STORY: Power had returned to some parts of Venezuela on Friday (August 30) evening after capital Caracas and much of the rest of the country were plunged into a blackout that the government blamed on sabotage by the opposition, without providing evidence.
President Nicolas Maduro, who is locked in a dispute with the opposition over the outcome of a July 28 presidential election, often blames what he says are “attacks” on the power grid on his political rivals, accusations the opposition has always denied.
The blackout was the result of an attack on the Guri Reservoir, Venezuela’s largest hydroelectric project, Maduro said on state television on Friday evening, as he blamed the opposition and what he said were fascists in the United States.
Maduro offered no evidence for his claims, but said the attack had been focused on transmission lines and was large.
All 24 of the country’s states reported a total or partial loss of electricity supply, Freddy Nanez, the minister of communication and information, said on state television early on Friday morning.
