Venezuela goes dark: Country hit by major blackout

REUTERS REPORTING TONIGHT:
People at a shopping mall during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday.

A major power outage hit crisis-stricken Venezuela on Thursday, according to Reuters witnesses, a problem the government of President Nicolas Maduro quickly blamed on “sabotage” at a hydroelectric dam that provides much of the country’s power.
Electricity outages are frequent in Venezuela, where the economy is collapsing under hyperinflation, with chronic shortages of food and medicine and a mass emigration of more than 3 million citizens.
Critics say corruption and under investment have left the country’s power grid unable to function, while Maduro says the problems are intentionally created by political adversaries.

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