Mass blackouts leave Venezuelans in the dark

Massive power outages early on Friday morning left Venezuelans in the dark. According to local news sources, at least 20 of the country’s 23 states reported blackouts as of 2:00 a.m. local time.

Venezuelans first took to social media to report the outages and soon it became apparent that power failures had occurred in the capital, Caracas, as well as in the states of Zulia, Mérida, Carabobo, Miranda, Lara, Aragua, Apure, Anzoátegui, Vargas, Bolívar, Nueva Esparta, Barinas, Trujillo, Sucre, Táchira, Falcón, Yaracuy and Portuguesa.

One of the Maduro dictatorship’s ministers, Nestor Reverol, was quick to denounce the outages as an “attack to the national electric system,” claiming the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant at the Guri Dam was targeted.

"We have suffered a new attack on the National Electric System, specifically at the Guri Dam. Once again, those who were furious in 2019 have lashed out against the peace of the country,” Reverol told the regime’s Venezolana de Televisión station.

Massive blackouts have become a constant in Venezuela, where the nation’s electric grid has deteriorated due to a serious lack of maintenance by the Maduro regime.

Although massive blackouts are less frequent, Venezuelan households regularly lose power throughout the day. While this is less frequent in Caracas, it has become a daily reality throughout the rest of the country.

But this round of blackouts has been met with particular scorn and Venezuelans were quick to take to social media to call on Maduro to act.

Ironically, the regime’s official television station, VTN, recently began running an animated cartoon called “Super Mustache,” where strongman Nicolas Maduro appears dressed as a superhero to “fight imperialism.”

Venezuela’s rampant blackouts are justified in the animated series through attacks by the opposition, especially by two well-known personalities such as Julio Borges and Henry Ramos Allup. Donald Trump is also featured as the mastermind behind the failing energy grids.

Ironically, the cartoon’s slogan is “with his iron fist,” a phrase which Maduro coined in 2013 when his opposition challenged his ability to rule. "I will rule with an iron fist," he would often say.

Maduro first called himself “super mustache” in 2019 when former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno accused him of instigating protests in Quito and Guayaquil. “I’m not superman, I’m super mustache,” Maduro joked.