Venezuelans Hit by Major Power Outage Ahead of Saturday Protests

(Bloomberg) -- The lights went out again in Venezuela Friday evening with the country still reeling from a nationwide power failure that began Monday and forced the government to suspend school and work.

Twenty-one states lost power, according to El Nacional newspaper. Netblocks.org, which tracks Internet disruptions and shutdowns in different countries, calculated that internet connectivity fell to just 10 percent.

Hector Rodriguez, the ruling party governor of Miranda state, which includes part of the capital, wrote on Twitter that blackouts were reported throughout his state. Neither the national power company nor any high-ranking officials had commented on the outage more than two hours after it began.

President Nicolas Maduro announced on Wednesday that the government would ration power as authorities try to repair the nation’s shaky grid. For a decade, the government has tried to protect the capital from regular outages. Maduro, who is fighting to retain power amid international rebuke and domestic discontent, has blamed President Donald Trump and the local opposition for alleged attacks on the national grid. Industry experts and critics point to a lack of investment and maintenance.

The government and the opposition will hold rival marches nationwide on Saturday. National Assembly leader Juan Guaido, recognized as the country’s legitimate leader by about 50 countries, called on supporters earlier this week to gather in the streets at strategic points. President Maduro followed via Twitter by asking his backers to “mobilize and organize to defend peace in every corner of the territory.”

--With assistance from Fabiola Zerpa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jose Orozco in Mexico City at jorozco8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ney Hayashi at ncruz4@bloomberg.net, Dale Quinn

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