CARACAS: More than half of Venezuela’s 23 states lost power on Monday. The government blamed on an electromagnetic attack for the widespread blackout. It was the first blackout which included the capital, Caracas, since March, when the government blamed the opposition and United States for a series of power outages that left millions of people without running water and telecommunications.
The blackouts exacerbated an economic crisis that has halved the size of the economy. Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the outage on Monday was caused by an “electromagnetic attack,” without providing any evidence for it. He added that authorities were in the process of re-establishing service.
Power returned for about 10 minutes to parts of southeastern Bolivar state, site of the Guri hydroelectric dam – the source of most of Venezuela’s generation – but went out again. Electricity was still out throughout Caracas. (Agencies)
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