Venezuelans Stage 1,100 September Protests Over 16-Hour Blackouts as Grid Collapse Deepens
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 12
Venezuelans Stage 1,100 September Protests Over 16-Hour Blackouts as Grid Collapse Deepens
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 12
Summary
More than 1,100 protests erupted across Venezuela in September—37 a day, the highest for that month since 2008—as residents increasingly marched at night over chronic blackouts, water failures, internet loss and hyperinflation.
Daily outages now last 8 to 16 hours in many areas and recently reached 24 hours in parts of Cojedes and Aragua, with analysts saying the grid cannot meet both household demand and a U.S.-backed push to revive oil production.
Only about 12 of Venezuela’s 35 gigawatts of installed capacity are available against demand of roughly 16 gigawatts, leaving authorities to ration scarcity while experts blame years of underinvestment, corruption and poor maintenance.
The unrest is broadening from community-led service protests to renewed political mobilization: opposition groups called nationwide demonstrations in late October demanding a date for presidential elections and María Corina Machado’s return.
Relief remains slow—GE Vernova says grid repairs signed in September will not start until Venezuela makes a first payment—while residents say early Christmas lights in some towns are the only lights still on.