World #1 – Days-long blackout in Venezuela has killed 21 people

Daily News Article   —   Posted on March 12, 2019

(by Tom Phillips, The Guardian) — At least 21 people – six of them babies – have so far died as a result of Venezuela’s shattering nationwide blackout, opposition leaders [charged] as they prepared to hold an emergency debate on the crisis in the capital, Caracas.

“These are not just numbers, these are Venezuelan lives that would not have been lost were it not for the ineptitude of Nicolás Maduro,” tweeted José Manuel Olivares, a doctor and opposition politician who is monitoring its impact on Venezuela’s already debilitated healthcare system.

According to Olivares’s count, 15 patients died in the Manuel Núñez Tovar hospital in the north-eastern city of Maturín after the power went out there following Thursday’s outage, which has still not been restored.

Two newborn babies died in the Hospital de los Magallanes de Catia in Caracas, one of which was suffering from severe malnutrition.

Olivares told the Guardian the number of fatalities would rise as the true extent of the calamity became clearer. The power cut meant it had still not been possible to communicate with many hospitals.

On Monday morning, the opposition leader Juan Guaidó – who most western governments now recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate interim leader [at least 50 countries] – hit out at Maduro, who retains the support of China and Russia. “Our people are still living with the threat of new blackouts while these cynics lie and laugh at pain and death,” Guaidó tweeted.

Venezuela’s Socialist defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, claimed the government was “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis, which it has blamed on a US-backed conspiracy designed to topple Maduro and bring Guaidó to power.

There were reports that electricity had returned to some parts of Caracas while the Chavista [Socialist] governor of the neighboring state of Miranda claimed electricity had returned to 80% of his territory.

However, experts fear the crisis – which many attribute to poor maintenance and corruption – is far from being resolved.

Schools and businesses were again ordered shut on Monday.

“In my house we haven’t had any light since Thursday. There is no water, no [phone] signal, no light, no nothing,” said Anna Ferrera, a student activist from eastern Caracas.

Ferrera said that in the early hours of Monday an electrical substation had exploded not far from her home.

“None of us have ever lived through something like this – not my generation, not my parents, not my grandmother. They say this is like living in a war.”

[NOTE: From wikipedia: In February 2018, Socialist president Nicholas Maduro called for presidential elections four months before the actual election date. He was declared the winner in May 2018 after multiple major opposition parties were banned from participating, among other irregularities; many said the elections were invalid. Politicians both internally and internationally said Maduro was not legitimately elected, and considered him an ineffective dictator.

Juan Guaidó was the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela when he was made acting President of Venezuela in January 2019  based on Article 233 of the Constitution of Venezuela. He has been recognized as the legitimate leader by more than 50 governments.]

Published at theguardian .com on March 11. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from The Guardian.