WILL CHRISTMAS BE ILLEGAL?

SANTA ANA DE CORO: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3
Sunday morning and I walk the historic quarter in search of breakfast. Referendum day, there is a heaviness to the air and that almost threatening stillness that precedes a thunderstorm; streets are deserted, shops and restaurants are closed. Finally I find a baker serving coffee. Two elderly men argue on the sidewalk. Are they arguing politics, football or ancient rivalry over a school-years sweetheart?
I attend mass at the cathedral. The interior has a perfect simplicity: pitched roof lined with timber, floor paved with unglazed tiles, white pillars, white walls.
Does the congregation know that Chavez' hero, Fidel Castro, closed churches, banned religion, that wearing even a small crucifix in Cuba was a criminal offense as was celebrating Christmas?
The streets of Coro are decorated with Christmas lights...