Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, has declared that Christmas will take place earlier than usual this year, with festivities to be brought forward to October 1. “It’s September and it already smells like Christmas. As a thank you to the fighting people, I will bring Christmas forward to October 1 by decree,” Maduro told supporters on television. This is not the first time that Maduro has resorted to this unusual move to distract attention from the South American country’s pressing problems. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, he brought Christmas forward to October 15, …