Summary
A huge power outage began all throughout Venezuela last thursday, March 7th. In a televised speech
made Monday, Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, reported that there are still 16 states completely
without power, and that the country is recovering, but slowly.
While the exact reason for the outage is currently unclear, Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro,
blames the US completely for the crisis. In this televised address, Maduro claimed that the
"...imperialist government of the United Sates ordered this attack...", but he failed to provide any
supporting evidence. In response to this, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo publicly refuted these
accusations by tweeting:
He also announced that the US is going to withdraw all remaining personnel from the country's embassy in Caracus. In agreement with the US, the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, told CNN that Venezuela's main power plant is full of aging machinery and that "It's the product of the... corruption of a regime that doesn't care about the lives of Venezuelans."
So far, hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost, and around 15 people have died due to lack of resources in, for example, hospitals, but there is aid coming from other countries and/or organizations. At a press conference on Sunday, Guaido met with Germany, Japan, Brazil, and Colombia to seek support, and announced that there is $1.5 billion available for Venezuela from outside support. He didn't, though, explain where this money was coming from.
A huge power outage began all throughout Venezuela last thursday, March 7th. In a televised speech
made Monday, Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, reported that there are still 16 states completely
without power, and that the country is recovering, but slowly.
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| View of Carcas during the partial power outage on March 9. |
blames the US completely for the crisis. In this televised address, Maduro claimed that the
"...imperialist government of the United Sates ordered this attack...", but he failed to provide any
supporting evidence. In response to this, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo publicly refuted these
accusations by tweeting:
The power outage and the devastation hurting ordinary Venezuelans is not because of the USA. It’s not because of Colombia. It’s not Ecuador or Brazil, Europe or anywhere else. Power shortages and starvation are the result of the Maduro regime’s incompetence.— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 8, 2019
He also announced that the US is going to withdraw all remaining personnel from the country's embassy in Caracus. In agreement with the US, the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, told CNN that Venezuela's main power plant is full of aging machinery and that "It's the product of the... corruption of a regime that doesn't care about the lives of Venezuelans."
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| Guaido addresses supporters through a megaphone. |
Reaction
I'm firstly just very surprised by the simple fact that almost all of Venezuela experienced a blackout. I find it very shocking that an entire country's electrical supply could fail all at once. I am mostly, surprised, though, that Venezuela's president put all the blame on the US, and spread false information to his people. I had no idea that Venezuela and the US had tensions before I had read this article, so learning what Maduro doing was actually a bit, in a way, funny to me. While I do not understand this whole conflict between the US and them, I firmly believe that the US had no involvement in this.
Connection
This whole situation reminds me of learning about when Hitler was the leader of Germany. This is because Hitler lied to his people about the intentions and acts of another party (those who were Jewish), in order to get them against that group, just like Maduro is doing with his people to the US. Instead of figuring out the real reason for Venezuela's power fail, Maduro decided to put the blame onto a country he has tensions with.
Questions to Consider:
1. Why do you believe the electricity failed in Venezuela?
2. Should the US take further action to refute Maduro's claims? Why or why not?
Additional Source:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/venezuela-blackout-deaths-latest-news-caracas-opposition-claims-
Additional Source:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/venezuela-blackout-deaths-latest-news-caracas-opposition-claims-
I believe that the electricity failure occurred because of what Guided stated, that electrical equipment is outdated and not kept up but the Venezuelan government. The Maduro regime has not been doing well at running a country, as inflation has skyrocketed, similar to in the Weimar Republic of Germany in Post-WW2. Multiple people have died because hospitals do not have the supplies and medicine to help heal people. People describe it as "living in an apocalypse." The power outage was another reminder of what the current government is failing to do. I believe that the US had already done all that they can in Venezuela without making the situation (too much) worse. The blame is on the Venezuelan government for not accepting the aid, and for being stubborn and ignorant of its own problems. Metaphorically speaking, they are trying to remove the speck of dust in America's eye while they have a plank in their eye. It doesn't work. Maduro either needs to step up or step down and surrender his position to Guaido. The harder question is "At what point, assuming this crisis does not get improve much, should the US or someone else intervene and take out Maduro?"
