Venezuela’s Struggle: Power Outages Plunge Nation into Darkness

Electricity has been restored in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela since Saturday, following a blackout on Friday that left much of the country in darkness. Despite this, intermittent outages continue to affect the oil-rich state of Zulia, according to Reuters witnesses.

Venezuelan authorities attributed the extended outage to an “attack” on the country’s largest dam, Guri, although they have yet to provide further details. “The first thing I thought was that the food would spoil, and fresh food is already too expensive,” said Jose Rincon, a teacher in Valencia. “It’s upsetting how things seem to be getting worse.”

In Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia, 62-year-old pensioner Reyner Acosta said electricity was restored briefly on Saturday morning but was cut again. “We struggled because the power kept coming and going,” he said as he bought food to replace what broke during the outage.

On a positive note, the Jose oil terminal, Venezuela’s largest, resumed operations on Saturday after being disrupted by a power outage. The terminal handles about 70% of Venezuela’s oil exports, but does not have its own independent supply system.

Petropiar, a key oil upgrader, has resumed operations, according to industry sources. Experts point to years of maintenance and underinvestment in the electrical system behind Venezuela’s recurring power outages, which have become an all-too-familiar situation for the nation. A similar series of blackouts in 2019 were also officially reported as opposition attacks.

(With contributions from agencies.)