Catholics Denounce Venezuela for Blocking ‘Burning of Judas’ – Previously Used to Condemn Socialists

Venezuelan journalist and former political prisoner Carlos Julio Rojas on Sunday accused the nation’s socialist regime, now led by “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez, of criminalizing the Catholic “Burning of Judas” Easter tradition.

Rojas, who was unjustly detained by the Venezuelan regime days after he participated in a 2024 Burning of Judas in Caracas, denounced that members of the Bolivarian National Police prevented his local community from carrying out the tradition.

The “Burning of Judas” is a centuries-old activity celebrated by Catholics in some Latin American and European nations throughout the Easter weekend that consists in crafting an effigy of Judas Iscariot and burning it to mark the apostle’s betrayal of Jesus Christ — an action that set in motion a series of events that culminated with Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In Venezuela, the celebration is usually held on Easter Sunday and it is historically believed to have been