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Fifty hours with no electricity in the entire country, for three consecutive nights, Venezuela has been in the dark. It’s a tragedy.
And that’s because people die. There’s no electricity in hospitals. According to figures up to now, 17 people died.
These, however, are the official numbers, offered by Congressman José Manuel Olivares. Unofficial information suggests that the fatalities of this blackout are more than 100.
Venezuelan leader María Corina Machado wonders: “What about babies in incubators? What about patients in intensive therapy? And those who need a dialysis today? And those who need to keep their chemotherapy treatment refrigerated.”
By the time of her tweet, it was not even twenty-four hours since Venezuela was subjected to the Dark Ages brought forth by Socialism of the XXI Century.
Fifty hours have passed so far and her questions still apply, aggravated by the fact that those same patients had to go through more lightless hours.
They isolated the entire country with no Internet access
The Internet observatory, NetBlocks, reported that around 6:00 pm (49 hours since Venezuela had no electricity), 96% of the country had no Internet connection. That is another great achievement of Chavista socialism: they finally isolated the entire country.
Since I’m in exile, I have had no communication with my relatives for over a day. It hurts. It hurts so bad. Because you ignore what is going on. And there, in Venezuela, nothing good ever happens.
Caracas sin luz aún..mientras tanto…#ApagonEnVenezuela pic.twitter.com/mP93Bhlamb
— Leonardo Hernández (@superateadiario) March 9, 2019
The last thing a friend told me was: “It’s hard for us to communicate. There is no access to mobile data. I can’t stand this level of misinformation. I don’t know anything, I don’t know about anyone and I’m going crazy. ”
We are all going crazy. This is inhumane. Maduro, and his allies, are soulless. This cruel regime’s great victory has been to subdue an entire country. Millions of inhabitants, rich, poor, black, white, children, old people, they are all oppressed by Chavista barbarism.
The opposition protested in Caracas, but there is no more strength. Their massive protests were not enough. People know it. It is time for this process to be accelerated, for tension to be triggered and for the regime – and the world – to be challenged. Juan Guaidó, our legitimate president, has managed to impose his agenda and should continue to protect the process. The next step must be deafening – the opposite will not be forgiven by people.
Venezuela is now suffering, for too many hours, parents are under the constant terror of not communicating with their children. Also, to know that hundreds are dying in the dark. This tragedy must be stopped. We have to force the scenarios and seek the outcome soon, particularly because the winds have never been so favorable.
Today, in front of thousands, Guaidó showed that he understands. He proved, again, that he is at the level of the circumstance he’s in.
In the face of such an urgency and the stubborness of the regime, he gave a speech focused on the possibility of requesting a foreign military mission in Venezuela to put an end to the drama; anything else would be unsuitable.
“Focused on the objective – and hard days are coming because of the regime – when the time comes, we’ll apply articles 233, 333 and 187,” he said. People cheered when they heard one-eight-seven. This article, of the Constitution, in point 11, reads as follows: “The National Assembly is responsible for authorizing the use of Venezuelan military missions abroad or foreign in the country.” It is the great tool that must continue, after the other articles mentioned by President Juan Guaidó.
11 PM.
22 estados sin luz.
6 horas #SinLuz, en Caracas es un récord.
Caos, preocupación e indignación.
Este apagón evidencia la ineficiencia del usurpador. La recuperación del sector eléctrico y del país pasa por el cese de la usurpación. pic.twitter.com/cC8PVT3qyg
— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) March 8, 2019
On social media, the interim president stated: “22 states without electricity, 6 hours with no electricity was Caracas’ record. Chaos, concern and outrage. This blackout demonstrates the inefficiency of the usurper. The recovery of the electricity sector and the country will happen after the cessation of the usurpation”.
Those who favor state intervention in the economy and subsidized services, tend to use Venezuela’s “free” electricity as an example to follow, undermining that what the government has the power to give, it also has the power to take away.
Plus, from an economic perspective, there is no investment whatsoever in improving the service, therefore it tends to collapse, triggered by inefficiency and lastly as a weapon against the population.
It has been the will of the dictatorship to bend the citizens through the destruction of all services. Today they seem to win with this new siege – which looks more lethal and cruel than any other. There is no ineptitude or clumsiness nor was Marco Rubio to blame. It is the perfidy, the intention and the desire to see the people who still resist suffer.
But Venezuela cannot stand, neither Venezuelans within Venezuela nor abroad. This is unspeakable. Maduro has crossed every red line that has been drawn.
Damn it! Which one will it be the last?
*Mamela Fiallo participated in the elaboration of this article.
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