Venezuela has been making headlines recently for a power outage that sent the whole country into chaos. Two weeks ago, the lack of electricity sweeping the country threatened the lives of civilians, while hurting Venezuela’s already struggling economy. This initial attack was blamed on an “electromagnetic attack” on the Guri hydroelectric plant, which supplies most of the state’s power. This theory, by President Maduro, has been criticized by opposition leader Juan Guaido. Still, hospital patients (mainly on dialysis) were killed, as well as civilians who had to drink contaminated water. Unsurprisingly, the country was filled with anxiety when just two weeks after this incident, another blackout took place. Although the issue was mostly resolved within a few hours, some citizens are still without power. Citizens are still angry about the lack of consistency or preparation on the government’s behalf. The stress of these events could have a lingering effect on the country.
Since I reported on this topic for my last regional report, I was already familiar with the situation in Venezuela, and not at all surprised that the same thing happened again! I’m still wondering how the citizens are going to react towards the government. Since Venezuela has an already unconventional government (with President Maduro as President and Juan Guaido as the leader), an economic crisis, and has already dealt with this same issue, I think there will be problems down the road. Some quotes from the article are from citizens who are concerned about keeping their food fresh, having access to water, and being able to take public transit to work, if they are able to work under the conditions. Understandably, the citizens also blame the government for not being more prepared. Hospitals should have generators, for example! People are dying because of this kind of governmental negligence. If the citizens are unhappy with the current situation, riots or other forms of protest will probably soon follow the blackouts.