Massive blackout cripples most of Venezuela, government blames ‘electromagnetic attack’
- President Nicolas Maduro and his government have insisted that the country’s electrical problems are a product of sabotage
- Industry experts and critics point to a lack of investment and maintenance
The lights went out across much of Venezuela Monday, reviving fears of the blackouts that plunged the country into chaos a few months ago as the government once again accused opponents of sabotaging the nation’s hydroelectric power system.
The power in much of the capital went out at 4.41pm and immediately backed up traffic as stop lights and the subway stopped working during rush hour.
Almost three hours into the blackout authorities broke their silence and blamed an “electromagnetic attack” on a series of dams located in southern Venezuela – the same culprit it attributed an almost week-long outage in March that left millions of Venezuelans without water or the ability to communicate with loved ones.
“The first indications received from the investigation … point to the existence of an electromagnetic attack that sought to affect the hydroelectric generation system of Guayana,” Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez said in a statement on state television.
Guayana, a natural region in southern Venezuela, is home to the Guri hydroelectric power station that produces 80 per cent of the country’s electricity.