Venezuela limps back to normal after another blackout

• The Pak Banker
• 25 Jul 2019

Electricity has been restored in all of Caracas and several other regions of Venezuela after a major blackout, the government said Tuesday – the latest taste of misery for a country mired in economic crisis. The outage that began Monday afternoon triggered gridlock in the capital as traffic lights went dark. Sidewalks teemed with pedestrians walking home after the metro stopped running.

The government blamed sabotage, saying a hydroelectric plant that provides 80 percent of the country’s power had been hit by an «electromagnetic attack.» A nationwide blackout in March lasted a full week, accentuating the woes of people in an oil-rich country that now has shortages of food and medicine and such basics as toilet paper and soap.

This time, the lights went out in a dozen hospitals, telephone service was knocked out and faucets ran dry, according to a consumer rights group called the Public Services Observatory.

There were no interruptions to flights at the Caracas airport but stores closed Monday night as the lack of electricity prevented the use of credit and debit cards. They are essential because cash is scarce in inflation-plagued Venezuela.

«I’m hungry, I want to eat, but there is nowhere to use my debit card,» said Hernan Montalvo, complaining of not having enough cash to buy a hot dog. «I’m outraged,» Eurimar Guere, 36, told AFP after leaving her office in eastern Caracas.

«Necessary repairs weren’t carried out and it’s more of the same.»

Earlier, the state run utility Corpoelec said power had been restored in the center and east of the country. «We are moving toward total restoration of the service,» it said on Twitter.

President Nicolas Maduro denounced what he said was a «criminal attack against tranquility and peace of the homeland,» adding that the country’s armed forces had been deployed for relief efforts.

The power outage in March affected all 23 states in Venezuela and lasted a week, paralyzing basic services such as the water supply and forcing the work day to be canceled and school classes to be suspended. Hospital care was also affected by that incident and another one that came days later. Opponents of Maduro said at the time that about 20 people died due to problems receiving medical treatment. Maduro blamed unnamed «terrorists» for that near-nationwide blackout, claiming they had attacked the Guri hydroelectric plant – the same one that was allegedly targeted this time.

Another huge outage in April left large parts of the country, including Caracas, in darkness, although it lasted hours rather than days. Blackouts are a common occurrence in Venezuela, especially in remote western regions.

The government usually blames them on sabotage but experts say that a lack of investment, poor management, the emigration of qualified engineers and personnel, and corruption are the more likely culprits. Opposition leader Juan Guaido said nine states were still without electricity Tuesday while seven others only had a partial restoration of services. «For Venezuelans, getting used to this tragedy is not an option,» he wrote on Twitter.

«They tried to hide the tragedy by rationing throughout the country, but the failure is clear.

«They’ve destroyed the electricity system and they don’t have any answers,» Guaido said.

Venezuela has been mired in a political impasse since January when Guaido proclaimed himself acting president, quickly receiving the support of more than 50 countries.

The country has been in a deep recession for five years. The International Monetary Fund said it expects the economy to shrink 35 percent in 2019.

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