Americas > South America > Venezuela > Maduro declares electricity ‘emergency’ and calls the Army in support

Venezuela: Maduro declares electricity ‘emergency’ and calls the Army in support

2013/04/28

Officials have blamed periodic blackouts on sabotage and excessive consumption, while critics say the sector is suffering from poor management and inefficiency following the late popular leader Hugo Chavez's nationalization of the sector.
Maduro, who won a vote to succeed his former mentor Chavez this month, has promised a government of “efficiency” to tackle day-to-day problems like power outages plaguing the 29 Venezuelans, particularly in the provinces.

President Nicolas Maduro's government declared a 90-day “emergency” in Venezuela's electricity sector this week to speed up infrastructure work and equipment imports needed to prevent politically-contentious power cuts.

A decree in the official Gazette ordered national power company Corpolec to adopt “amount technical and economic” measures necessary to maintain electricity services, and authorized the army to guard key installations against “vandalism and attacks.”
Power rationing has returned to some states, reviving memories of a prolonged crisis in the sector in 2010 that weighed on Chavez's popularity at the time.
Saying Venezuela presently had the highest per capita consumption in Latin America Maduro has announced a new national “Electricity Mission” to stabilize the sector.
“If we don't balance this investment in generation with additional rational use of energy, it's difficult to keep a system like this stable,” said his newly appointed Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon, explaining the measures and calling for a nationwide electricity-saving drive.

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