Electricity is beginning to return to parts of Venezuela following a widespread outage, offering relief to affected regions after prolonged power disruptions.
Following a blackout in Venezuela’s capital Caracas and other regions, power is gradually being restored to certain areas. The government attributed the outage to sabotage.
Frequent power outages plague the country, with President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition locked in a dispute over the results of a July 28 presidential election. The president frequently accuses them for these blackouts; however, they deny any involvement.
According to Communications Minister Freddy Nanez speaking on the state-run VTV channel, an electrical sabotage occurred in Venezuela at around 4:40am (08:40 GMT) this Friday, August 30th. The incident has impacted almost all of the country’s territory.
He said that there is a total or partial loss of electricity supply being reported in all 24 states.
Witnesses reported to the Reuters news agency that by 1pm local time (16:00 GMT) on Friday, power had been restored in certain areas of Maracaibo and Valencia located in western and central regions respectively. The eastern city of Puerto Ordaz as well as the capital Caracas also experienced power return during this time.
The gradual restoration of power will kick off in the capital as revealed by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello during his appearance on state television early Friday.
Cabello stated that it would gradually arrive across the country.
Fuel and food were being stockpiled by individuals in the western metropolis of Barquisimeto.
To dodge the five-kilometre-long (three-mile-long) queues at petrol stations in the city, 29-year-old attorney Alexa Rivas opted to drive instead to a service station located outside of town.
She told Reuters that she needs to have reserves for any emergency because of her three-year-old boy and 70-year-old mom, which means being without gasoline is not an option.
“Experiencing two national blackouts has left us extremely anxious.”
In March 2019, Venezuela experienced a severe nationwide blackout that persisted for multiple days. Government officials identified the cause of these power disruptions as intentional acts by saboteurs and adversaries of Maduro’s administration – including harm to various aspects of the power infrastructure like lines.
“A new electrical sabotage,” Nanez labeled Friday’s outage.
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In 2019, we were aware of the expenses incurred. Subsequently, recovering the national electric system cost us significantly; however, presently we are approaching it with appropriate protocols.
After the blackout, he mentioned that “anti-coup protocols” had been implemented by the government. He pointed to the contested outcome of July 28’s election as a reason for this measure.
Both Venezuela’s government and opposition are claiming victory in the previous month’s election, but Maduro is being supported by the electoral authority and Supreme Court.
Despite international appeals to release full vote tallies, the authorities have not yet done so.
Over the past week, there has been a significant increase in arrests of individuals who oppose the current regime.
Attorney General Tarek Saab is investigating the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez for incitement as well as other criminal activities.
Despite two summons to testify about a website containing purported ballot box vote tallies showing a significant victory for him, Gonzalez has chosen not to comply. The opposition claims that these figures represent over 80 percent of the total votes cast.
It is uncertain whether the third citation issued for Gonzalez on Friday will be valid due to the blackout.
Since the election, 27 individuals have lost their lives in violence connected to protests. Among them were two military members and nearly 200 others sustained injuries.
