Maduro announced a rationing of light before the fifth day of blackout

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has extended the suspension of working and student hours in Venezuela by 24 hours, due to the blackout that is announced today in his country. fifth day, and announced several days of rationing to stabilize the electrical system.

The president again blamed the opposition and the US for the power plant fire that destroyed Monday the country's entire energy network, claiming that it was safe. was an attack on the rifle.

This is the second major power outage in less than a month, leaving in the dark 70% of Venezuelans, who were forced to resume their medieval practices to light and preserve their food.

"We are going to spend days where we will have to move to a conscious and organized cargo administration, in order to stabilize the system until we rebuild everything that they have burned," Maduro said in his first few days. statements on the issue since the beginning of the supply problems, Monday. in all the countries.

The President reiterated that he hoped to restore power in the coming hours and fully stabilize the service as soon as possible.

Maduro said that the fire caused in the transformation park of the country's main power plant, the Guri hydroelectric plant, "was caused by a rifle from a steep area". "The attacked place, which was burned down, is a vital place for the transmission of electricity in the country," he added.

He argued that the fact that Venezuela was paralyzed for three days by the lack of energy, "benefits US imperialism and the evil right", both "behind this attack", which aimed to "cause a great fire that left us several weeks without light"

"Behind that is the hand of the President of the United States, Donald Trump," he accused.

Maduro stated that there was evidence to support its version as being used in the Guri hydroelectric plant and that the type of long-range rifle used "probably by a sniper" had been determined, local media and EFE and Europe news agencies reported. Press on.

Guaidó

At the same time, Guaidó, the president in charge of Venezuela appointed by the Parliament, called for organizing new demonstrations for power outages and to develop a final plan to eliminate Maduro from power.

"We call this Saturday all over the country to reject the refusal of electricity," said the new anti-Chavez leader.

At a press conference held in the west of Caracas, Guaidó asked Venezuelans to include Saturday in their demands the "cessation of usurpation," one of the promises with which he swore last January at the head of the government in charge of "illegitimacy". in which, he considers, Maduro engages.

Guaidó asked members of the Armed Forces, the police and public institutions, all led by Chavists, to also organize in small groups, because, he said, "it was time to gather all States, all communities ".

Finally, he reiterated that "all options were on the table" in his desire to end 20 years of Chavismo and that he had the majority support of the international community to achieve this goal.

Chaos

Chaos, to the same extent, leaves without water large areas by the suspension of pumping. Transport is also paralyzed, particularly in the Caracas metro, and is partially affected by communications and electronic banking, which is vital because of the lack of liquidity generated by hyperinflation.

Many Venezuelans survive the power outage with practices from another era: they walk for miles, make oil lamps, salt meat or collect water from their homes. source, in the absence of supply.

Some merchants raised the prices of water bottles or ice packs, which cost between $ 3 and $ 5, a little less than the minimum wage in Venezuela ($ 18,000 bolivars, $ 5.45). Those with access to dollars invade hotels with power plants.

The preservation of food is a real challenge, even if it is much harder to find, because with the power outage, most stores are closed. Some Venezuelans dare to enter the dark supermarkets to find food and other essentials.

The new power failure has further affected communications, so much so that even landline phones do not work. Lack of communication means that companies have no way to bill their fees because ATMs have stopped working and electronic transactions have been suspended.