Power beginning to return in Venezuela after nationwide blackout

CARACAS/BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela (Reuters) -Power began to return to some parts of Venezuela on Friday afternoon after capital Caracas and much of the rest of the country were earlier plunged into a blackout that the government blamed on sabotage by the opposition, without providing evidence.

President Nicolas Maduro, who is locked in a dispute with the opposition over the outcome of a July 28 presidential election, often blames what he says are “attacks” on the power grid on his political rivals, accusations the opposition has always denied.

All 24 of the country’s states reported a total or partial loss of electricity supply, Freddy Nanez, the minister of communication and information, said on state television early on Friday morning.

“We have been victims once again of electrical sabotage,” he said. He gave no evidence of a deliberate attack.

By about 1pm local time (1600 GMT), power had returned to some parts of western city Maracaibo, central city Valencia, eastern city Puerto Ordaz and capital Caracas, according to Reuters witnesses.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello told state television on Friday morning that power would return gradually, beginning with the capital.

The blackout hit some operations of state oil company PDVSA, including its largest terminal, Jose, where vessel loading and discharging was interrupted by the outage, according to sources and a shipping document seen by Reuters. A key oil upgrader that produces exportable crude, Petropiar, was also affected.

About 70% of Venezuela’s oil exports are handled through Jose, which does not have its own power system. Most of U.S. firm Chevron’s Venezuelan crude exports go out from Petropiar.

PDVSA’s Caracas headquarters lost power but the company’s largest refining complex Paraguana was unaffected, as its own power plant was in service, the sources said.

In Venezuela’s largest oil region, the Orinoco Belt, the impact of the blackout was minimal as many oilfields and operations have their own generators, sources said.

In the western city of Barquisimeto, residents were stocking up on gasoline and food.

Lawyer Alexa Rivas, 29, avoided what she said were five kilometer (three mile)-long lines at urban gas stations by driving to a service station outside the city.

“I can’t be without gasoline, I have a 3-year-old boy and my mom is 70, I need to have reserves for any emergency,” she said. “We’ve lived through two national blackouts, it makes us very nervous.”

Venezuela last suffered national blackouts in 2019, with some lasting as long as three days. Authorities also attributed those power outages to attacks on the network – such as damage to power lines – by saboteurs and opponents of Maduro’s government.

Critics have long blamed power cuts on deteriorating infrastructure amid the country’s fiscal woes. Major opposition figure Juan Pablo Guanipa scoffed at the sabotage accusations on Friday.

“This narrative isn’t believed by even the most radical Chavistas,” Guanipa said on X, referring to loyalists of the ruling socialists.

In Caracas, workers gathered outside office buildings in the central Plaza Venezuela in the morning, awaiting instructions from bosses about whether or not to go home.

Bakery worker Alejandro Rondon, 25, said the store’s card payment machine was still working and he was selling what he could.

“We can’t make anything today because the ovens aren’t working. My fear is for the yeast, which needs to be cold,” he said.

Services on the city’s metro were halted and had been replaced by more than 250 buses, Transport Minister Ramon Velasquez said. About 79 public hospitals were open to patients, the health ministry said.

Venezuela’s government and opposition both say their candidate won last month’s election, with the electoral authority and Supreme Court backing Maduro. Authorities have not released full vote tallies despite international calls to do so.

Arrests of opposition figures have risen sharply over the last week.

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera, Mayela Armas and Deisy Buitrago in Caracas and Keren Torres in Barquisimeto; Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston, Mircely Guanipa in Maracay, Tibisay Romero in Valencia, Mariela Nava in Maracaibo, Maria Ramirez in Puerto Ordaz and Tathiana Ortiz in San Cristobal; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Rosalba O’Brien)