'Electrical sabotage'
Venezuelans spent most of Friday in the dark as a major outage knocked out power in the capital, Caracas, and several states.
President Nicolás Maduro’s government blamed the outage, which it said began about 4:50 am, on “electrical sabotage.” (Photo: Reuters)
All 24 states impacted
Communications minister Freddy Nanez said in a voice message on Telegram that all 24 of Venezuela’s states had been at least partially impacted. He characterized the outage as a “desperate” attempt by Maduro’s opponents to violently oust the president. (Photo: AP)
Strategy of the opposition
“This is a constant strategy of the opposition, the enemies of this country, to impact the population,” Diosdado Cabello, the newly appointed interior minister who is believed to be the second most powerful man in the country, said after the earlier outage. (Photo: Reuters
Cellphone services out
Residents of the capital were taking Friday’s disruption in stride. Traffic during the normally busy rush hour was lighter than usual and some people complained about being unable to communicate with family members due to a lack of cellphone service. (Photo: AP)
Lack of alternative energy supplies
Venezuela’s power grid relies heavily on the Guri Dam. The electrical system has been burdened by poor upkeep, a lack of alternative energy supplies and a drain of engineering talent as an estimated 8 million Venezuelan migrants have fled economic misery in recent years. (Photo: AP)
Residents highlight preparedness
"I can't be without gasoline, I have a 3-year-old boy and my mom is 70, I need to have reserves for any emergency," Lawyer Alexa Riva said. "We've lived through two national blackouts, it makes us very nervous." (Photo: Reuters)
Difficult to work without electricity
"It's complicated to get around without electricity. We don't know what's going to happen during the day," said Anyismar Aldana, a 27-year-old cashier on her way to work in Caracas, in the working-class neighborhood of Petare. (Photo: AP)
President Maduro assures people
"I remain alongside the people on the front lines in the battle against this criminal attack targeting the national electricity system. Desperate fascism is attacking the people, but together we will win," President Nicolas Maduro wrote on social media. (Photo: Reuters)
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