Power cuts an ‘ electrical war’

Government spokesperson blames right-wing extremists for causing pandemonium

MUCH of Venezuela remained without power yesterday amid one of the largest outages in years, raising tensions in a country already on edge from political turmoil.

The blackout hit 22 of 23 states by some accounts. It struck the capital Caracas, which until now has been spared the worst of a collapse in the nation’s grid, at the peak of rush hour.

Thousands of commuters flooded into the streets because subway service was stopped. A snarl of cars jammed the streets amid confusion generated by blackened stop lights. Others had to walk long distances to get home.

At the darkened maternity ward at Avila Clinic in Caracas, several mothers cried as nurses holding candles monitored the vital signs of premature babies in incubators after backup generators shut off.

Venezuela’s socialist government blasted the outage as an “electrical war” directed by the US.

Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said right-wing extremists intent on causing pandemonium in Venezuela and taking orders from Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio were behind the blackout, although he offered no proof.

“A little bit of patience,” Rodriguez urged on state television, saying service would be restored in a few hours.

But as night wore on in Caracas, patience was running thin.

Residents threw open their windows and banged pots and pans in the darkness. Some shouted out expletives at President Nicolas Maduro in a sign of mounting frustration. Normally hyperactive social media was eerily silent as much of the country was offline.

The outage comes as Venezuela is in the throes of a political struggle between Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, the head of congress who declared himself the nation’s rightful president in January and is recognised by the US and about 50 nations.

Venezuela’s electrical system was once the envy of Latin America but it has fallen into a state of disrepair after years of poor maintenance and mismanagement.

“High-ranking officials have been accused in US court proceedings of looting government money earmarked for the electrical system.

“While intermittent outages have become regular occurrences in Venezuela, rarely have so many states simultaneously been without power for such an extended period.

State-owned electricity operator Corpoelec blamed the outage on “sabotage” at the Guri Dam, one of the world’s largest hydroelectric stations and the cornerstone of Venezuela’s electrical grid.

Rodriguez described it as a “cyber” attack intended to derail the whole system.

“What’s the intention? To submit the Venezuelan people to various days without electricity to attack, to mistreat, so that vital areas would be without power.” |