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
8 - Assessing the damage, charting a path back to normalcy
72
hours after the attack, the city of Caracas had recovered energy in
most of its neighborhoods. In the following hours, the eastern,
central and southern states also recovered their power. The Western
region had delays, extending the power stabilization up to 24 hours
more in Táchira, Mérida, Trujillo, Zulia and Lara.Five
days after the continuous attacks to multiple substations and the
parallel sabotage to the Guri dam, preventing the stabilization of
the National Electric System, the entire country had managed to
return to normal.Through
social media, the opposition attempted to deceive outsiders with
images purporting to show desperate Venezuelans collecting water from
the Guaire River, which is filled with sewage. Western
outlets like Reuters,
which serve as faithful stenographers of the opposition’s
narrative, fell for the lie.
However, a report made by the Catia
TV
team debunked the bogus claims. In fact, those people were drinking
from a natural well.What’s
more, cistern trucks were set up to transport water to communities in
need, a mechanism made possible by communal councils. Others supplied
their homes by using buckets and wheelbarrows.Although
the exhaustion of those days was felt across the country, the
government’s array of social programs were resumed as soon as the
communications were fully operational. The food assistance policy of
the CLAPs was reinforced by orders of Maduro, softening the blow for
those whose food spoiled during the blackout.The
official balance on Wednesday presented by Minister Jorge Rodríguez
was favorable, despite the fact that the cyberattack to the nation’s
power grid caused losses of $877 million to the Venezuelan nation.The
country’s business class, meanwhile, made a stunning admission: the
‘regime change’ plan they supported had caused them massive
losses. For instance, the National Federation of Cattle Ranchers of
Venezuela (Fedenaga) stated $1.4 million were lost in the course of
the coup and subsequent blackout.One
million kilograms of cheese and 900,000 kilograms of meat decomposed
due to a lack of refrigeration. Another 6 million liters of milk were
damaged while waiting for the electric power restitution.The
firm Ecoanalítica
put the losses for the country were $875 million – approximately
$100 million of damage per day – which reduced the gross domestic
product by 1%.Commercial
establishments were also the target of vandalism, especially in the
state of Zulia and, to a lesser degree, in Lara, Monagas, Miranda and
Barinas. While the political opposition’s agenda was to whitewash
these criminal acts, parading them internationally as consequences of
the social crisis triggered by the blackout, they omitted the role
that the national security forces played in protecting businesses.Long
hours of intensive effort from the majority of the Venezuelan
population alongside the government ensured an effective response.
One week after the attack, the public and private labor, trade,
production and industrial activities were resumed.But
just as life appeared to be returning to normal, the country was
plunged into darkness again on March 29. From Washington, coup czar
Elliot Abrams confidently stated, “The
likelihood is the blackouts will continue.”***
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