Blackout in 20 states of Venezuela, government denounces “criminal attack” on the electricity system

Twenty of the 23 states of Venezuela were left without electricity this Friday, according to local media, while the government attributed the blackout to a “vile and criminal attack” on the generation system.

“We have received a new attack on the national electricity system, specifically in the Guri”, the hydroelectric plant that is the source of 80% of the energy consumed by Venezuelans, reported the Minister of Electricity, Néstor Reverol, in a telephone contact with the state channel VTV.

Reverol claimed to be “at the forefront of all the maneuvers for the recovery of the service”, without offering details on the magnitude of the blackout.

Price of the dollar in Venezuela this December 17 is trading higher according to Dolar Today

Local media reported blackouts in at least 20 states in the country, which persisted into the early hours of the morning. In Caracas there were also interruptions but the service was restored at dawn.

“Once again, those who were cruel in 2019 are attacking our people,” Reverol said in reference to the series of blackouts that the country suffered that year, including one in March when a gigantic failure paralyzed the country for a week.

“We ask for support to the people of Venezuela with conscience and peace to overcome this vile and criminal attack.”

They report attacks

The government of President Nicolás Maduro typically attributes these failures to plans orchestrated by the United States and the opposition to overthrow him.

Although opposition leaders and specialists, contrary to the thesis of sabotage, blame the government for lack of investment, lack of expertise and corruption amid the greatest economic crisis in this country in its modern history, with eight years of recession and four of hyperinflation.

In fact, power outages are common in this country with the largest oil reserve for several years, especially in the province.

“The attack that the electrical system has suffered is not the repeated and blatant excuses of the dictatorship, but its corruption, incapacity, indolence and kidnapping of the State,” wrote the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó. “We cannot normalize the tragedy.”

The VTV channel recently aired a propaganda cartoon about President Maduro turned into a superhero called “Superbigote”, in which he rescues the country’s electrical system with “his iron fist” from a blackout caused by an attack with an orchestrated drone. by Washington and the opposition, following the official thesis. (I)