Power still flickering, Venezuelans take to streets to protest

Thousands of opposition supporters marched to central Caracas on Saturday, defying a government ban on rallies in the Venezuelan capital’s core and testing a heavy police presence as the country struggled to emerge from its worst blackout in recent memory.

Anatoly Kurmanaev and Isayen HerreraThe New York Times
Published : 10 March 2019, 09:56 AM
Updated : 10 March 2019, 09:56 AM

Clashes between police and protesters were reported early in the day, but a cordon of officers stepped aside to allow the demonstrators to rally and hear from opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

“We have to conquer public spaces in a peaceful manner,” Guaidó declared. “We have to prepare ourselves for very tough times.”

Power was intermittent in Caracas on Saturday, two days after the country went dark, and it remained off in large portions of the country’s west. Much of the country’s telecommunications network was offline after another power failure Saturday, according to NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group. State utility workers say it will take days to fully restore the national grid.

Opposition leaders have staged rallies for weeks in an effort to dislodge President Nicolás Maduro, whose re-election they say was rigged and whose policies they claim have brought the country to economic ruin.

The problems caused by the blackout — a loss of communication and public transportation — had complicated the opposition’s efforts to organise Saturday’s protests. But its leaders were jubilant at the result: a series of demonstrations across the country that drew thousands of supporters and only limited pushback from authorities.

The nationwide power failure has intensified pressure on Maduro, who appeared in public Saturday for the first time since a problem at Venezuela’s main hydropower plant Thursday afternoon plunged the country into darkness. Backup generators at upmarket hotels, which have become sanctuaries for Caracas’ affluent, had begun running out of fuel by Saturday.

A rival pro-government rally in Caracas on Saturday drew a smaller crowd.

Maduro and his ministers have blamed the blackout on sabotage, without providing evidence, and have said the United States was behind it.

Critics have said it was the result of years of mismanagement and underinvestment.

The blackout has crippled air travel and public transportation, devastated scarce food supplies and threatened the lives of thousands of hospital patients. Opposition leaders claimed that 79 patients across the country had died because of the blackout, although that figure could not be independently corroborated.

© 2019 New York Times News Service