Venezuela's Struggle: Blackout Plunges Nation Into Darkness

Electricity returned to Caracas and parts of Venezuela after a blackout on Friday, but intermittent outages persist, especially in Zulia state. The government blamed an attack on the Guri Dam. Citizens expressed frustration over spoiled food. Key oil facilities have resumed operations, but issues with maintenance persist.

Electricity has been restored to Caracas and other parts of Venezuela as of Saturday, following a blackout on Friday that left much of the country in the dark. Despite this, intermittent outages continue to plague the oil-rich state of Zulia, as per Reuters witnesses.

Venezuelan authorities have attributed the extensive blackout to an 'attack' on the country's largest dam, Guri, although they've yet to provide additional details. 'The first thing I thought was that food would spoil, and fresh groceries are already too expensive,' said Jose Rincon, a teacher in Valencia. 'It's distressing how things just seem to get worse.'

In Maracaibo, Zulia's capital, 62-year-old retiree Reyner Acosta stated that the electricity briefly returned early Saturday but was cut off again. 'We struggled because the power kept coming and going,' he said while buying food to replace what had gone bad during the outage.

On a positive note, the Jose oil terminal, Venezuela's largest, resumed operations on Saturday, having been disrupted by the blackout. The terminal handles about 70% of Venezuela's oil exports but lacks its own independent power system.

Petropiar, a key oil upgrader, also restarted operations according to industry sources. Experts indicate that years of insufficient maintenance and investment in the electrical system are behind Venezuela's recurrent blackouts, which have become an all-too-familiar plight for the nation. A similar series of outages in 2019 were likewise officially reported as opposition attacks.

(With inputs from agencies.)