Electricity restored in Venezuela after massive blackout

Caracas. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said that “the grid is already starting to be energized” after a blackout that left the entire country without electricity, and that “some sectors” of Caracas are beginning to receive power.

“All services are being checked, they are being reviewed,” Cabello told state channel VTV. “The network is already starting to be energized and some sectors here in Caracas are starting to receive electricity.”

“It is a process that is happening little by little, but it is a process that is done with the certainty of what is being done so as not to make mistakes,” he said.

In the huge Petare slum, for example, there was light by mid-morning, although in other areas the blackout continued. In some areas such as Chacao, a middle-class area, the power was restored only for a few minutes.

Earlier, Venezuela’s Minister of Communications and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, denounced the blackout as an act of “sabotage” that affected 90 percent of the country since dawn.

“Today there has been sabotage against the electrical system that has affected almost the entire national territory. All 24 states are reporting a total or partial loss of electricity supply,” he told VTV.

The minister accused the opposition of having caused this blackout, which occurred at around 4:45 a.m. local time, in a new “desperate and blind measure” to disrupt peace in the country following the elections of July 28.

The election ended with the victory of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, amid accusations of fraud by the opposition. Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González claim that the latter was the true winner of the election. International governments critical of Maduro still demand the detailed disclosure of the electoral results.

“Fascism’s option,” Ñáñez denounced, “was to destroy our institutions and provoke violence in the streets, but they were unable to achieve this and today they have attempted a desperate and blind measure that is leading nowhere.”

For his part, Minister Cabello said that “they did not achieve their objectives as they (the opposition) expected,” and added that “the country was on fire a month after the elections, on the contrary, the country is completely calm, everything is working here.”

Venezuelan government denounces “sabotage” after massive blackout

Venezuela’s Minister of Communications and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, denounced this Friday an act of “sabotage” that caused the blackout that affected 90 percent of the country since early this morning.

“Today there has been sabotage against the electrical system that has affected almost the entire national territory. All 24 states are reporting a total or partial loss of electricity supply,” he told VTV.

The minister accused the opposition of having caused this blackout, which occurred at around 4:45 a.m. local time, in a new “desperate and blind measure” to disrupt peace in the country after the elections.

The elections in late July ended with the victory of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, amid accusations from the opposition of massive fraud. Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González claim that the latter was the real winner of the elections. International governments critical of Maduro are still demanding the detailed disclosure of the electoral results.

“Fascism’s option,” Ñáñez denounced, “was to destroy our institutions and provoke violence in the streets, but they were unable to achieve this and today they have attempted a desperate and blind measure that leads nowhere.”

The minister said that all the electrical service teams, as well as the entire national government, have been active since the confirmation of the blackout “to restore peace to the people,” which is what “they want to take away from us with these violent and irresponsible adventures that only bring anguish.”