Caracas — President Nicolas Maduro said Monday that Christmas will come early again this year, decreeing that the annual holiday — which is typically celebrated in late December in most of the world — will begin on Oct. 1 in Venezuela. The move, which he said was aimed at bringing "joy" to the Venezuelan people, came on the heels of Maduro significantly increasing his planned troop deployment to the country's borders amid an escalating military standoff with the Trump administration, which accuses him of colluding with drug gangs to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.

In 2024, Maduro brought Christmas celebrations forward during a crisis following a disputed presidential election , which opponents and the U.S. government accused Maduro of stealing. This year, Maduro said on his weekly T

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