Massive blackout strikes Venezuela's capital, Maduro govt cries 'sabotage'

Venezuela's capital Caracas and much of the rest of the country were plunged into a blackout on Friday and the government blamed it on sabotage by the opposition,
President

Nicolás Maduro

held his political rivals responsible and said there were "attacks" on the power grid, 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, without providing any evidence on state television on Friday evening.

, according to Reuters news agency.

"I won't say more because it is being investigated," Maduro said, adding that a rapid investigation was taking place.
Recalling the 2019's blackout, with some lasting as long as three days, Maduro said, "We are normalizing, regularizing, step-by-step... We are better prepared and in better conditions than in 2019."
The government called the power outage "electrical sabotage" and said that nobody can take away the peace of the Venezulan people.

“Nobody will take away our peace and tranquility of the Venezuelan people,” Freddy Nanez, the communications minister, wrote in a message shared with journalists on Telegram, as per AP news agency.
He further explained that all 24 Venezuelan states had been at least partially affected by the outage, characterizing it as a "desperate" attempt by Maduro's opponents to forcefully remove him from power.
By evening, power had been restored in many areas of the capital following a day of intermittent outages. Maduro, appearing on state TV, expressed gratitude to Venezuelans for their patience after a tumultuous day that saw businesses close, hospitals rely on backup power, and the closure of Caracas' subway system, leaving thousands stranded.
Despite the disruption, residents of the capital remained resilient. Traffic during the typically busy rush hour was lighter than usual, and some people reported difficulties communicating with family members due to a lack of cellphone service. Alejandra Martinez, a 25-year-old salesclerk, noticed the power outage when a fan stopped working but initially thought it would be short-lived. However, upon waking up, she realized it was a more extensive outage, reported AP news agency.
Venezuela's power grid is heavily dependent on the Guri Dam, a massive hydroelectric power station that was inaugurated in the late 1960s. The electrical system has been strained by poor maintenance, a lack of alternative energy sources, and a loss of engineering talent as an estimated 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country's economic hardships in recent years.