednesday, setting a new record for the island.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) seized more than 13,000 pounds of lobster – worth more than $100,000 – from a facility in Shelburne County, N.S., on Wednesday.
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Nino Niederreiter scored twice and Gabriel Vilardi had three assists for the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames in a pre-season game Wednesday.
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Regina city councillors heard an update from administration on the Lawson Aquatic Centre replacement at Executive Committee Wednesday.
The federal government announced plans to include contraception in their National Pharmacare plan earlier this year, and one Saskatchewan advocacy group is hopeful the province will jump on board.
When Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker, Brett Lauther, takes to the field at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Saturday it will mark his hundredth career Canadian Football League (CFL) game.
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Jacob Hoggard wrapped up his time on the stand in his sexual assault trial this morning after the Crown cross-examined him on apparent gaps in his memory.
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Local tenant advocates were part of a multi-city demonstration Wednesday.
Ward 1 Councillor Clare Riepma will be docked 15 days' pay and was sternly reprimanded for violating the City of Barrie's code of conduct on two separate occasions.
An Aurora, Ont. man who has maintained his innocence despite being convicted of killing his wife will learn his fate in a Newmarket courtroom on Wednesday.
Thinking about buying concert tickets or other items on Facebook? Police are warning the public about the risks of buying concert tickets and other items through social media, particularly Facebook Marketplace and Messenger.
WARNING: This article contains content some may find offensive. Reader’s discretion is advised.
With their straight second win Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers swept the Houston Astros, advancing past the MLB playoffs' wildcard round and securing their spot in the American League Division Series (ALDS).
Described as a "bubble on the edge of bursting," Windsor's emergency shelters are approaching maximum capacity much earlier than expected this year.
The moment the writ was dropped for the Oct. 19 election, candidates all over B.C. began putting up campaign signs. By the following day, many of those signs had already been stolen or vandalized, and that’s continuing today.
DoorDash is increasing fees in British Columbia in response to recently passed provincial legislation.
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A father in Kelowna is furious after his 13-year-old daughter was brutally beaten on Gyro Beach. He is calling for criminal charges in the devastating attack, which was caught on video by multiple bystanders.
The officer who shot and killed a forcible confinement suspect in Kamloops two years ago was justified in doing so, according to the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.
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A Lethbridge man is facing several charges after a traffic stop led to the seizure of drugs and weapons.
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City council in Sault Ste. Marie has decided to purchase the former general hospital site, with an eye on demolishing the property and selling it to a buyer serious about redevelopment.
A woman who has worked for Â鶹´«Ã½ Northern Ontario for 50 years was honoured Tuesday night with a lifetime achievement award.
CTV Northern Ontario will be live on location in the community collecting donations to stock the shelves of local food banks this month.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
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