Major power outage hits Venezuela's capital, with Maduro government blaming 'sabotage'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans spent most of Friday in the dark as a major outage knocked out power in the capital, Caracas, and several states.

President Nicolás Maduro's government blamed the outage, which it said began about 4:50 a.m., on “electrical sabotage.”

“Nobody will take away our peace and tranquility of the Venezuelan people,” Freddy Nanez, the communications minister, wrote in a message shared with journalists on Telegram.

Nanez said in a voice message on Telegram that all 24 of Venezuela’s states had been at least partially impacted. He characterized the outage as a “desperate” attempt by Maduro’s opponents to violently oust the president.

“The entire national government has been activated to overcome this new aggression,” he said.

By nightfall, power had been restored in many parts of the capital after a day of sporadic outages. Maduro, in a Friday evening appearance on state TV, thanked Venezuelans for their patience after a chaotic day that saw businesses shutter, hospitals rely on backup generators and the closure of Caracas' subway leave tens of thousands of people stranded.

Venezuela in 2019, during a period of political unrest, suffered from regular power outages that the government almost always blamed on its opponents, but that energy experts said were the result of brush fires damaging transmission lines and poor maintenance of the country's hydroelectric infrastructure.

Many of the energy problems have subsided as the South American nation's economy has stabilized, high inflation has eased and a de facto dollarization has reduced shortages of imported goods.

Still, following last month's contested presidential election, officials are quick to blame opponents for even minor disruptions. That was the case on Tuesday, when a brownout affected Caracas and several central states.

“This is a constant strategy of the opposition, the enemies of this country, to impact the population,” Diosdado Cabello, the newly appointed interior minister who is believed to be the second most powerful man in the country, said after the earlier outage.

Residents of the capital were taking Friday's disruption in stride. Traffic during the normally busy rush hour was lighter than usual and some people complained about being unable to communicate with family members due to a lack of cellphone service.

Alejandra Martinez, a 25-year-old salesclerk, said she noticed the power went out when a fan stopped working. “I thought the power would come back and I went back to sleep,” she said while trying to catch a bus to work as dawn broke over Caracas. “But when I woke up, I realized it was an outage.”

Venezuela’s power grid relies heavily on the Guri Dam, a giant hydroelectric power station that was inaugurated in the late 1960s. The electrical system has been burdened by poor upkeep, a lack of alternative energy supplies and a drain of engineering talent as an estimated 8 million Venezuelan migrants have fled economic misery in recent years,

Vendors stand next to dark, empty refrigerators at a markek in Valencia, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, during a blackout that affected most of the country. (AP Photo/Jacinto Olivares)

A police officer directs traffic while the traffic lights are out in Valencia, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, during a blackout that affected most of the country. (AP Photo/Jacinto Olivares)

A business owner pours gas into a generator in Valencia, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, during a blackout affecting most of the country. (AP Photo/Jacinto Olivares)

Pedestrians walk past a metro station that closed due to a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Costumers sit at a cafe during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Pedestrians cross an avenue during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, early Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Pedestrians walk past a closed metro station during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Commuters walk during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, early Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A bakery worker adjusts the shop during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Workers sit outside their office building that closed due to a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Buildings stand in darkness during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, at dawn on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A man lights a candle in his shop during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Buildings stand in darkness during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, at dawn on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Pedestrians cross an avenue during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, early Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Buildings stand in darkness during a power outage in Caracas, Venezuela, at dawn on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine made a new call Saturday on the West to allow it to strike deeper into Russia after a meeting between U.S. and British leaders a day earlier produced no visible shift in their policy on the use of long-range weapons.

“Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields, and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said Saturday. “Permission to strike deep into Russia will speed up the solution.”

The renewed appeal came as Kyiv said Russia launched more drone and artillery attacks into Ukraine overnight.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called on allies to greenlight the use of Western-provided long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. So far, the U.S. has allowed Kyiv to use American-provided weapons only in a limited area inside Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Discussions on allowing long-range strikes were believed to be on the table when U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Washington on Friday but no decision was announced immediately.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and other allies to allow his forces to use Western weapons to target air bases and launch sites farther afield as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities before winter.

He did not directly comment on the meeting Saturday morning, but said that more than 70 Russian drones had been launched into Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian air force later said that 76 Russian drones had been sighted, of which 72 were shot down.

“We need to boost our air defense and long-range capabilities to protect our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “We are working on this with all of Ukraine’s partners.”

Other overnight attacks saw one person killed by Russian artillery fire as energy infrastructure was targeted in Ukraine’s Sumy region. A 54-year-old driver was killed and seven more people were hospitalized, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said.

A KAB aerial bomb also fell on a garage complex in the eastern city of Kharkiv, said regional Gov. Ihor Terekhov. No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, officials in Moscow have continued to make public statements warning that long-range strikes would provoke further escalation between Russia and the West. The remarks are in line with the narrative the Kremlin has promoted since early in the war, accusing NATO countries of de-facto participation in the conflict and threatening a response.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency Tass on Saturday that the U.S. and British governments were pushing the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, toward “poorly controlled escalation.”

Biden on Friday brushed off similar comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said on Thursday that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia.”

Asked what he thought about Putin’s threat, Biden answered, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”

Russian and Ukrainian officials also announced on Saturday a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates. It included 206 prisoners on both sides, including Russians captured in Ukraine’s incursion in the Kursk region.

The swap is the eighth of its kind since the beginning of 2024, and puts the total number of POWs exchanged at 1,994. Previous exchanges were also brokered by the UAE.

Both sides released images of soldiers traveling to meet friends and family, with Zelenskyy commenting, “Our people are home."

Elsewhere, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 19 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the country’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. No casualties were reported.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A Ukrainian poses for a selfie as he is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian reacts after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians react after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian serviceman, left, is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)