SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- Around 4:40 am this Friday, a blackout The national earthquake hit Venezuela and more than ten hours later, electricity has still not been restored in most of the country; in light of this scenario, the Minister of Information, Freddy Ñáñez, blamed it on “sabotage”.
“Once again, we have been victims of electrical sabotage in the country,” express The Chavista official, without giving further details on the matter, although he issued a warning. “A small group of criminals will not be able to steal our peace,” he said, pointing to the opposition as responsible, a strategy the regime has resorted to on previous occasions.
| Freddy Ñañez, Minister of Communication and Information
“We are facing a new blow to the National Electric System.” pic.twitter.com/KjvkbV5dcm
— Globovision (@globovision) August 30, 2024
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced that he has activated the “Plan Centella” to make transportation available for citizen mobility.
“We have implemented the Centella Plan, which is a plan we have to cover any situation at a national level. In this case of transportation and patrol, we have deployed all motorized units, trucks, tactical and non-tactical vehicles, civilians, to support the people in their movement,” Padrino López said in a telephone conversation with the state channel VTV, according to the agency. EFE.
The power outage also affected internet connectivity in more than 20 Venezuelan states; after a small rebound, average connectivity levels across the country fell to 17.9%, according to VE Without Filter, a digital rights observatory.
“Desperate fascism is attacking the people, but together we will overcome this new attack,” wrote dictator Nicolás Maduro on his Telegram channel, after calling the failure a “criminal attack.”
However, he did not specify where the problem originated or the extent of the damage.
| POWER BLACKOUT IN VENEZUELA:
This is how Caracas, the country’s capital, wakes up. pic.twitter.com/irGdbMJ37q
— World Alert (@AlertaMundoNews) August 30, 2024
This is the longest blackout since March 2019, when the country was plunged into darkness for a week.
On Friday, after half a day without electricity, the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) said that authorities were gradually continuing to restore service, although some Internet users reported fluctuations in various areas, as well as new outages in communities where power had been restored.
Chavismo never misses an opportunity to boast that it has everything under control, but every time something happens, it is the fault of “sabotage.”
The power goes out: sabotage
They lose the elections: hacking
Gasoline runs out: sanctions/sabotage
There is no water: God’s sabotage
— Federico A. Black B. (@FedericoBlackB) August 30, 2024
Amid the serious political crisis in the country after Maduro declared himself the winner of the elections, despite accusations of fraud, the debacle in basic services continues to be felt, due to corruption and the lack of investments in these sectors.
