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 TV program “Con Maduro +” that he wants to defend “the right to happiness” of Venezuelans, amid an escalating standoff with President Trump, whose administration has increased a bounty for his arrest or capture.
“Once again this year, Christmas starts on October 1 with joy, commerce, activity, culture, carols,” dancing and traditional foods, Maduro declared.
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro speaks during a news conference at Hotel Melia Caracas, Sept. 1, 2025, in Caracas, Venezuela. / Credit: Jesus Vargas/Getty
Maduro has vowed to defend Venezuela in the face of escalating U.S. military maneuvering off his country’s shores in recent weeks.
Washington has doubled the bounty for the capture of the Venezuelan leader to $50 million, deployed warships off the country’s shores and sunk a boat, killing 11 people whom the Trump administration alleges were members of a drug trafficking gang controlled by Maduro.
Maduro doubles troop deployment to borders amid standoff with U.S.
Maduro has sought to bolster his country’s own military readiness in the face of the U.S. movements, including an announcement on Sunday that he was more than doubling the deployment of troops to secure Venezuela’s long Caribbean coastline and its border with Colombia, stressing his determination to defend national sovereignty.
The Venezuelan leader said in a message posted on social media that he would send 25,000 army troops to the borders, boosting a previously announced deployment of about 10,000 soldiers. He said the forces would be concentrated around major oil infrastructure and border regions.
“These 25,000 brave men and women of our glorious armed forces are deployed to defend our homeland, secure our borders, and preserve the peace that our people deserve,” Maduro said.
Hegseth visits troops on U.S. warship deployed to tackle drug gangs
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who now uses the title Secretary of War following Mr. Trump’s decision to rebrand what had long been the U.S. Department of Defense, made surprise visits Monday to Puerto Rico and a U.S. Navy ship that is among the military assets deployed to the Caribbean to target drug cartels.
Hegseth was accompanied by the top U.S. military officer Gen. Dan Caine, and the two of them were welcomed by Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Puerto Rico’s governor, who announced the visit in a post on X.
She thanked President Trump, “and his Administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico has to the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere, perpetuated by narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro.”
The Trump administration accuses Venezuela’s leftist leader of colluding with criminal gangs, including Tren de Aragua, which has recently been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., to traffic drugs into the U.S.
The USS Sampson (DDG 102), a U.S. Navy missile destroyer, docks at the Amador International Cruise Terminal in Panama City, Panama, Sept. 2, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu/Getty
Maduro’s government has rejected the accusations and repeatedly vowed to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty.
As well as the stop in Puerto Rico, Hegseth visited the USS Iwo Jima on Monday — one of eight U.S. Navy ships now involved in counter-narcotics efforts in Latin America — according to a social media post on a Pentagon account.
The post, captioned “A message to our warfighters from the Secretary of War,” included a video that showed Hegseth addressing military personnel on the ship, edited with other images of him observing operations on the vessel, telling the troops they were working to “end the poisoning of the American people” with drugs.
On Thursday, two armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over the USS Jason Dunham, according to multiple Defense Department officials who described the action to CBS News as a “show of force” by Maduro’s regime. The Aegis guided-missile destroyer is among the U.S. vessels that have been dispatched to the region in recent weeks.
Justice Barrett on the Supreme Court’s checks on Trump’s power
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” turns 50: “Don’t dream it, be it”