ReplyDeletesources:
Deletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/stevehanke/2019/01/01/venezuelas-hyperinflation-hits-80000-per-year-in-2018/#2ec9bbbe4572
https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cg41ylwvwgxt/venezuela
I definitely do not think that the US had anything to do with the power outrage in Venezuela. If the US is already on bad terms with Venezuela then why would they want to anger Venezuela in any way? In my opinion, the US does not want their relationship with Venezuela to get worse so they weren't behind the power outrage. However I do think that all power was lost in Venezuela due to their outdated machines and lack of resources. Many people in Venezuela are suffering because of the lack of leadership and help from the government. I think Maduro is not doing enough to help his people and he needs to improve his rule before people start getting angry. Although Maduro may be even more angry with the US if they deny his statement, I think the US should take further action and refute his claim because I do not think the US did anything wrong and they need to let people know that they had nothing to do with the power outrage.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation it is pretty clear that the US is not responsible for this power outage that occurs. Maduro stated it himself, their power system is old and outdated, it was not a matter of if an event like this would happen, it was a matter of when. Maduro clearly knew the risks of what could happen if the power plants were fixed, for that reason I believe he wanted this to happen as a way to turn on the US and take attention from himself. If Maduro truly cared he would have voiced this issue long ago asking for the help of other countries which he most likely would have gotten. Maduro was clearly looking for an escape goat for his issues but wasn’t able to find one and it actually backfired showing the world the type of man Maduro is. It is clearly terrible what is going on to the citizens of venezuela, and they should be helped. Despite what Maduro has said I believe the US should still supply some aid to the citizens as they have not done anything wrong. It has gotten the point to which people are scvagaing for water in national parks as their water pumps don’t work.(https://www.npr.org/2019/03/11/702179263/this-is-going-to-end-ugly-venezuela-s-power-outages-drag-on) Instead of Maduro blaming others for the issues in Venezuela, he should be blaming himself. Despite Maduro’s ways, I feel that other countries have an obligation to help those citizens as at least 15 are already dead.
ReplyDeleteI think that in this situation the US is not responsible for the power outages in Venezuela. Guaido stated that Venezuela's power plants were outdated and old. Also even if Venezuela's power plants were operational why would America want to sabotage to make life harder for Venezuelans? The fact that maduro said America was behind the power outages in Venezuela, is ridiculous. At this point I think that the US should not take it further actions towards Maduros claims. Fighting back and having disputes with the maduro will only make things harder than it is. However, I think that the US should get involved by sending in care packages and aid to the citizens of Venezuela. By doing this the US will have support from the people rather than conflict. I believe that, the main goal is to prevent more deaths and hardship for Venezuelans.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/americas/venezuela-guaido-maduro-blackout/index.html
In the situation at hand, it is clear that everyone should be focused on the recovery and aid instead of assigning blame through twitter battles. It is quite obvious that the Maduro government is extremely corrupted and out of control, which is further worsening the ongoing issues like the power outages. Personally, I do not believe that the US is responsible for the power outages, as there is no direct evidence showing their involvement in the situation. Like Maduro stated, the cause is most likely due to outdated equipment and the lack of consideration for the Venezuelans. Right now, the most beneficial thing for the country is to help ensure that no other preventable disasters occur, by taking better care over the resources in Venezuela, as well as doing more routine "checkups" on all the supplies. I do not see any obvious reason why the US should continue wasting time and energy refuting Maduro's claims, when they could, instead, be finding more ways to aid the corrupted country, which will better display their views/ positive influence on this issue.
