Venezuela: Political blame game continues over blackout

Caracas: Thousands of politically divided Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas to protest the power outages, with the opposition accusing the government for the blackouts and the Chavistas blaming imperialism and opposition leaders. The demonstrations went off peacefully on Saturday until police dispersed a couple of anti-government demonstrations with tear gas in downtown Caracas, where dozens of citizens were demanding the restoration of the electric service, cut off since Friday in several parts of the country, Efe news reported.

Critics of the Nicolas Maduro government organised dozens of protests after they were called to do so by opposition leader Juan Guaido, acknowledged as interim president of Venezuela by some 60 countries, as a way to denounce the electricity cuts that since March 7 have paralyzed the country for some 10 days.

Guaido, speaker of the National Assembly legislature, attended three of those activities on the outskirts of Caracas, and took advantage of those gatherings to call on Venezuelans to “organise a disturbance” every time there are cuts in the electric service and the water supply, after a week of constant blackouts nationwide. “We must organise a disturbance every time we need to demand our rights, enough of this fooling around,” he said. He also called for people to come together to express their discontent with the Nicolas Maduro government, which he again blamed for the power supply problems and the desperate situation of the country’s entire economy, and said the movement he leads is far from having a power outage.

“Some people go around saying that our movement has already shut down, don’t laugh. The only thing that has shut down is a regime that has left the streets all over the country in darkness,” said the politician, who has promised to work to end what he believes is Maduro’s usurpation of the presidency. Guaido said that there are “hundreds of places where people are demanding their rights,” nationwide. “We’re not asking for patience here, just the opposite, we’re asking for organisation and action right now,” he said. The demonstrations by opposition groups came simultaneously with a Chavista march through the streets of Caracas in which thousands took part. (IANS)

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