Vicente Fernandez has not opened his freezer since the massive blackout began in Venezuela on Thursday. He wants to try to save everything that’s in there, but he’s starting to worry.
“I’m afraid it has all gone bad,” says Fernandez, a 54-year-old who sells telecoms equipment.
Venezuelans, already feeling the pinch due to food and medicine shortages, are suffering even more now that the power has gone down.
Though it slowly came back online in some areas late Sunday, service was patchy and power often lasted just a few hours before dropping out again.
Sabotage or Incompetence?
Many homes and businesses still had no electricity on Monday, and resilient residents launched into a race against the clock to save whatever supplies they could.
“I haven’t had even one minute of power at my house,” said Fernandez, who was planning on “a diet of green bananas” at the Chacao market, which was shrouded in semi-darkness.
Its butcher shops, fishmongers and dairy vendors were closed because they had no way to refrigerate their wares.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro says last week’s blackout was the result of U.S.-backed sabotage and opposition leader Juan Guaido wants to declare a “state of emergency” #VenezuelaBlackout
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— Thomson Reuters Foundation News (@TRF_Stories) March 11, 2019
Sellers were only taking cash, either in dollars or bolivars – a rare sight in a country used to digital payments, given the scarcity of hard currency.
After convincing one vendor that he would transfer him some money, Fernandez said: “They should send in the cavalry, already!” – meaning he was hoping the U.S. would put boots on the ground to force President Nicolas Maduro out of office.
Food is growing scarce in oil-rich, cash-poor Venezuela, especially when the average monthly salary can barely pay for two chickens.
“Nowadays, no matter what the price, we have to eat. And get ourselves out of this hell. This government is useless. They stole the money that should have been used to maintain our infrastructure,” says Fernandez.
The cause of the mass-power outage remains unclear. The opposition and its supporters, including many U.S. officials, have blamed the “incompetence” of the Maduro regime.
Maduro, who has blamed the blackout on U.S. “sabotage” of the country’s main hydroelectric complex, said a massive amount of food aid, water and fuel would be distributed on Monday.
He ordered that hospitals – where patients were languishing without proper treatment, and where at least 15 people reportedly died due to a lack of kidney dialysis treatment – should be given top priority.
The government has denied any hospital deaths related to the blackout.
‘Dark Forces in the Shadows’
At another market in Caracas, Libia Arraiz – seated at her restaurant – says she hopes not to lose the perishables she has. But if the power does not come back on Monday, it will be too late.
She will have to throw out a week’s worth of meat and fish.
“Oh my god … I will either have to give it all away, or divvy it up among my family members. Selling it will be impossible,” a tearful Arraiz told AFP.
The power cuts, which began on Thursday, have reportedly been caused by problems at a major #hydroelectric plant #VenezuelaBlackout
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— Thomson Reuters Foundation News (@TRF_Stories) March 11, 2019
For now, she is preparing communal lunches: whoever wants to take part brings what they have and she cooks it up.
“Survival strategy,” the 60-something woman explains.
“This is the work of dark forces working in the shadows,” she says. “People on the side of the opposition say this is what we need for them to be able to take power, but everyone is suffering.”
Arraiz believes that opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s rightful leader, is behind the blackout.
“He says the worst is yet to come, that there will be more surprises … these people have no conscience, they are terrorists,” she says.
At the butcher shop where Henry Sosa works, there is a giant surprise – an 80-kilo (175-pound) pig. He’s going to bring it home to the Guarenas neighborhood in Caracas, where the power is back on — sporadically.
While he loads up the animal, he says he has lost half his merchandise.
“It’s not even good enough to give away– who will eat this rotten meat!” Sosa says.
‘Like the Middle Ages’
For some, the blackout is a good time to make deals.
In the El Cafetal neighborhood, someone is selling small bags of ice from the back of a truck for three dollars each.
Maria Ribas is among those who are paying in cash sent to them by relatives who have fled the country and are living abroad.
According to U.N. figures, some 2.7 million Venezuelans have left since 2015, when the economic crisis started to spiral out of control.
Nearby, Maria Mendoza is hurrying to sell papayas and watermelons that she’ll otherwise soon need to give away. Eventually, she cuts her price, knowing time is running out.
“At least I won’t lose my entire investment,” she says with a sigh, railing against “sabotage and the U.S. embargo.”
With her bag of ice in hand, Ribas talks about the sacrifices everyone is forced to make in Venezuela these days.
“It’s like the Middle Ages,” she says.
More on the Subject
Eva Golinger is an American attorney and journalist who was a legal advisor to former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. She’s also the author of the best-selling book, “Confidante of ‘Tyrants:’ The Story of the American Woman Trusted by the U.S.’s Biggest Enemies,” which documents her political work in Venezuela and her rise into the close circle of the country’s late president.
“I had breakfast with Hugo Chavez, lunch with Bashar al Assad, cocktails with Putin and dinner with Gaddafi. Fidel Castro sent me flowers, perfume and cigars. Ahmadinejad told me he loved me. Chavez proclaimed me his defender,” she writes.
Golinger sat down with The Globe Post to discuss the unraveling political crisis in Venezuela and the Trump administration’s efforts to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro.
Confidante of ‘Tyrants:’ An Interview With Former Chavez Advisor Eva Golinger