ReplyDeleteI think the US had nothing to do with the power outage in Venezuela since there is no proof that this happened. Even though Maduro blames the US for sabotaging their country with no electricity, the power system is also very outdated and old. Maduro is blaming another country for something they didn't do. I believe that instead of blaming someone else, they should do something to help everyone at risk to stop more deaths from happening.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe there is one sole reason why Venezuela's electricity failed, but I believe there are and were many contributing figures. Maduro's regime has been called out for much corruption and general ill-governance, thus placing blame on other countries or just the state-run power companies is well within their "norm". Under Maduro's governance it is likely power supply was not regulated nor up to standard, explaining why a power malfunction/loss became so catastrophic. Although as of March 14, it is said most power is restored in Venezuela, that means Venezuelans had to survive an entire week without power. The Lima Group, a UN-like organization, solely blames Maduro for the power outage. Stating “This situation only confirms the existence and magnitude of the humanitarian crisis that the regime of [Nicolás] Maduro refuses to recognize,” said the statement that “blames exclusively” the illegitimate “Chavista” administration for “the collapse of the electricity system” in that country." I agree with this perspective, in that the Maduro government is most likely driving Venezuela down, and the power outage is only one example of his abuse of power.
ReplyDeleteSOURCES:
Deletehttps://www.cnn.com/2019/03/13/americas/venezuela-blackout-restored-intl/index.html
https://www.livinginperu.com/group-of-lima-solidarizes-with-the-venezuelan-people-for-blackout/
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the power outage is just another proof of how corrupted Venezuela’s government is. Even though countries in the world might have tense relationships with Venezuela, no government would make such an extreme move that directly harms every single citizen in a country. The absence of proof also disproves the idea of a “foreign attack.”There is a slight chance that extreme groups inside or outside Venezuela might have planned this, but the chance is very low. I believe that the Venezuelan government is the one to blame. In order to gain trust from the citizens, the government can purposefully create a power outage to produce terror. Then, by being able to “solve the problem,” the government demonstrates how trustworthy they are and how they are effective. This way, the citizens will realize how vulnerable they are and how powerful and “reliable” their ministry is. In my opinion, the US shouldn’t take further action to refute Maduro’s claims. Maduro is fabricating statements in order to receive attention, which can bring the world’s attention to Venezuela and further benefit them. By corrupting the current status of the country, the government can then attract more funding and help in order to boost its resources and economy. If the US or any other country chooses to be involved more deeply, it will only benefit Maduro’s ego. Sometimes, The best way to solve a conflict is by ignoring the antagonist. If they get bored, the chaos will stop. However, the US should encourage neutral countries to send in health aid for the citizens. This way, America won’t be directly involved and the ignorant citizens will be saved.
While the reasoning for what you have described makes sense, I have a bit of a hard time understanding why the Venezuelan government would do such a thing for a few reasons. The first reason is that it would be far too risky to do this if they already have an unstable electricity system. Unless it was veryy carefully planned, how would they know their power will come back on after it's been shut down? Another reason is that if Maduro really wanted to increase funding and support from other countries, I feel that the best way for him to come about that is to keep as strong as a relationship they can with the US. Lastly, if this was all a set up, I don't think that Maduro and Guaido would be spreading information that counteracts eachother's claims. I do not though, KNOW this information for sure, so while I don't fully agree with your statement, it very well could be true.
ReplyDeleteIt is also quite shocking to me how a whole countries power can go out. Therefor, i dont buy it. There must have been something to do with the government trying to hide something, or for them to receive aid and a fraction of that money to be pocketed by the corrupt politics of Venezuela. As for your second question i dont think the US or any other country should really do anything about this, but if they chose to help i would suggest for the outside countries to directly help the situation and not just give the money to the government of Venezuela. This problem will only give Venezuela more attention whether that be good or bad the country is still very corrupt and unsafe.
