Christmas in Venezuela kicks off in October, President Maduro has declared

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The world’s attention on Venezuela has focused lately on the fallout from a highly contested presidential election that both the ruling party and its opponents claim to have won, the persecution of critics and the arrest warrant issued this week against the former opposition presidential candidate. But as political tensions escalate, President Nicolás 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.