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Venezuela slams Sweden over FARC deportee

Venezuela's foreign minister Nicolás Maduro is counterattacking Sweden in the Venezuelan press over the arrest and deportation of a Swedish citizen to Colombia.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry asked Venezuela in a note why they did not inform Sweden that they had arrested the 54-year-old Swede when he landed at Caracas International Airport last Saturday.

News agency TT reports that Maduro, in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, asked why “one of Interpol’s wanted men” was able to travel outside the country.

The Swedish government has still not received an official response, a press secretary for the Swedish Foreign Ministry told TT.

Colombia is accusing the Swede of being the rebel group Farc’s European boss and financier. The government in Bogota has been trying to find the man ever since he was granted political asylum in Sweden nearly 20 years ago.

Maduro told El Universal that Venezuela had followed international law in their handling of the situation. The arrest has been criticized by the opposition in Venezuela.

When Colombian authorities learned that the man was on his way to Venezuela, the Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos called his counterpart Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and asked him to arrest and deport the man.

Police flew him to Bogota where the detention hearing was held on Tuesday.

Sweden’s ambassador to Colombia had representatives present during the hearing, Anders Jörle, press secretary for the Swedish Foreign Ministry, told TT. “We have to see that he is treated correctly according to the law,” Jörle said to TT.

“We can’t interfere ourselves but we can demand consular access to him,” he said.

Colombia says that evidence against the Swede consists of emails that were found on a computer belonging to the former Farc rebel leader Paul Reys, who is dead.

The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported that the Swede was active with Farc for 30 years. The man denied working with Farc, but said as a journalist he had talked to the guerillas.

He is the editor for the internet site Anncol which is critical of the Colombian government. But the Colombian government says Anncol has ties to Farc.

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CHRISTMAS

Why are German Christmas markets opening so early this year?

Most German Christmas markets don’t begin business until the end of November. But in some cities, the winter wonderlands are opening earlier than ever. What's going on?

Why are German Christmas markets opening so early this year?
Visitors stroll through Essen's Weihnachtsmarkt, which opens on Wednesday. Photo: DPA

The downtown Duisburg Christmas market is in full swing this year, 17 full days before the first Sunday Advent. This is earlier than ever, at least in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia. Churches across Germany are expected to criticize this growing trend, yet many cities are defending their choices. 

“The Christmas market in Duisburg will open this year on November 14th, one day ahead of the Christmas markets in Essen and Oberhausen. The opening hours of the Christmas markets are mainly due to high demand from visitors,” a city project manager in Duisburg explained.

READ ALSO: 8 of the most beautiful German Christmas markets

Four women toast each other with Glühwein at the opening of the Freiburg Christmas market. Photo: DPA

Local church representatives collaborated with the city and agreed with the dates in Duisburg, he added. Additionally, the market recognizes important holy days like Totensonntag (Sunday of the Dead), Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to the city. 

“We are trying to meet the needs of our retailers, the inner-city trade and, above all, the demand of visitors,” he said.

The story is similar for Essen's early Christmas market. It will be closed for Volkstrauertag (this year on November 17th) as well as Totensonntag (November 24th).

And Essen and Duisburg are not alone with their very early Christmas markets. Even in Catholic-leaning Austria, marketplaces are getting a head start. For example, the Wiener Weihnachtstraum (Viennese Christmas Dream) opens November 15th.  

Even in Berlin, where big markets open only after Totensonntag and stay until the New Year, a similar phenomenon is playing out. The so-called Winterwelt (Winter World) at Potsdamer Platz, which is hardly distinguishable from a real Christmas market, has been open since November 2nd. 

Even more extreme, the Bayreuther Winterdorf (Bayreuth Winter Village) opened on October 17th this year. The marketplace proudly calls itself the first Christmas gathering “in the whole of Germany and certainly all of Europe.” 

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about preparing for Christmas 

A photo of the Christmas market in Bielefeld, North Rhine Westphalia. Photo: DPA

Nevertheless, the churches see the early Christmas markets as a commodification of important Christian holidays. Ulrich Lota, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Essen, says the markets are an advertising tool to lure people into the city and away from online shopping. 

“It is important to remember, even amongst the commerce and consumption, that Christmas is not just some cultural holiday at the end of the year, but the celebration of the birth of Jesus,” she said. 

However, churches don’t want to strictly forbid something that brings many joy during the season. 

Christmas markets in Freiburg, Bochum and Dortmunder, as well as the Salzburg Christkindlmarkt in Austria and the Weinachtsdorf am Bellevue in Zurich are all open as early as November 21st, the Thursday before Totensonntag.

In most cities, however, the Christmas markets open only after Totensonntag. Cities like Kassel, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne, Hamburg, Hanover, Bielefeld, Potsdam, Cottbus, Rostock and Lübeck hold off on the Glühwein and other classic Christmas treats until November 25th. 

In Erfurt, Weimar and Leipzig, the celebrations start on November 26th, and in Munich on Marienplatz and in Stuttgart only a day later on November 27th. The Dresden Striezelmarkt begins on Wednesday before the First Advent.

The Mainz Christmas Market opens on November 28th, and the famous Nuremberg Christkindlmarkt kicks off on November 29th, the Friday before the First Advent.

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