ReplyDeleteI think that, although being such a large blackout, the actual cause is politically insignificant. By blaming the US, I think Maduro is trying to gain support from Venezuelans because he is in opposition with the US. In reality, we don't know the cause, especially because as much as the US could've caused it, Maduro could have as well just to throw blame on the US. It truly shows how politics may not be too healthy for a country, because instead of focusing on the progress of the outage, Maduro chooses to blame the US without any evidence. For this reason, I believe it was truly political incentive that hurt the daily lives of the Venezuelan people. I think that the US is taking a good approach towards this by just tweeting. Any further retaliation may cause more drama, inflating the issue to points that can be avoided. In all, I think that nobody should be blamed for the outage because everybody's focus should be on helping to restore power and improve the lives of the people.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the power failed not because of the US but because of Nicolas Maduro's regime. It seems clear that he does take care of the machinery in Venezuela and would rather blame other countries for there problems than take responsibility and do something about it. You have to be completely irresponsible and ultimately not truly care about your country and its people in order for the entire country's power to all go out at the same time. Based off of what the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela had to say about the regime, it seems pretty clear that their current leader is not trustworthy and is very corrupt. I believe that the US should possibly try to expose the corrupt ways of the Venezuelan governments but that would be quite difficult. Maybe they should just monitor the situation in Venezuela while removing its people from the area.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the power outage was caused by Venezuela's own problem's which failed and therefore there was an outage. I also believe the best case scenario for US involvement in this situation the Us should back down from the situation, don't accept the blame however but by backing from the situation instead of being aggressive and pressing on it allows tensions to cool off and it can prevent a conflict.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the US had anything to do with Venezuela's power outage. The power outage was likely caused by the failure of Venezuela's own electrical equipment. I highly doubt that the US would have anything to gain from interfering with Venezuela's electricity as they have nothing to gain from it. Because of the power outages, there have been many protests in Venezuela leading to Maduro's inpopularity and decline, and because of this, Maduro is simply finding someone else to shift the blame onto from his own regime's incapability to properly govern the country onto someone else- the US. I think the US should deny all claims made my Maduro, or not take him seriously at all. If the US does this, surely the rest of the world will soon follow and make his regime's incompetence for governing Venezuela clear.
ReplyDeleteFrom what the article says, as well as everyone else here, I am in the belief as well it's a lack of proper up keeping from the Venezuelan Government to their equipment. I truly fail to see how the US can be incorporated into this situation, and wonder how their president could make such a claim, pointing fingers at the U.S and labeling deaths from the outrage as murders, with zero evidence to back it up really makes me wonder. I agree with the idea on how the handling of this situation appears humorous as well as desperate. For how the U.S should respond, I feel what was given seems enough unless more information comes out. Simply the part of the article that states there's no evidence to support anything against the U.S should induce no need to defend themselves. If there was something to defend against, so be it, but that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteI think the electricity failed in Venezuela because of the lack of money to properly maintain the electrical facilities. Venezuela's government has been in shambles for quite and while, and in many areas, because of the poor management, the people of Venezuela are suffering. What’s worse is that those who were once law abiding citizens have turn to stealing, as stores have been forced to shut down and food has spoiled. The outage has caused an almost chaotics situation in many places. I do not think the US needs to fight with Maduro over who caused it, as it would be a waste of time. The US, as a country, does not need to step down to that level and instead focus on trying to help the people in this humanitarian crisis by sending over resources such as food and water.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2019/03/11/702179263/this-is-going-to-end-ugly-venezuela-s-power-outages-drag-on
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-23956433/blackout-leaves-venezuela-in-the-dark
Of course, there isn’t any definite answer to why the electricity failed, but I don’t think there was American involvement in the cause of the outage as President Maduro states because Guri Dam’s operating system has no internet connection for a cyber attack to take place. Rather, I agree with what Guaido is saying when he points out that Venezuela’s main power plant is outdated. Two Venezuelan engineers also suggest that the outage may have occurred because of a fire near transmission lines that could have shut damaged the electric grid. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/last-remaining-us-diplomats-leave-venezuela/2019/03/14/e8cda5b4-46bd-11e9-94ab-d2dda3c0df52_story.html?utm_term=.f6eb1f771f78). Based on satellite data, they say that there were 3 fires near transmission lines that provided 80% of Venezuela’s electricity in Guri Dam. I think that this is a much more possible cause for the fire than a cyber attack from an outside source though it is not completely implausible.
