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Published: Saturday June 28, 2014 MYT 6:10:42 AM
Updated: Saturday June 28, 2014 MYT 6:10:42 AM
Updated: Saturday June 28, 2014 MYT 6:10:42 AM
Venezuela blackout leaves commuters scrambling, silences president
BY BRIAN ELLSWORTH AND PATRICIA VELEZ
People try to find other modes of transportation after subway services were cut off during a blackout in Caracas June 27, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
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CARACAS (Reuters) - A blackout cut power to much of Venezuela on Friday, snarling traffic in the capital Caracas and other major cities as authorities scrambled to restore electricity after the outage, which twice interrupted a presidential broadcast.
Pedestrians streamed into the streets of Caracas as the blackout shuttered the underground metro trains and left frustrated drivers honking in the chaos without stoplights.
Government ministers in the late afternoon said they expected power would be restored shortly. It was the second nationwide major electricity outage in less than a year.
"How am I going to get to my house? By the grace of God," said Pedro Mayora, 58, an accountant who was waiting outside the Metro to see how he would reach his home on the poor west end of the city.
Workers stood in groups outside evacuated buildings, some complaining of difficulty in communicating over congested cellular phone lines.
An outage at a power station in the centre of the country led to other generation centres going offline, halting service in that region and in the Andes region in the west, Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon told state television.
The problems extended to Maracaibo, Venezuela's second city, and the industrial centre of Valencia.
The OPEC nation has suffered an increasing number of power outages in recent years, which critics have attributed to low electricity tariffs and limited state investment following the 2007 nationalization of the power sector.
Television screens froze for several seconds as Maduro was speaking during a broadcast of the awards ceremony for a national journalism prize. The words "It looks like the power went out" were audible in the background.
"Traffic normally flows fine, but with the power out it's complete chaos," said Carlos Pena, 58, a fuel station worker.
A representative of state oil company PDVSA said there were no reports of the oil industry being affected.
President Nicolas Maduro in December blamed a similar power outage on opposition saboteurs who attacked a transmission line with a firearm.
Critics call the power problems a symptom of 15 years of socialist policies that have left the country without a steady supply of energy despite having the world's largest oil reserves.
Late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in 2007 nationalized the country's power sector as part of a broad wave of state takeovers.
Maduro this year weathered three months of often violent opposition demonstrations demanding his resignation that were in part motivated by complaints over shoddy public services. He said the protests were a U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow him.
http://latina-press.com/news/181357-venezuela-blackout-in-mehreren-bundesstaaten/
Venezuela: "Blackout" in several states
In several Venezuelan states occurred on Friday afternoon (27), local power failure. According to reports from non-state-controlled / manipulated media joined the "Blackout" in several cities in the states of Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo, Lara, Zulia, Falcón, Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo, Cojedes, Guárico, Anzoategui, Sucre, Portuguesa, Bolívar, Amazonas and in the Distrito Capital (Caracas) on.
Unofficially, it was announced that 60% of the oil-richest country in the world were left without electricity. Meanwhile, President Nicolas Nicolás announced at an event in Miraflores that this error was being investigated. "It seems that there is a problem," said the head of state.
Russia Today......
Massive electrical blackout impacts large portion of Venezuela (PHOTOS)
A hairdressing salon in the dark during a power cut in Caracas, on June 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)
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Venezuela
Venezuelan authorities were scrambling to gather information on a massive blackout that impacted the capital of Caracas as well as large swaths of the country, highlighting what has been a persistent problem for the South American country.
Venezuelan authorities were scrambling to gather information on a massive blackout that impacted the capital of Caracas as well as large swaths of the country, highlighting what has been a persistent problem for the South American country.
Speaking to the nation on Friday, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s address on live television was interrupted several times by a rolling blackout, which impacted both the capital as well as the second city of Maracaibo and the industrial center of Valencia, reported Reuters.
"It seems like there are some problems, we are going to investigate the problems we are having with electrical service in some parts of the country," Maduro in a live speech.
A cashier at a minimarket uses his cell phone as a flashlight during a power cut in Caracas, on June 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)
According to Jesse Chacón, the government minister overseeing electrical power, Venezuela’s grid suffered a failure at the La Arenosa substation, which then cascaded through to at least seven of the country’s states, including Aragua, Monagas, Zulia, Portuguesa, Anzoátegui, Bolívar, Trujillo, Amazonas, Mérida y Sucre.
Venezuela has suffered from recurring power blackouts in the last few years, attributed to insufficient state investment following the nationalization of the power grid in 2007. In April Maduro had ordered the militarization of electrical substations throughout Venezuela, suggesting that the power failures were brought on by saboteurs seeking to destabilize the country.
People shop at a minimarket during a power cut in Caracas, on June 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)
The key electrical substation that failed on Friday connects the interior and the western regions of the country to the Guri hydroelectric dam, which produces over 60% of the nation’s power.
In Caracas, throngs of Venezuelans were seen making their way through the streets after the city’s metro was brought down by the power outage. The blackout also impacted several rail lines.
Beyond substation failures, in 2010 Venezuela was facing an electrical power crisis due to a drought which impacted the Guri dam. The country then invested millions to reestablish service once weaknesses in the power grid unraveled.
A hairdressing salon in the dark during a power cut in Caracas, on June 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)
Residents use the stairs in a building during a power cut in Caracas, on June 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leo Ramirez)
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