Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro suspended classes on a national level and freed citizens from work on Friday in order to promptly deal with power blackout in the Latin American country, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said
BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2019) Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro suspended classes on a national level and freed citizens from work on Friday in order to promptly deal with power blackout in the Latin American country, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said.On Thursday, Venezuela's National Electric Power Corporation (Corpoelec) informed about "deliberate sabotage" at the Guri dam. Local media, meanwhile, said that the subsequent blackout had hit 21 out of 23 states of Venezuela, with metro lines shut down and mobile service partially disrupted as a result. The power supply in the eastern part of the country has already been fully restored. Maduro accused the United States of waging an "electricity war" against Venezuela.
"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro suspended classes and freed citizens from work today, in order to facilitate efforts to restore the work of the electric power service in the country, which became a victim of the imperialist war on electric power. Venezuelans, united, will win! The coup does not work!" Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has dismissed Maduro's accusations, saying that the United States as well as its allies had nothing to do with a major power outage.
Since January, Venezuela has been facing a deep political crisis. On January 5, lawmaker Juan Guaido was elected the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016.
On January 23, two days after the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled his election, Guaido declared himself the country's "interim president." Maduro, who was sworn in for his second presidential term on January 10 after winning the May election, which part of the opposition boycotted, qualified Guaido's move as an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington.
The United States immediately recognized Guaido, after which some 50 other countries followed suit. Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and a number of other states have, in the meantime, voiced their support for the legitimate government of Maduro. Mexico and Uruguay have refused to recognize Guaido, declaring themselves neutral and promoting crisis settlement via dialogue.
