Venezuela’s Power Outage Hits Over Half of Consumers

Blackouts hit the greater part of Venezuela Tuesday. Thirteen states were affected, as well as the Federal District. Caracas, the capital, faced chaos with power failures to the metro and traffic lights.

Jesse Chacón, who heads the Ministry of Electric Power, explained that a failure in the “backbone” of the Caroni system cut power at 12:30 p.m. to over half of the country. This, he said, represented 60 percent of the energy that is consumed nationwide.

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States affected were: Lara, Zulia, Miranda, Mérida, Trujillo, Táchira, Carabobo y Barinas, Falcón, Yaracuy, Portuguesa, Cojedes, Aragua.

Venezuelans have suffered worsening blackouts for several years, but Caracas is generally spared. Critics blame the government’s chronic lack of investment in the electrical grid and generating plants to keep up with growing demand.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Communications and Information Minister Delcy Rodríguez said power had been returned to six of the 13 states — including the capital.

Source: Latin-American Herald Tribune. Read More »