General blackout in Venezuela: More than eight hours without electricity in much of the country.

A widespread blackout this Friday has left Venezuela plunged into darkness for more than eight hours, as the service has still not been restored in much of the country.

The power outage, which occurred at 4:40 a.m. this Friday, has affected a large part of the national territory, leaving millions of people without electricity and without internet access.

Despite the fact that Nicolás Maduro's regime has claimed to be working on a contingency plan to restore electricity service, reports from users across the country indicate that most areas continue to be without electricity and internet.

In some areas of eastern Caracas, the service was restored intermittently, but after a few minutes it failed again, leaving residents in the dark once more.

The NGO VeSinFiltro reported that more than 80% of the country still lacks internet connectivity, a clear indication that the electrical service has not been restored in most of the affected regions.

At least 20 of the 24 states in the country have experienced power outages and internet connection issues, further exacerbating the crisis, confirmed the news portal UHN PLUS.

The Chavista regime has reported a supposed "sabotage" as the cause of the blackout, a claim that has been frequently used in the past to justify failures in public services.

This type of accusation has been seen by many as a strategy of chavismo to divert attention from the serious situation the country is experiencing, which has been in an economic recession for almost 10 years, with hyperinflation and an accelerated decline in the quality of services.

Power outages have become increasingly frequent in Venezuela, a member nation of OPEC that, despite its vast oil reserves, is facing a deep economic and social crisis.

The lack of investment in infrastructure, corruption, and poor management are pointed out by experts as the main causes of the collapse of public services, including the recurring blackouts that affect millions of Venezuelans.

Electricity outages have become frequent in the OPEC member nation, which has been facing five years of recession with hyperinflation and a decline in the quality of public services.

"Chavismo never misses an opportunity to crow that it has everything under control, but every time something happens, it's the fault of 'sabotage': The power goes out: sabotage, they lose the elections: hacking; gasoline runs out: sanctions/sabotage; there's no water: God's sabotage," reflected a netizen on the social media platform X.

The economist Asdrúbal R. Oliveros added that "today's blackout is a clear reminder that the current model is not capable of providing well-being for all and allowing Venezuela to return to a path of sustained recovery."

This event occurs amidst the severe political crisis in the country following the elections where Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner despite the fraud allegations made by the opposition.