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Venezuela Capital in the Dark Again After Massive Blackout

Associated Press

   CARACAS - The lights have gone out across much of Venezuela, snarling
   traffic in the capital and reviving fears of the blackouts that plunged
   the country into chaos a few months ago.

   The power in the capital went out after 4 p.m. (2000 GMT) and
   immediately backed up traffic as stop lights and the subway stopped
   working during rush hour.

   "This is horrible, a disaster," Reni Blanco, a 48-year-old teacher,
   said as she joined a crush of people who flooded into the streets of
   the capital trying to make it home before nightfall.

   Authorities have yet to comment and it was unclear the scale of the
   outage.

   But there were reports on social media that 19 of 24 Venezuelan states
   were also affected. Netblocks, a group monitoring internet activity,
   said network data showed most of Venezuela was knocked offline with
   national connectivity at just 6% after the latest cuts. The normally
   non-stop state TV channel, a key way for the government to keep people
   informed, was also off the air, leaving frustrated Venezuelans to
   wonder how long they would be left in the dark.

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