As Nicolás Maduro forced all TV and radio stations to broadcast his accusation that the U.S. caused the collapse of Venezuela’s power grid, the secret police was arresting Luis Carlos Diaz, the journalist and occasional Caracas Chronicles contributor, that state media is framing for “sabotage”.
While caretaker President Juan Guaidó decrees the emergency and installs a situational room, the Maduro regime stays silent about the precise diagnose and forecast of the crisis, besides the propaganda trope of sabotage. This is what we can assess on the fifth day of the nationwide blackout.
Following the old Roman custom of bread and circus, the Maduro regime has been menacing the country’s baseball and soccer football teams to support the illusion of normality. But as we just saw in a protest in Maracaibo, the players are refusing to follow orders and are standing with the common people.
Most of the country is still in the dark amidst reports of looting and repression by security forces and colectivos, although service has been restored in some areas for now. Caretaker President Juan Guaidó offered a balance of the problem and said he's talked with other nations to ask for help. Parliament is set declare a State of National Alarm this Monday.
One night without electricity in one of the most dangerous cities in the world is stressful. Two, three, four nights in a row, amidst a nationwide blackout, is absolutely terrifying. Priorities, customs, expectations are subjected to all kinds of changes. But one old British novel on a screen can provide shelter.
This is Caracas before Night 4 of the blackout: a ghost town where behavior is increasingly similar to those of apocalyptic novels and movies. Ordinary citizens feel completely abandoned by the State and have no clue of what to expect. The US dollar takes over the survival economy, cash only.
On the afternoon of March 7th, the power went off in all states. In many parts of the country, there has not been a minute of electricity since then to the noon of March 10th. Here is what we know of what could happen in a country that used to export electricity and still has the largest oil reserves on Earth.
Some parts of Caracas have had electricity for a couple of hours, power hasn’t been restored in the rest of the country. It’s been 43 hours already. Chavismo blames the usual suspects: the U.S. and Guaidó, who reiterated his call to march this Saturday. In Caracas, the final rallying point will be the Victoria avenue.
As with most things in life, men and women experience the process of migration differently. They also face different challenges. While the reasons for migrating are “gender neutral,” women experience additional vulnerabilities that migrant men do not.
Imagine you were forced to live far from most of your family and friends. Imagine now that they live in one of the most dangerous countries on Earth. And now picture this: you can’t contact them because there’s no power in the whole country, for almost 24 hours.
We’ve been able to hang on for 21 years in one of the craziest media landscapes in the world. We’ve seen different media outlets in Venezuela (and abroad) closing shop, something we’re looking to avoid at all costs. Your collaboration goes a long way in helping us weather the storm.