In the early hours of Friday morning, Venezuela plunged into darkness as a "sabotage" on the nation's electric grid caused a widespread blackout across all 24 states. The Information Minister, Freddy Ñañez, confirmed the outage, describing it as a result of deliberate actions aimed at disrupting the country's power supply.
Reports indicate that the capital city of Caracas, along with large portions of the nation, lost power at approximately 4:40 am. The minister attributed the blackout to what he referred to as "desperate measures" orchestrated by "fascist and extreme-right powers" in an effort to destabilize the nation.
This recent blackout comes on the heels of a similar, albeit more severe, incident in 2019 when Venezuela experienced a massive power outage that lasted nearly a week. That event laid bare the vulnerabilities within the country's electrical infrastructure, which has long suffered from mismanagement and underfunding of its hydroelectric dams.
Since then, power rationing has become a common occurrence, particularly in rural areas outside of the capital. The government has been working tirelessly to restore power to the affected regions, but the incident serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing Venezuela's energy sector and the ongoing struggle to ensure a stable and reliable power supply for its citizens.