Venezuela faces a wave of blackouts again

Blackouts returned to Venezuela. Dark cities and screams from neighbors who, in the darkness, curse the cut because their computer burned or because they don’t know what to do with the meat that cost them so much to get on the parallel market and rots in a refrigerator without electricity. The Minister of Electric Energy, Néstor Reverol, denounced days ago “a new attack on the National Electric System” and blamed “members of criminal groups” for having “vandalized equipment at the Lagunillas substation” in the state of Zulia, some 800 kilometers from Caracas. These events, Reverol added, “are part of the multiform war, which confronts our public services in the country”. The hypothesis of the conspiracy was, however, immediately shelved by the Government.

The reports coming from different cities are accompanied by the bitter memory of the beginning and end of March 2019, when a blanket of darkness spread over much of the territory. it was called “the Great Blackout”. At that time, the Government of Nicolás Maduro also spoke of intentional acts caused by the most radical sectors of the opposition, linked to the deputy Juan Guaido, who a month before the cuts had been recognized by the United States and other countries as “president in charge” of Venezuela.

The head of the Fedecamaras de Zulia employers association, Ezio Angellini, assured that, more than an attack against the facilities, what the population faces is a new dose of energy rationing that began two weeks ago, and without prior notice. “We spend an average of three hours without power in Maracaibo, and up to six hours in the municipalities,” he told the Unión Radio station. The average temperature in that region is 35 degrees.

We denounce a new attack on the National Electric System, where members of criminal groups have vandalized equipment from the Lagunillas Substation, affecting the electrical service to various sectors of Zulia state. #18Mar pic.twitter.com/gi25sBUV1E

— Nestor Reverol (@NestorLReverol) March 18, 2022

the state company Corpoelec denied that the Guri reservoir, in the state of Bolívar and one of the mainstays of the hydroelectric system, to the point of supplying 60% of the energy at the national levell, have a low water level right now. The same thing happens in other dams. Corpoelec avoided talking about attacks and said that “corrective work” has begun in the energy supply chains, called “load management plans”, and affects numerous municipalities. In turn, it was reported that the main electricity supply problems are found in the central-western region. Although Corpoelec announces daily the areas in which cuts will be applied, users complain that the time of the interruption or for how long is never specified.

In addition to Zulia and Mérida, the upheavals were also felt in Caracas, the capital, and in the states of Táchira, Lara and Miranda. The press has reported that in Mérida the cuts have lasted up to 15 hours a day.

A history of cuts

The Committee of People Affected by the Blackouts, a civil association coordinated by Aixa López, leader of the Social Democratic Democratic Action party, has reported a total of 442,000 electrical failures since the gigantic disorder of March 2019. López said that in February 4,850 cuts have been counted, while this month they have already received 6,250 complaints.

Related news

The capital concentrates part of the interruptions. López speaks of five to 12 a day that damage electrical equipment of all kinds. The AD leader claimed to the National Assembly (AN), dominated by the madurismo, that questions Reverol, to know exactly what measures are taken to completely restore the normality of the system. In turn, the Committee of Affected People for Blackouts has requested that the AN finally approve a law to compensate users who, as a result of sudden power cuts, have lost their electrical equipment.

“The governments of (Hugo) Chávez and current President Nicolás Maduro set a tone of secrecy and confidentiality to their reports on the electricity crisis. Ministers and official spokesmen often blame their political opponents and foreign powers, such as the United States, for serious service failures,” the magazine said. As it is. The opposition, on the other hand, has maintained since 2019 that the electricity crisis is the consequence of an anachronistic state management model. Some specialists reproach the authorities with a lack of foresight to anticipate possible droughts.