ReplyDeleteThe exact cause for the blackout is very unclear; however, Juan Guaido did state that the main power plant is full of aging material. It is highly possible that the technology failed or died, causing the devastating blackout in the country of Venezuela. This really reflects the corruption of the current Venezuelan government. Nicolas Maduro reportedly steals millions of dollars from the government’s coffers to maintain his power. Instead of using the money in the government to restore things such as the main power plant of Venezuela, Maduro constantly mismanages it. Therefore, the blackout is just a reminder of the corruption of the current government, and a warning for what is to come with corruption and heavy mismanagement of the country of Venezuela.
ReplyDelete^^ Harbani
DeleteIt is clear that it was only Venezuela's fault for their power outage. Stating what Guaido has said that, "[the] power plant is full of aging analog machinery" and how "we are in the middle of a catastrophe" because the "product of inefficiency, incapability, the corruption of a regime that doesn't care about Venezuelan lives." Guaido is proving the point that Venezuela's lack of money and resources has caused the massive blackout because they cannot maintain their electricity. Venezuelan President, Maduro is blaming the U.S for something they wouldn't do like cyber attacks. Maduro should be focusing on the problem in his own country rather than getting involved with other countries.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I believe the electricity failed due to the Venezuelan government. There are many ways that this attack could not have been implemented by the United States. One way to prove this is how Maduro claims that the "...imperialist government of the United Sates ordered this attack..." but had no evidence to back this up. Secondly, the United States Secretary of State states he would not want to hurt the innocent, "ordinary" citizens. Since Maduro came into power, his role in office has been corrupt, and "incompetent", with violence and hunger skyrocketing, as well as inflation and migration of Venezuelans out of the country. (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-inauguration.html). Maduro is an unfit ruler and has created many problems in Venezuela, which consequently leads to this power outage, and Maduro blaming the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe power outage in Venezuela is mosy definitely not the Untied States’ fault. According to this blog, this country has been offered a lot of money for any aide they need from supporting country’s, it’d be a really amazing start to renewing any of the outdated equipment. As was stated by Guaido, the machinery was simply outdated. How that is the United Statess fault, I can’t really figure that. I can understand that they were expecting some more aide from the U.S. however, they have indeed had a lot of support, and to circle around this entire situation, they asked the U.S. personnel to retreat from Venezuela which only harms their country because they have one less country they can completely rely on for full support.
ReplyDeleteI belive that the venezulan electricity failed because it was outdated and not because of any U.S conspiracy. Venezula is already on the brink of colapse and their would be no benefit to the U.S making it collapse because the negatives in getting caught far outweigh the positives. The U.S should entirlely condemn this notion in order to make sure the venezulan do not think what thier defense mister and maduro is saying is true.
ReplyDeleteZion Abraham
DeleteThe U.S. has nothing to do with the nationwide power outage happening in Venezuela right now. For one, the U.S. would never take a risk with people's lives just to speed up the fall of Maduro's corrupt regime. And secondly, the Venezuelen government has come up with absolutely no evidence that the U.S. is involved with the power outage. Maduro blaming the U.S. for this power outage with no evidence is just ridiculous, and he is just showing the world why there is such a demand for a new leader in the country. However, the U.S. does not need to worry about Maduro. They just need to keep backing the promising, upcoming leader until Maduro is out of power.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe the US has anything to do with the Venezuelan power outage, as the motive to do so seems too risky and simply too far out of the way. Even if the US wanted Maduro's regime to look bad, putting the power out is a pretty basic way of doing it. Furthermore, considering the fact that a lot of the electrical equipment in Venezuela is old, the power was bound to go out. On top of this, because Venezuela is a tropical country, wind and rain damage electrical equipment much more quickly than in other conditions, so it is much more likely that faulty equipment was to blame for the outage than the US. I do not think that the US should continue to refute Maduro's claims, as it is just a waste of time and makes him look more like a fool to his own regime. There is no point in trying to make an argument with a regime that aims to make themselves look better and has no evidence to support themselves.
