2024 Venezuelan power outages

A series of nationwide power outages began on August 27 with a blackout affecting 16 states in the country at around 7:12 p.m. and restoring service at approximately 8:30 p.m. On August 30, another blackout was recorded that left more than 20 states in the country without electricity, which began at 4:50 a.m. and continues to affect a good part of the national territory.

Nicolás Maduro's regime attributed the blackouts to alleged sabotage against the country's electrical system, without specifying the culprits and without giving further information. Diosdado Cabello, recently appointed by Maduro as Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, assured that the Government already had information about alleged attacks and justice will be done. According to the media Infobae, these accusations could lead to an escalation of persecution and repression against the political opposition.

Timeline

August 27

Around 7:15 pm on August 27, a first power outage was recorded in several states of the country and in the capital Caracas. After a few minutes, a new power outage was recorded.

At 7:29, through social networks, mainly on X, users reported a new power outage that left several areas of Caracas without power and affected all or part of the states of Zulia, Falcón, Lara, Carabobo, Mérida, Táchira, Miranda, Nueva Esparta, Sucre, Guárico, Bolívar, Aragua, La Guaira, Trujillo, Anzoátegui and Yaracuy.

According to VE Sin Filtro, the blackout affected Internet connectivity by 86% throughout the country. He said that the most affected states were: Táchira: 29%, Mérida: 34%, Falcón: 46%, Nueva Esparta: 66%, Guárico: 64% and Miranda: 67%.

The Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, in a telephone call with the state television channel Venezolana de Telvisión, said that the cause of the blackout was an alleged "terrorist attack" on a transmission tower on line 765, which includes Valle de La Pascua and Valencia, Carabobo state, and blamed the Venezuelan opposition for being the authors of the attack, without presenting evidence or giving more information to support his hypothesis.

Electricity was restored throughout the country after an hour, at approximately 8:30 p.m.

August 30

At approximately 4:50 a.m. on August 30, a power outage occurred that affected the capital district and 21 of the country's 24 states. Several videos on social media showed cities without service. Internet users reported being in the dark in the states of Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo, Yaracuy, Lara, Mérida, Táchira, Barinas, Trujillo, Zulia, Anzoátegui, Monagas, Guárico, Bolívar, La Guaira and Nueva Esparta.

The Minister of Communications of the Nicolás Maduro regime, Freddy Ñáñez, attributed the problem to sabotage in an interview on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión, pointing out opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González as guilty, and also reported that the team of the electrical cabinet is working on the total restoration of the service. He explained that a special operation for surface transport was activated in the capital, managed by the Caraca Metro, although the number of stations or sectors that are in operation is unknown. Ñañez did not specify what type of sabotage was allegedly committed.

The opposition leader, Juan Pablo Guanipa, responded to Freddy Ñañez's accusations through a video on X that the "narrative (of sabotage) is not believed by even the most radical Chavistas, but they end up silent because they are also persecuted by the regime."

President Nicolás Maduro also attributed it to an alleged sabotage against the country's electrical system was the reason for the blackout. Diosdado Cabello, recently appointed by Maduro as Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, said that the government already had information about alleged attacks and would do "justice" against the culprits. According to the media outlet Infobae, these accusations could lead to an escalation of persecution and repression against the political opposition.

At 9:40 a.m. local time, Diosdado Cabello confirmed that the electric service began to stabilize in some sectors of Caracas and said that they were working to restore it throughout the country “in a very short time.” After more than 12 hours without electricity, it was reported that several cities throughout the country had electricity again, however, the network was unstable and fluctuations were recorded.