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The Darkest Hours: Power Outages Raise the Temperature in Venezuela
The crippling blackouts across Venezuela are a grim portent of things to come as U.S. oil sanctions kick in and the country’s crisis deepens.
- Phil Gunson
- ICG
All concerned to end Venezuelans’ suffering should vigorously pursue a negotiated transition leading to a power-sharing deal.
On Thursday 7 March, at around five in the afternoon, the lights went out in Venezuela.
Within a couple of hours, as the tropical night descended, around 90 per cent of the country was plunged into darkness by a massive failure of the electricity generation and transmission system, run by the state-owned Corpoelec.
Venezuelans, especially those…