A taste of déjà vu during Venezuela’s widespread power outages

Photo: Pedro Rances Mattey Agence France-Presse In Caracas, many people, unaware of the extent of the power outage, went to work thinking it only affected their neighborhood.

Margioni Bermudez – Agence France-Presse in Caracas

Published yesterday at 3:15 p.m.

• Americas

Traffic lights out, shops open but in the dark, and misinformation… A general power outage hit Venezuela on Friday, reviving memories of the five-day blackout that traumatized the country in 2019.

As at the time, the government attributes this cut to sabotage. It comes a month after the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro, accused of fraud by an opposition that claims victory in the July 28 election.

Many people, unaware of the extent of the outage, went to work thinking it only affected their neighborhood.

Ronald Herrera, a 39-year-old shopkeeper, opened his store in Caracas, hoping to sell his merchandise before it got damaged.

“It affects me like all shopkeepers, I worry about the merchandise,” chicken and fresh cheese, he explains, saying he spent $230 this week to repair one of his refrigerators, damaged by a power surge that cost him $400 worth of products.

His neighbors, Carlos Peña and his wife, Carmen Pérez, also preferred to open their grocery store, to “sell the chicken that we have.”

Photo: Ariana Cubillos Associated Press The power outage complicates the lives of fresh produce vendors in Caracas.

This widespread power outage is reminiscent of the one in March 2019. President Nicolas Maduro spoke at the time of an “electromagnetic attack” by the United States with the complicity of the opposition.

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“This is a new electrical sabotage,” said Communications Minister Freddy Nanez on Friday. “We experienced it in 2019, we know what it cost us in 2019, what it cost us to recover the national electrical system. »

Common in certain regions

Since power outages are not common in the capital, many businesses do not have generators, unlike states such as Zulia (west) and Bolivar (south), where frequent power cuts have forced small businesses and entrepreneurs to equip themselves with them.

“I thought it was just another power outage like the ones that happen every day here,” jokes Elena Jiménez, a 66-year-old housewife from Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia state.

“It reminds me of the power outage a few years ago, which was very severe,” notes Nairelis Ramirez, a resident of Los Puertos de Altagracia, on the outskirts of Maracaibo. “We're waiting to see what happens.” »

Photo: Ariana Cubillos Associated Press The sun rose Friday in Caracas over buildings that were mostly without electricity.

Dollarization

In 2019, the blackout coincided with one of the worst moments of the economic crisis in which Venezuela is immersed.

In the state of Zulia, one of the hottest in the country, with average temperatures of 38 to 40 degrees Celsius, many people queued up for a glass of cold water or slept in public squares to enjoy the night breeze.

The blackoutat the time had been the de facto kick-off of the dollarization of Venezuela. Without the possibility of having cash and without electricity to pay with bank cards, the population had started to pay for their purchases with saved American dollars.

In a square in the center of Caracas, Leticia Quiroga, 30, waits for instructions: she is a civil servant and does not know whether she should go to work or not. “Because you are mentally accustomed to certain things […], I prepared myself to go to work,” she says, distraught.