Blackout in Venezuela: Citizen anxiety worsens the fourth day without electricity

Without light, without water, in secret, the Venezuelans gather this Sunday three days of unprecedented power outage who has already left 17 patients dead and threat to continue indefinitely, increasing anxiety who are suffering from the serious political and economic crisis affecting the oil country.

The mbadive suspension of electrical service, the worst recorded in the history of this country of 30 million inhabitants, began Thursday at 16:53 (20:53 GMT), taking dramatic limits: the deceased are kidney patients who could not receive dialysis, according to the NGO Codevida.

In some areas of the capital and other major cities of the country, electrical service returned early Sunday, but oldexperts warn of the risk of new power cuts, as it happened a few hours ago.

Although the offer resumed Friday in parts of Caracas and other places, the light was cut again Saturday at noon in most of the country. "A second megapause occurred yesterday at noon because they had not properly resolved the real failure," said specialist José Aguilar. "They had to start from scratch," he added.

Hospitals with generators use them in case of emergency. "It was horrible. Everything is black. Only certain areas with a power plant that they wore because the hospital was not working"he said to AFP Sol Dos Santos, 22, is hospitalizing her daughter in Caracas.

The country is practically paralyzed with closed companies and few means of transport, without work or school activities. Among the population, anxiety grows because food begins to be damaged and water is scarce.

"I spent three nights in great anxiety. I am very worried because this situation is not resolved, the little food we have in the fridge will spoil us. How long are we going to endure this?"he said to the AFP Francisca Rojas, a 62-year-old retired woman living in eastern Caracas.

The energy crisis has become the new impetus for power between President Nicolás Maduro and the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, a head of parliament recognized by more than 50 countries as acting president from Venezuela.

Maduro denounced "electromagnetic attacks" on the "brain" of the Guri hydroelectric plant, located in the state of Bolívar (in the south), the largest in Venezuela and the second in Latin America, after Itaipú (Brazil -Paraguay).

Guaidó and experts criticize the government for lack of investment and maintenance, and corruption, in the face of recurrent interruptions of electricity service, mainly in the interior of the country, but the authorities denounce acts of "sabotage" constant.

The experts consulted believe that the failure comes from transmission lines that transport energy from hydroelectric power plants to southern and southern Venezuela. the scheme has precarious equipment and few staff to deal with the emergency. "It can be deduced from the delay and consequences of failure that it was a problem in the lines that leave Guri and not in the factory as such," said Miguel Lara, electrical engineer and former president of a state office responsible for the operation of the electrical system.

– From bad to worse –
The huge power outage comes to punish even more a population suffering from shortage of drugs and food and hyperinflation.

"Every day worse. We have the worst services in the world: no electricity, no water, sometimes no gas"he said to the AFP Edward Cazano, 20, lives with his mother and three brothers in the Pinto Salinas district of Caracas.

Many supermarkets are closed because they do not have a power station. No one can withdraw cash from ATMs or use any type of card, in a country where electronic transactions are vital even for small operations because there is no cash.

On the main roads of Caracas, the traffic was more intense than usual. Many drivers have rows in the few gas pumps that resumed operations when electricity returned and others stopped in the middle of some roads where cell phones were operating.

The Caracas Metro underground service still did not work and almost no public transportation system operated in the city, making communication difficult in the capital, where few radio stations could transmit information using power stations. .

According to the UN, in a country with an exodus of 2.7 million Venezuelans since 2015, incommunicado detention is trying. While trying to receive a signal from their cell phones, many cars are parked at the edge of the Francisco Fajardo highway, the main one in Caracas, where there are repeaters nearby.

"I have my son and my brother outside of Venezuela, and they want to know about us, and I want to see news," he said. AFP the young Bernardette Ramírez.

Dozens of people are still stranded at Maiquetía International Airport due to the suspension of several flights.

"The airport does not have water. I went three times to see if my flight. I'm going to Miami because my brother had an accident, but I'm back. These pods are not going to bad me. Before leaving this country, these guys will make their appearance (in reference to Chavismo), "said Rossy Fernández, 62, who lives east of Caracas.

– No solution in sight –
The service was only restored a few hours during these three days. According to the Corpoelec electricity company, 40% of the inhabitants of Caracas have electricity. The cut affects the capital and 22 of the country's 23 states.

In its first public appearance since the start of the blackout, Maduro said Saturday in front of a crowd of supporters in Caracas that progress had been made in reconnecting nearly 70 percent of the country, but another attack, "toppled everything what had been accomplished.

Before the prolongation of the crisis, the socialist president announced the distribution of subsidized food in popular neighborhoods, water badistance and hospitals.

Strengthen its offensive in this energy crisis, Guaidó announced Saturday, in front of thousands of supporters, a national tour with MPs to define the date of a mobilization in Caracas.

Guaidó also reiterated his willingness to allow the action of a foreign force, baduring that "all options are on the table", as stated by the United States about possible recourse to military action in Venezuela.

Minister of Communication Jorge Rodríguez announced that Venezuela will denounce the United States again for the blackout and will present the "evidence of sabotage" to a mission of the UN Human Rights Office. United to arrive Sunday in the country.

(With information from AFP and Reuters)