As usual, Maduro appeared at the end of the night on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) to blame, with a publication of X as proof, the account “Anonymous of the far right” to provoke the blackout which left the nation in darkness and cut off from communication for more than 12 hours.
“We already know who operated an account called Anonymous, who hired it, who financed it. I won’t say any more. An Anonymous account at the service of the war of hate against Venezuela threatened on several occasions with a national blackout,” he said.
The Chavista dictator, increasingly isolated internationally, showed a publication from the alleged hacker group, dated August 7, in which the supposed Anonymous account asked “Apologies to the people of Venezuela for the attack that the national electrical system will receive”.
According to Maduro, this account is “anti-Venezuelan” and that “works directly with the CIA”caused a “heart attack” at the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant, known as Guri, located in the state of Bolívar (southeast).
“It is the father and mother of the attacks. It is an attack full of revenge, full of hate,” he insisted.
The 2019 blackout script
Although the investigation “is in full swing,” he accused the “fascist currents that pretended to be the opposition,” in reference to the leaders Maria Corina Machado and Diosdado Cabello, of wanting to “liquidate” Guri, with the aim of…
Maduro, who had threatened with a “bloodbath” if the opposition won, the only “promise” that the nation has seen him fulfill in 13 years in power after unleashing a brutal repression that left at least 23 dead by firearms in the context of protests against electoral fraud, he assured that the alleged attack, provoked from “a fascist war room” operating from the United States, allegedly sought to generate a “bloodbath” in Venezuela to justify an intervention.
“We have seen this film. A brutal electrical war was prepared at all stages, starting on March 7, 2019 with the cyber attack on Guri’s brain. We have seen the film and we know the result,” he said.
The blackout on August 30 is the second longest that Venezuela has experienced since 2019, when the country was left without electricity for between four and seven consecutive days. On that occasion, Maduro also blamed the Venezuelan opposition, led at that time by Juan Guaidó, who served as interim president (2019-2023), the United States and Colombia, under the presidencies of Donald Trump and Ivan Duquerespectively.
Incapacity, ineptitude and corruption
Opposition leaders dismissed Maduro’s accusations and said Friday’s blackout is evidence of the “incompetence, corruption and ineptitude” of the Chavista regime, which, according to experts, has not invested in the maintenance required by the electrical system and its distribution networks.
“The history of the electrical sector, in these times of revolution, It is a story of incompetence and plundering of public funds“Years ago they announced the militarization of electrical installations, and yet they continue to evade the responsibility they have after 25 years of misgovernment,” said former governor César Perez Vivas on the social network X.
For his part, Luis Florido, a member of Parliament 2015, stressed that the power outages, which are regularly recorded in the interior of the South American country, are one of the many reasons why Venezuelans voted “overwhelmingly” for Edmundo González Urrutia on July 28.
In his opinion, the Venezuelans who voted against the “backwardness, anguish and crisis” know that, faced with a “quick accusation without evidence”, there are only two options: “1- the incapacity and corruption, demonstrated during all these years. 2- the collective psychological torture caused through self-sabotage in retaliation against the majority of Venezuelans who no longer want them in Miraflores.”
State Terrorism
The new blackout, which began around 5:00 a.m. and lasted for more than 12 hours in Caracas and some states, was almost completely restored throughout the country early Saturday morning, according to local media and users consulted by the agency. AFPAndean states such as Mérida and Táchira, or their neighbours Lara and Zulia (west), as well as Bolívar, where blackouts are common, are still reportedly experiencing power outages.
On social media, there was no delay in the widespread rejection of the national blackout, recalling that on July 30th users had warned about the Entry of electric generators into Miraflores Palacemilitarized since 2018. And they also went viral with images of the Cuartel de la Montaña, located in the popular neighborhood of 23 de enero, where the remains of Hugo Chávez would rest, illuminated in the midst of the darkness that enveloped the west of the capital.
Leaders, political analysts, prominent Venezuelan personalities and Internet users attributed the national blackout to a retaliatory measure for the electoral defeat suffered by Maduro, who is trying to perpetrate fraud with the backing of the public powers at his service.
“Just as they designed the blackout of March 7, 2019, the regime repeats another national power outage on August 30, 2024. Leaving hospitals, schools, nursing homes, homes and businesses without electricity is another crime against humanity, It is state terrorism“, stressed David Smolansky, deputy coordinator of Vente Venezuela abroad.
It does not distract from the electoral issue
For historian Leonard Reyes, with the blackout, Chavismo sent a strong message to Venezuelans after the victory of Edmundo González Urrutia: “We know they won and we don’t care. We will make their lives miserable so they can stay imprisoned in their homes. Be careful they don’t rebel. We want them hopeless“.
Far from disturbing and distracting the country from the electoral crisis created by Maduro by granting himself a supposed re-election, which they only buy him Bolivia, Honduras, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, China and RussiaFriday’s blackout refreshed the memory of millions of Venezuelans as to why they want to change the 21st century socialist model.
“They are so boringly predictable. They blame María Corina Machado and the fascist far right for the country’s general blackout. What speed in finding out the causes of an electrical failure of that magnitude, and what slowness in showing the documents that prove their defeat,” highlighted Venezuelan writer Leonardo Padrón.
While political analyst Ana Milagros Parra stated that “People are not going to forget about the ‘political issue’ because of the blackout. Quite the opposite: it is a living reminder that we have been in darkness for 25 years.”
“Today’s blackout is a clear reminder that the current model is not capable of providing well-being for all and allowing Venezuela to return to the path of sustained recovery,” stressed economist Asdrúbal Oliveros.
