The main university of Venezuela refuted Maduro's thesis by the blackout and warned that rationing would take months.

The Central University of Venezuela (UCV) refuted Wednesday the sabotage thesis of the Nicolás Maduro government to explain the mbadive power cut suffered by the country last week, transferring the responsibility for the event to a failure of transmission lines or theaters. production.

The Faculty of Engineering of the UCV concluded in a report – dated Tuesday – that the blackout that left the majority of the country in the dark for 5 days It was caused by a fire that affected 3 transmission lines and was removed from synchronism towards the Guri hydropower plant..

In addition, it determined that the turbines of the "Central II" of this hydropower complex, the largest in Venezuela, had suffered damage that will force electrical rationing in several areas.

The document also notes that the inoperability of Guri recharged thermoelectric generation systems, which in any case has lost the necessary synchronicity to use Venezuelan transmission lines and is disconnected automatically.

The the findings of this report contradict the official version, who defends President Maduro himself, about a alleged "cyber attack" to the Guri "brain" which was mingled with "electromagnetic" sabotage at transmission lines and "physical" damage, with reference to intentional damage to substations.

Chavez's leader insisted on Tuesday to denounce the fact that the power outage had been caused by sabotage, for which he blamed the United States and the local opposition.

But the opposition agrees with the experts to point out that the mismanagement of the millionaire resources intended for the electrical sector, as well as the incompetence in the administration of the system, are the true causes of the most long blackout that has suffered the oil nation.

Power cuts are common in Venezuela, a country plunged into the worst economic downturn in its modern history, although it is a deposit of great natural wealth.

Failures in service have increased over the last five years, and the Chavez regime has often spoken of sabotage to explain the more brutal cuts in the provinces, which are already being felt in Caracas, the capital and seat of power. public.

Report conclusions:

-The power outage of 07/03/2019 was caused by a failure of the 765 kV transmission system which resulted in the production of all hydroelectric generation and the inability of the thermoelectric power plants to maintain a part of the national electrical system.
-The stability of the electrical service is not short term, as it is developed in the hypotheses

Report recommendations:

– Alert the academic community and the country on the impact of daily activities by promoting the efficient use and economy of electric energy among citizens and thus contribute to the maintenance of the system up to # 39 to the normalization of the situation.
– Analyze the impact of the implementation of electricity rationing in the academic and administrative activities of UCU.
– Urge the national government to develop a comprehensive national electricity service development plan, with the participation of PDVSA, CORPOELEC, engineering professionals with industry experience, academy, related companies to the electricity sector and other actors related to the sector. energy sector, for the recovery and modernization of the national electricity system.

(With EFE information)