Venezuela Hit by Electrical Blackout, Authorities Denounce Attack

Caracas, August 30, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela has suffered a nationwide electricity blackout.

According to reports, a major power fluctuation at 4.50 am this Friday was followed by an outage affecting all 24 states in the Caribbean nation.

Venezuelan Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez denounced an attack against the country’s electric infrastructure.

“We are the victims, once again, of an electrical sabotage affecting many states including the capital,” he said in a radio interview. “The electricity authorities are working to restore service.

Ñáñez added that buses had been deployed in Caracas to replace the subway system and vowed that “no one will take away Venezuelans’ peace and tranquility.”

Earlier in a social media post, President Nicolás Maduro denounced the “criminal attack” against the electric system and pointed the finger at “desperate fascist” sectors. He called on the population to remain calm.

Venezuela lived through major electricity issues in 2019, with a blackout in March leaving the country in the dark for several days before supply could be gradually restored. The Maduro government denounced a major terrorist attack targetting the Guri Dam, the country’s main source of electricity.

Around 1:15 pm power supply began to be restored in some areas of Caracas as well as other states. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said authorities were taking “all the necessary measures” to restore the service across the country as well as protect the electric grid from new attacks. He assured that investigations on the denounced sabotage were underway.

By 3.30 pm, social media users and the local press reported that electricity had likewise been restored at least partially in all states, including Zulia and Táchira in western Venezuela.

For his part, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said the armed forces had set the “Centella Plan” in motion to attend to the national emergency, facilitating public transportation and patrolling the streets.

During a press conference on Friday night, President Maduro denounced that the national blackout was caused by an attack against the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant, known as the Guri Dam, the country’s main source of electricity. The 10,235 MW dam is located in eastern Bolívar state.

Maduro added that the sabotage on the electric grid had “different characteristics” from the event in 2019 when an alleged cyber attack affected the computerized system. This time the target was transmission lines and “given the magnitude”, the goal was to cause permanent damage.

However, the president stated that in the past four years, the Guri Dam’s protection system has been significantly improved which avoided its collapse. Maduro assured that the investigation will continue to determine responsibilities but pointed the finger at far-right factions.

The Venezuelan president praised the people’s calm during the day’s events and called for the material and intellectual authors behind the sabotage effort to face justice.