“The network is now beginning to be supplied and some sectors here in Caracas are beginning to receive electricity,” said the Interior Minister.
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![A cosmetics store employee lights up with her phone in Caracas, Venezuela, during a major power outage on August 30, 2024. (PEDRO RANCES MATTEY / AFP)](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/pictures/8wHFtGZIahE3uFIbB8I_85Qfask/0x350:6720x4130/432x243/2024/08/30/000-36f694w-66d1fa30335d4324042693.jpg)
Venezuela has been in the grip of a widespread power outage since dawn on Friday, August 30, but electricity is returning to some areas of the capital, Caracas, the Venezuelan government says. “The network is now starting to be supplied and some areas here in Caracas are starting to receive electricity”Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on television late in the morning.
Power has returned to parts of eastern Caracas, AFP journalists observed, but it remained out in most of the city. Electricity has also partially returned to the states of Tachira and Merida, AFP correspondents noted.
Diosdado Cabello, often considered one of the most powerful men in the country, once again attributed the blackout to sabotage by the opposition. “They did not achieve their goals as they hoped, that the country would be on fire a month after the elections. On the contrary, the country is in complete calm”he said.
The country regularly experiences localized power outages and load shedding, but rarely widespread outages. The government regularly attributes these outages to “attacks” orchestrated by the United States and the opposition to overthrow him. Critics of the regime and many specialists believe, on the contrary, that they are the result of poor management of the network, which has deteriorated with the economic crisis.
After the announcement of the re-election of the socialist president Nicolas Madurospontaneous demonstrations left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.
Nicolas Maduro, whose victory was validated by the Supreme Court on August 22, was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council. However, the body has not released the minutes of the polling stations, saying it was the victim of computer hacking.
Such an attack is considered implausible by the opposition, which has made public the minutes obtained through its scrutineers. These show the opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the presidential election, with more than 60% of the votes.