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Solidarity, survival and sabotage: reconstructing the history of the blackouts tormenting Venezuela

While Venezuela’s government and the Chavista movement proclaimed victory over the worst blackouts to plague the country, Washington’s coup masters have promised more darkness until their goals are complete.

by Misión Verdad

Part 4 - Prophecies of doom from Washington’s coup masters

Just hours before the collapse of the Venezuelan electric system, the American lawmaker at the forefront of the campaign of destabilization issued a doomsday prophesy for the country.

At midday, March 7, during a hearing in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Rubio warned that Venezuela was “going to enter a period of suffering that no nation has confronted in modern history.” He explicitly called for the US to stir “widespread unrest,” declaring that it “needs to happen” in order to achieve regime change. The blackout hit exactly five hours later.

Even before Minister of Communication Jorge Rodríguez was able to inform the media about the scope of the attack on the electric system, Rubio declared through his Twitter account that “backup generators have failed,” barely concealing his excitement.

On Friday 8th and Saturday 9th, the senator blamed the Maduro government for a “lack of diligence.

At the same time, Guaidó took to Twitter to declare that ”the light would return to Venezuela when the “usurpation is terminated,” suggesting that the blackouts would only end once Maduro was out of power.

Rubio proceeded to publicize fake news about alleged newborn casualties at the University Hospital of Maracaibo, Zulia, and other hospitals of the national public health system. At the same time, several NGOs, such as Codevida, blasted out announcements of unconfirmed events regarding deaths, chaos and loss of public order in the national territory, creating a disproportionate and distorted perception of the events in order to market the theme of a supposed humanitarian crisis.

NGOs such as Codevida and others echoed Rubio’s false claim that 80 neonatal deaths had occurred, along with more than 200 deaths. This figure was denied by the president of the Medical Association of Zulia, Dianela Parra.

Meanwhile, Pompeo announced through social media platforms that Venezuela was, ”without medicine, without food, now without electricity and soon, without Maduro.

The statement sounded less like a prediction than a strategic blueprint for regime change. His comments were echoed by Eliot Abrams, who proclaimed in a radio interview that “pressure will increase, US pressure and internal pressure also. Especially this week, when there’s no light!

Meanwhile, John Bolton urged the Venezuelan military to accept the amnesty offer put forward by Guaidó. It was just the latest attempt to promote rifts in the army’s officer corps and promote rebellion in the army, which was working to protect the national electric system from further damage.

Western media exploited the situation to amplify the narrative of a humanitarian crisis and portray a nation submerged in chaos. New York Times correspondent Anatoly Kurmanaev claimed hyperbolically that Venezuela had descended into the “law of the jungle,” and predicted a post-apocalyptic “Mad Max” scenario just over the horizon. In this way, the international press reinforced the messaging of the Trump administration.

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