"It's September and it already smells like Christmas. As a thank you to the fighting people, I will bring Christmas forward to 1 October by decree," said the autocrat on his own television programme "Con Maduro+".
This is not the first time that Maduro has made such decisions. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, he brought Christmas forward to mid-October, and a year later it was 4 October.
With 1 October, however, he is setting a new "Christmas record".
"Christmas comes with peace, joy and security," the head of state assured. The corresponding decree primarily ensures that Christmas decorations are put up in public buildings.
Bishops' Conference: festivities are being instrumentalised
The Venezuelan Bishops' Conference criticised the political instrumentalisation of the festival. "Christmas is a universal festival. The manner and timing of the celebration is a matter for the ecclesiastical authority. This should not be used for propaganda or certain political purposes," the bishops explained.
Maduro also recently surprised the public with his own interpretation of the background of Jesus Christ. According to the ruler, he was in fact a Palestinian child.
At the same time, the human rights organisation Human Rights Watch published a report with new serious accusations against the regime.
"The repression we are seeing in Venezuela is shockingly brutal," explained Juanita Goebertus, Director of the Americas.
There have been massive protests in the South American country for weeks against Maduro's election victory, which was officially announced at the end of July.
The opposition announced that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had clearly won the presidential election according to its own count of the election files. Independent election observers confirmed this assessment.
The USA, the EU and numerous Latin American countries do not recognise the official result and are calling for an independent review.
To date, the Venezuelan judiciary has refused transparent access to the election documents.