5 Things You Need to Know About Venezuela’s Unprecedented Power Grid Collapse
- Venezuela’s national electric grid suffered a devastating total blackout on Friday, plunging the entire country into darkness for over 24 hours, affecting 30 million people.
- The crisis began when the El Guri Hydroelectric Plant, a massive dam that supplies 80% of Venezuela’s power, experienced a catastrophic failure during routine maintenance.
- Government officials blamed the collapse on alleged sabotage by “foreign cyber-attacks,” but independent engineers report years of neglected infrastructure and corruption as the real cause.
- Hospitals across the country are running on failing emergency generators, with reports of critical equipment failing, including dialysis machines and neonatal incubators.
- This is the worst power crisis since the 2019 blackouts, sparking massive protests in Caracas and prompting an emergency appeal for international aid from the UN right now.