The International Analyst of CNN Lourival Sant’Anna commented on the recent decision by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to bring forward the celebration of Christmas to October 1st in the country.
According to Sant’Anna, this action aligns with a pattern observed among authoritarian leaders, who frequently manipulate calendars and time zones as a demonstration of absolute power.
He explained: “Authoritarian leaders mess with calendars and time zones as they please. It’s a classic.”
The analyst cited historical examples, such as Hugo Chávez, who changed Venezuela’s time zone by half an hour, and Muammar Gaddafi, who created his own mandatory calendar in Libya.
Demonstration of power and control
According to the expert, these actions have a clear purpose: “It is to show unlimited power and, with that, cause more fear”.
Sant’Anna argued that such measures serve to intimidate the population, transmitting the message that the leader is omnipotent and can do anything, including determining that “Jesus Christ was born in October and not in December”.
Creation of parallel reality
In addition to the demonstration of power, the analyst highlighted that these changes aim to create a parallel reality, disconnecting the population from the globally shared reality.
The commentator also mentioned that this phenomenon is not unique to Venezuela, citing similar examples in North Korea and Cuba, where the population is encouraged to maintain a sense of national pride even in the face of extreme hardship.
Upon concluding his analysis, Sant’Anna highlighted the risk of interfering with sacred symbols such as Christmas in a population as religious as the Venezuelan one.
However, he recalled that Chávez often presented himself as a mystical figure, mixing indigenous, Christian and historical elements, such as the reincarnation of Simón Bolívar, which may have paved the way for such actions by his successor, Nicolás Maduro.
This content was originally published in Analysis: Authoritarian leaders change calendars to show unlimited power on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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