Caracas residents trying to get back to routines amid electricity rationing

Caracas — Caracas residents on Monday are trying to get back to their normal routines on a workday that has been cut by half due to the electricity rationing announced by the Nicolas Maduro government that is keeping large portions of the Venezuelan capital and wide swaths of the country in the dark.

The capital has been experiencing power blackouts in certain zones but things are apparently going relatively normally after some people took to the streets on Sunday to protest the lack of electricity and potable water.

The main public transportation service, the metro, is not operating on Monday, and so the Transportation Ministry has made special buses available to ferry people around the city.

However, along the streets one can observe a moderate flow of people on foot, while some of the bus stops are crammed with people waiting for a vehicle to take them on their routes.

According to February figures from the Interunion Transportation Command, which includes several transportation workers’ associations, at least 90 percent of the 300,000 vehicles that cover the various routes around the country are “technically broken down” because of the high cost of certain replacement parts and the complete lack of others.

On Monday, the public schools are not open as per orders from the government, but some private universities like the Andres Bello Catholic University and Monteavila decided to continue with their academic and administrative activities despite the problems.

Amid all this, in the Venezuelan interior, in states like Zulia in the northwest, Merida in the west, Anzoategui in the north and at least 10 others, residents are reporting “intermittent” electricity outages, presumably as per the rationing being implemented by the government.

On Sunday evening, Maduro announced the start of a 30-day electricity rationing plan, the amount of time authorities hope will allow them to resolve the multiple problems with the power grid that began on March 7 with the first of a series of blackouts that the regime blames on “sabotage” it says was and is being perpetrated by the opposition and the United States.

The president provided no details about how the rationing will proceed, but he asked the public for patience and “strength” amid the difficulties.

Because of the electricity outages, the supply of potable water has also been affected, since there is no power to run the pumps, and - the government says - authorities are working to restore service and take care of people in the most seriously affected zones by sending in tanker trucks to distribute water.