On the eve of Christmas Eve, the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, led a Christmas dinner for “peace and happiness” in the Caracas parish of San Agustín, where he proclaimed that “imperialism cannot” prevail over his country and presented himself as “a man of the people.”
With a red, white, and green scarf, surrounded by neighbors, the leader danced, sang folk songs, and took pictures with attendees, at an event broadcasted by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
"I have never been and will never be a magnate; I am like you, a man of the streets, a common man, a man from the neighborhoods. This is our school, and that is why imperialism cannot defeat us," he stated before his supporters.
Maduro announced that this would be the first of several similar meetings to be held "in all the communes of the country" to promote "the peace and happiness of Venezuela."
The event, characterized by a festive and populist tone, included traditional music and a call from the president to “eat, dance, and have fun!”.
This is not the first time that the Venezuelan leader has described himself as a man of the people and denied being a mogul.
In 2018, during his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, he stated: “I am a worker, a bus driver, a man of the people, not a magnate. I would be willing to shake hands with Donald Trump to discuss the issues of our region,” he said at the time.
This Tuesday, December 23, the executive vice president and minister of Hydrocarbons, Delcy Rodríguez, led another Christmas event in Caracas, where she criticized the sanctions from the United States and the recent measures announced by President Trump, who declared a "total and complete blockade" on oil tankers linked to the chavista regime.
Hours earlier, the UN Security Council held an emergency session requested by the Venezuelan government in response to increasing pressures from Washington.
The representative of Venezuela to the UN, Samuel Moncada, described Trump's actions as "a crime of aggression," while the American ambassador, Mike Waltz, insisted that the sanctions aim to "deprive Maduro of financing the Cartel of the Suns."
The Venezuelan leader, in his already traditional defiant tone, took advantage of the Christmas dinner to reinforce his image as the "leader of the people" and to project an apparent normality amidst international isolation and the sanctions that are choking the country's economy.
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