Venezuela was suffering from sporadic power cuts yesterday, while some areas remained without drinking water, despite the government having announced the nearly complete re-establishment of both services.
Electricity went out in parts of Caracas and neighbouring Miranda state, according to daily El Nacional.
Part of Petare municipality in the Caracas area was reported to have been without running water for 30 days, and Palo Verde in north-eastern Sucre state for 12 days.
The opposition party Justice First reported protests against water shortages in Caracas and elsewhere.
Venezuela previously suffered a widespread blackout that lasted nearly a week.
President Nicolas Maduro blamed it on sabotage by the opposition and its ally, the US.
Yesterday he again criticised “those who sabotage the electric system to try to create a state of generalised violence and to then call for an attack against the political power.”
Such action “has only one name: terrorism,” he added on Twitter.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom dozens of countries have recognised as Venezuela’s interim president and who is trying to oust Maduro from power, attributes the power cuts to mismanagement and corruption.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez meanwhile yesterday announced that the embattled president had asked his entire Cabinet to resign in order to carry out “a deep restructuring of the methods and functions” of the government.
The goal was “to protect the fatherland...from any threat,” broadcaster Telesur quoted Rodriguez as saying. “The next few days will be tense but very important,” tweeted US Senator Marco Rubio, a Maduro critic.
Maduro won a second term in a contested election last year.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognised as the country’s rightful interim ruler, poses for a selfie with civil society activists in Caracas, Venezuela, yesterday.
