
[ad_1]
Power was restored in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela on Saturday after a blackout plunged much of the country into darkness on Friday, but Reuters witnesses said intermittent blackouts persisted in the oil-producing state of Zulia.
Venezuela’s government has blamed a massive blackout that crippled the South American country on an “attack” on the country’s largest dam, Guri, but has provided no further details.
“My first thought was that the food would go bad and it was too expensive to buy,” said Jose Rincon, a teacher who lives in downtown Valencia. “If you think everything is bad, it seems like it can only get worse.”
Reyner Acosta, a 62-year-old retiree in Maracaibo, Zulia’s main town, said power was restored Saturday morning but then went out again. “We are in a bind because the power is intermittent,” he said as he shopped at a market to replenish food that had gone bad during the outage.
The country’s largest oil terminal, Jose, resumed operations on Saturday after being disrupted by a power outage, an industry source said.
About 70% of Venezuela’s oil exports are processed through the terminal, which has no energy system of its own.
Petropiar, a major oil upgrading project that produces exportable crude, also resumed operations on Saturday, according to two company sources.
Experts say the blackouts that have plagued Venezuela for years are caused by a lack of maintenance and reduced investment in the power system.
In 2019, Venezuela suffered a series of nationwide blackouts that lasted for several days. At the time, Venezuelan authorities also blamed the blackouts on opposition attacks.
[ad_2]
Source link