Power outage plunges most of Venezuela into darkness
By Diego Ore and Andrew Cawthorne
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's second massive power outage of the year plunged much of the nation into darkness on Monday night, prompting renewed talk of sabotage from President Nicolas Maduro's government and cries of incompetence from its foes.
Power went off in Caracas and other cities around the country soon after 8 p.m. local time (0030 GMT), to the intense annoyance of residents and commuters.
"I feel so frustrated, angry and impotent," said sales adviser Aneudys Acosta, 29, trudging through the rain along a street in the capital after having to leave the disrupted underground transport system.
"I live far away and here I am stuck under the rain. Something's going wrong that they're not sorting out. The government needs a Plan B. This is just not normal."
Monday's outage appeared similar to a massive September 5 blackout that was one of the worst in the South American OPEC member's history.
Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver who narrowly won a presidential election this year after the death of his mentor and former leader Hugo Chavez, accused the opposition then of deliberately sabotaging the power grid to discredit him.
His powerful ally and National Assembly president, Diosdado Cabello, repeated the same accusation after Monday's blackout that affected more than half of Venezuela.
"I have no doubt that today's electricity sabotage is part of the right-wing's plan," Cabello said on Twitter.
PROTESTS
In some wealthier parts of Caracas, where opposition to the socialist government is strongest, people began banging pots and pans out of their windows in a traditional form of protest.
Some shouted, "Maduro, resign!"
Venezuela has been suffering periodic electricity cuts around the country since 2009, although the capital has been spared the worst outages.
Critics say the power problems symbolize the failure of the government and its 15 years of socialist policies in resource-rich Venezuela. The country has the world's largest crude oil reserves and big rivers that feed hydroelectric facilities generating two-thirds of its power.
The blackouts, some due to planned power rationing and at other times to utility failures, have not affected the oil refineries, which are powered by separate generator plants.
State oil company PDVSA said its installations were all working normally on Monday night, with fuel supplies guaranteed.
Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon said the same major transmission line that went down in September - and carries about 60 percent of national supply - had again been affected.
Power began returning to most parts of Caracas within an hour or two, though remoter parts of the nation of 29 million people were still in the dark late into the evening.
"We ask Venezuelans for patience," Chacon said.
PRESIDENT CUT OFF LIVE ON TV
Maduro was giving a live address on state TV when he was abruptly cut off. He later Tweeted that he was continuing to work in the presidential palace despite the "strange" blackout, and appeared live on state TV surrounded by school children.
"Be strong against this electrical war that yesterday's fascists have declared against our people," Maduro said in another address to the nation at about 11 p.m. local time.
Security services were on alert, while the oil industry had been "put on emergency", the president said.
Since winning office in April, Maduro has accused political opponents of conniving with wealthy businessmen and their allies in the United States to undermine his government.
As well as accusing them of sabotaging the power grid, he has alleged plots to assassinate him and to destroy the economy through price-gouging and the hoarding of products.
Venezuelans are suffering from a 54 percent annual inflation rate, as well as scarcities of basic products from flour to toilet paper. Nationwide local municipal elections on Sunday are seen as a major test of Maduro's standing.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said government officials' bellicose statements were "pathetic" at a time of national disquiet. "For once in your lives, be responsible," he Tweeted.
Capriles and others say the reasons for the power failures are obvious and simple: lack of investment, incompetence and corruption within the state-run power company Corpoelec since Chavez's 2007 nationalization of the sector.
Venezuela has a maximum generation capacity of about 28,000 megawatts and normal demand of about 18,000.
The government constantly chides Venezuelans, however, for wasteful habits in a nation where the average household consumes an average of 5,878 kilowatt hours per year, about double the average in Latin America.
(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Daniel Wallis.; Editing by Philip Barbara and Christopher Wilson)
CARCAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's government is setting limits on prices for cars as President Nicolas Maduro tries to close a popular loophole used by savers to guard against the fastest inflation in two decades.
Maduro said Monday that he would use new emergency decree powers granted by Congress to enable the government to set "fair" prices for all cars sold in Venezuela. At the same time, used vehicles won't be allowed to exceed the price of newer models, he said in televised remarks.
Automobiles purchased in Venezuela generally jump in value as soon as they leave the dealership's lot as decade-old currency controls reduce the availability of imported cars and parts, leading to months-long waiting lists. Carmakers including Ford and Toyota are on pace to churn out 70,000 vehicles this year in Venezuela, about a third of their capacity and less than the 104,000 they produced here in 2012.
Amid the shortage of new cars, demand for even decade-old clunkers has been soaring as Venezuelans buy durable goods as a store of value at a time their salaries and savings are being eroded by 54 percent inflation and a plunging currency.
Instead of reducing inflationary pressures, however, the price caps are likely to spawn a black market for the buying and selling of used cars much like the one that already exists for rental apartments, where regulations are also severe, said Asdrubal Oliveros, an economist at Caracas-based economic think tank Ecocanaltica.
"Cars are going to become even scarcer, and prices will rise further," Oliveros said.
The government-controlled congress first approved a bill setting car prices last January but the legislation languished during the rocky transition surrounding former President Hugo Chavez's death in March from cancer.
Maduro is taking up the legislation now as he seeks to prop up pro-government candidate running in Sunday's mayoral elections.
Last month, he launched a full-blown offensive against businesses he accuses of gouging consumers, driving down the value of the currency in the black market and trying to destabilize his socialist government.
Since seizing a number of retail chains and ordering them to slash prices on televisions and fridges, Maduro has turned his attention to other targets, including the automotive industry, where he says speculation is rife.
Last month, TuCarro.com, a popular website for selling used cars, was ordered to stop listing vehicles less than two years old and more recently it stopped publishing prices altogether at the request of the government.
The government is also getting in the car business itself. Earlier this year it set a goal of selling directly to consumers 7,000 vehicles made in partnership with automakers from China and Iran.
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