Venezuela begins to recover electricity service after general blackout

The electricity service in Caracas began to return to normal this Friday after 12 hours of a general blackout throughout Venezuela, whichThe government attributed it to sabotage by the opposition amid his allegations of electoral fraud.

There is no official report since the morning, but AFP journalists confirmed an intermittent recovery of service in parts of Caracas. Citizens on social media also reported a certain normalization, which is extending to other states in the country.

#NOW | In the plaza of Los Palos Grandes in Chacao (Miranda), a power plant was enabled so that citizens can charge their phones and be able to communicate, this in the midst of a general power outage throughout Venezuela, despite the fact that the service has been returning to normal… pic.twitter.com/DLoJLJ7e1S

— VPItv (@VPITV) August 30, 2024

The blackout was reported at 4:40 am (8:40 GMT) and affected “totally or partially” the 24 states of this country where power outages are frequent.

“Desperate fascism is attacking the people, but together we will overcome this new attack,” President Nicolás Maduro wrote on his Telegram channel, after calling the attack a “criminal attack.”

He did not specify where the problem originated or the extent of the damage.

Used to

Blackouts have been a frequent occurrence in Venezuela for a decade, especially in the provinces.

The government always attributes them to attempts by the opposition to destabilize them, but experts dismiss this argument and link them to lack of investment, incompetence and corruption.

The latest assessment was made mid-morning by the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, who reported that the network was beginning to be “energized.” “It is a process that is happening little by little, but it is a process that is being done with the certainty of what is being done so as not to make mistakes,” he said on the VTV channel.

“Mentally, one is used to these things,” Leticia Quiroga, a 30-year-old civil servant in Caracas, told AFP. “I thought it was just another blackout like the ones we have here every day,” said Elena Jimenez, a 66-year-old housewife in Maracaibo, capital of Zulia state, where power cuts are constant.

#30Aug 12:59 PM #Caracas #NationalBlackout
Images of the Prados del Este highway in Caracas, in the midst of the national blackout this Friday. Drivers pull over and park to find coverage in that area for their cell phones and devices. – @eldiario pic.twitter.com/sxoDYarOCP

— Reporte Ya (@ReporteYa) August 30, 2024

Electoral context

The drop comes one month before the elections in which Maduro was re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term, until 2031.

The opposition led by María Corina Machado claims that Edmundo González Urrutia won the elections and that it has the evidence to prove it. The accusation of fraud is seen by Chavismo as part of a plot against Maduro.

During the campaign they denounced alleged plans to affect the vulnerable electrical system.

“They did not achieve their objectives as they (the opposition) expected,” continued Minister Cabello, “that the country would be on fire a month after the elections.”

Maduro’s re-election was rejected by the United States, the European Union and Latin American countries.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is trying to mediate between the government and the opposition to resolve the serious political crisis, He insisted on Friday on requesting the publication of the detailed scrutiny.

Summons to opposition candidate

Edmundo González, 75 years old, was summoned to appear before the Prosecutor’s Office this Friday, which has opened a criminal investigation against him.

This is the third summons, after ignoring the previous ones. A new absence of the opposition member, in hiding, would lead to the issuance of an arrest warrant.

It is not clear how the proceedings turned out amid the national blackout, although state-run channel VTV reported the contempt without referring to a possible arrest warrant.

The opposition published on a website copies of more than 80% of the voting records that show González Urrutia as the winner. This initiative is precisely the core of the complaint: “Usurpation of functions” and “forgery of public documents” by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which did not publish the details of the counting of votes table by table as required by law.

The crimes theoretically carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Legal experts have described the procedure as irregular and the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) coalition has denounced “political persecution.”

Maduro has called for González and Machado to be imprisoned. He also holds them responsible for acts of violence in the post-election protests, which left 27 dead – including two soldiers -, almost 200 injured and more than 2,400 detained, including minors.