ReplyDeleteI find it somewhat how the current Venezuelan government is so defensive about the cause of the mass power outage. The way that they have lashed out towards the US and its government suggests a profound insecurity-- the Venezuelan government knows it's not doing an effective job, but attempts to shift responsibility. I understand how one would not want to be associated with failure, but I think that, in this case, it is the job of the failing party (the government) to take ownership of its lack of success. Improvements cannot be made while in a state of denial. The electricity problem is ultimately a symptom of this cycle-- issue after issue coupled with that perpetual denial and no clear vision for the future.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I don't think the US needs to spend more of its time and resources responding to, essentially, another country's insecure leadership figure (Perhaps the US can actually draw that comparison between those of Venezuela and that of the US?). It presents itself as a "feeding the trolls" type of situation that would only escalate with further back-and-forth and "whodunit" debate. Arguing about who to blame will do nothing to find and eliminate the root of Venezuela's problem-- one which extends far past a power outage, however large it may be. Again, the outage is a symptom.
I do not think that the US had anything to do with the power outage, but that the US should not try to refute their claims. The US is currently involved in many tense relations with other countries and I think that adding another will be a downfall for both countries. The power outages were caused by outdated systems and inefficient backup support systems for power. Although I find it strange that all of Venezuela could loose power all at once like the reaction portion of the article stated, I do not believe that the US is to blame and that it was caused by faulty systems. As stated in the article, there is no proof that the US had anything to do with the power outage and I believe that Venezuelan government should put less of their resources into proving anything and put bringing power back up as a first priority. Throwing the blame back and forth will only cost more money and take less time to solve any of Venezuela's problems. I believe that the amount of time, money, and resources that Madura is putting into his belief that the US is to blame is further proof that leadership in Venezuela is inefficient and needs to be fixed for the benefit of the country. Overall, I believe that the power outage was not caused by anyone in particular, especially not the US, and that Venezuelan government needs to put bringing the power back on as a first priority instead of the blame.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that this is a situation where Maduro needed to blame someone to avoid the fact that his government and leading is incompetent. There are obviously many problems in Venezuela right now but a mentality where the so-called president is so quick to blame other countries rather than trying to find the source and fix the problems results in those problems remaining and growing. Maduro's actions clearly highlight how he is too proud to accept that there may be problems with his government and his dislike of America so much that he would accuse them of meddling with his country's operating systems. It seems that the US has done enough to refute Maduro's claim. They clearly have denied the claims with reasoning and make Maduro seems like a fool. The US responding appropriately by settling any confusion and anything more could lead to worse relations between the two countries because it would seem that the US would be picking on Venezuela.
ReplyDeleteI think that many factors contributed to the failure of the electrical system but the main reason I suspect is poor maintenance of the system. I'm guessing that keeping an old electrical system is fairly difficult when I think of the complicated stuff that goes into it. This probably contributed to the outage and it's severity. I also believe that the US should keeping it's good reputation and not let anybody screw it up so we should keep refuting the claims that it's our fault. I think a country's inability to maintain itself rests on its own shoulders, not on those of the people or governments trying to help.
ReplyDeleteWhile it may be possible that the electrical outage was due to an electromagnetic attack, it's much more likely it is a symptom of Muardo's ineffective leadership of Venezuela. As Venezuela comes under the scrutiny of the world, I believe more and more issues involving his regime will become apparent. It should be the US's duty to recognize these failures of Mr. Muardo, and thus promote the ushering in of Mr. Guaido as the new president of Venezuela. However, doing so could upset the Russians, who currently support Mr. Muardo, creating more conflict. That's why the international support of Mr. Guaido is imperative, so that it does not become another proxy war.
ReplyDelete