Interim president Juan Guaido gave a press conference today in which he spoke on the ongoing blackout affecting the country, which has now entered its fourth day.
In its latest update on the blackout, Netblocks pointed out that as of 1:00 PM local time, only 20% of the country had power and that there were “new disruptions” occurring:
During the press conference, Guaido expressed disbelief at the fact that the outage is still happening, and reminded listeners that it has been a decade since the Venezuelan government declared the country’s electrical system to be in a state of crisis. Guaido said:
What we’re living today in Venezuela seems like a science fiction movie. In 2009, when they [the government] declared an electrical emergency [they said that] they would invest $100 billion dollars. In 2013, they militarized the electrical sector. A decade has passed…
The Maduro regime has blamed the blackout on a nebulous set of causes, including a “cybernetic” and/or an “electromagnetic” attack. It has yet to provide any evidence to back up any of its claims.
Yesterday, Alí Briceño–en executive secretary with the Federación de Trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica (National Federation of Electrical Industry Workers) called the regime’s version of events “impossible”, and explained the facts behind the outage:
From the Malena electrical substation, in northern Bolivar state, to the Guri dam on the shores of the Orinoco river in Puerto Ordaz, the brush had grown in such a way that there was a vegetation fire that took three 765kW lines offline, two because they were overheated and one because if was overloaded.
Protective [responses] kicked off automatically, and the turbines at Guri turned off. When this happens, we have to calibrate frequency, and the people who have the ability and technical knowledge to do that are no longer with us. The highly knowledgeable staff at [CORPOELEC] has left .
Briceño’s comments echo statements from a CORPOELEC source published by El Pitazo earlier this week.
Guaido spoke to Maduro and Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez, whom he referred to “a psychiatrist” given his educational background. Guaido said:
You’ve hidden behind the psychiatrist enough, dictator. Show your face. Show your face.
To the citizens of Venezuela, Guaido said:
And you, who live en los estados [roughly, “around the country”], you have the right to protest. You have the right to made demands, the right to raise your voice, the right to ask for your families. You have the right to take to the streets and make demands.
Guaido Calls for Emergency Legislative Session, Calls for “Street Action”
Guaido also announced that there would be an emergency session of the National Assembly tomorrow, as well as the goal of the meeting:
I am going to ask that the National Assembly decree a State of National Alarm. We must tend to this emergency immediately.
Article 338 of the Constitution allows for the declaration of a “state of alarm” in the event that “catastrophes, public calamities or similar events” put national security and that of Venezuelan citizens at risk.
Regime Cancels School, Work for Tomorrow
The Maduro regime announced that it all school and places of work will remain closed tomorrow, the second time since the blackout began on Thursday night.
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