Venezuela Sees Large-Scale Blackouts, Internet Shutdown - Netblocks

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2020) Large-scale power outages are registeres in the northern and western Venezuela, with the states of Tachira, Merida and Carabobo among most affected, monitoring agency Netblocks reported on Saturday.

"Confirmed: Significant power outage in #Venezuela at 9 p.m. local time [Saturday, 01.00 GMT Sunday] affecting multiple states including #Táchira #Zulia #Mérida #Carabobo #Falcón; incident ongoing," it said on Twitter.

According to Netblocks, a total of 16 out of 23 states of the country were affected, but Tachira, Merida and Carabobo saw less than half of power supply restored.

Venezuelan human rights organization Redes Ayuda said on Twitter that electricity outages in the country had also caused problems with internet connection in five states.

According to third-party observers and analysts, the power outages in Venezuela are caused by low investments in infrastructure and equipment deterioration.

After the last summer's power outages in Caracas, Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said that they had been caused by an "electromagnetic attack" targeting the country's main hydroelectric system.

In March, an accident occurred at the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant, the country's largest electricity supplier, which provoked an unprecedented blackout, with 20 of the 23 Venezuelan states affacted. The work of enterprises and government agencies across the country was suspended for almost a week.