The lights are returning for millions in Venezuela after a major power failure knocked out electricity to about two-thirds of the country on Monday afternoon.
The incident, which the government said was caused by an “attack,” was reminiscent of another failure in March which dragged on for as long as 10 days in some areas and prompted Nicolas Maduro’s administration to begin power rationing outside of the capital city Caracas to normalize the grid.
Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said that school and work activities would be suspended on Tuesday in order to keep power demand lower and state-run electricity company Corpoelec said that service had been restored to all of Caracas, with work still to be done in other states nationwide.
Maduro and his government have insisted that the country’s electrical problems are a product of sabotage and sophisticated attacks by the U.S. and local opposition who are seeking to remove him, while industry experts and critics point to a lack of investment and maintenance.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has claimed to be the legitimate leader of Venezuela and is recognized as such by more than 50 countries following Maduro’s dubious re-election in 2018, said he’ll take to the streets on Tuesday to rally people against the government.
“They tried to hide the tragedy with rationing across the country but their failure is evident,” he wrote in a post on Twitter. “They destroyed the electric system and they don’t have any response.” Read more