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Venezuela's first lady Cilia Flores, left, speaks to her husband, President Nicolas Maduro during a demonstration, at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, April 7, 2016.(Photo: Ariana Cubillos, AP)
LA VICTORIA, Venezuela -<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Embattled President Nicolas Maduro gave the country’s 1-million-plus<span style="color: Red;">*</span>public administration employees Fridays off for the next<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two months in a bid to reduce electricity use in the oil-rich country<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and avert a collapse of the power grid.
Maduro also called on his countrymen yesterday to reduce their power<span style="color: Red;">*</span>consumption, the highest in Latin America, in a bid to cope with the
burgeoning crisis that has disrupted life for weeks. If all of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>government’s proposals are implemented, power consumption could fall
by up to 20%, Maduro said.
“I want to avoid painful rationing,” Maduro said during a nationwide
televised address.
Venezuela, which derives 70% of its electricity from hydroelectric
plants, is facing an electrical crisis, partially caused by El Nino
weather phenomenon. The resulting drought has reduced<span style="color: Red;">*</span>water levels at
the country’s hydroelectric plants, in turn slashing generator<span style="color: Red;">*</span>output.
Maduro, who is facing calls that he step down, also blames the crisis
on sabotage by his opponents, as well as higher living standards as a
result of his government’s socialist revolution.
Maduro said he hoped that all Venezuelans would cooperate. He singled
out women for particular mention, saying half jokingly that they
should try to use their hairdryers less.
“I always have thought that a woman looks prettier when she combs her
hair with her fingers and lets her hair dry naturally,” he said.
Venezuela’s opposition derided Maduro’s proposal of saving power by
creating three-day weekends, saying it would further hurt the
country’s economy, already reeling from massive shortages and soaring
inflation that is expected to top 700% this year.
“They themselves say that the largest consumption of power is
residential use,” opposition leader and Miranda State Governor
Henrique Capriles said in a press conference. “Isn’t that a
contradiction if they then send people home” to save power?
Capriles and others blame the crisis on the government’s inefficiency
and mismanagement, massive corruption, lack of investment,
unrealistically low tariffs and chronic power theft by Venezuelans
illegally connecting their houses to the state power grid.
Analysts estimate that up to 40% of all power generated in Venezuela
isn’t billed to the end consumer. Many households have no power
meters, and many pay just pennies a month for electricity, a fact that
encourages waste.
In 2013, Venezuelans paid on average U.S. $0.03 per kilowatt hour.
That compared to the international average of 9.2 cents per kilowatt
hour, and 5.3 cents in Argentina, 9.8 cents in Colombia, 11.1 cents in
Brazil, 15 cents in Chile and 17.5 cents in Europe.
Rates haven’t changed since 2003, when Chavez froze rates during a
nationwide strike to force him from office. <span style="color: Red;">*</span>Maduro, who raised
domestic gasoline prices in February, said higher rates are also being
considered.
Many cities outside the capital of Caracas have had unofficial
rationing for weeks, as Maduro’s government has sought to reduce
consumption during peak daylight hours. Businesses, factories and
banks have no choice but to close when the cuts occur.
“We’re without power two to three hours a day,” says Angela Nunez, a
46-year-old housewife in the central industrial city of Maracay.
“There’s no warning, there’s no advance notice. They just cut the
power. I’ve called the power company to see if it’s a cut or a failure
and no one can tell me.”
.
Venezuela last experienced such cuts in 2009 when a similar drought
led the late President Hugo Chavez to declare an energy emergency,
implementing rationing for all of the country except for Caracas.
He also earmarked billions of dollars to build new thermo-electric
plants to avert such shortages in the future. Many now question where
the money went.
Venezuela’s Electricity Ministry said in 2011 that per capita power
consumption in the country was 3,900 kilowatts-hour (kWh). That figure
was 85% higher than consumption in more industrialized Brazil, (2,100
kWh); three times higher than neighboring Colombia (1,100 kWh); a
quarter more than Argentina (3,100 kWh) and 11% higher than Chile
(3,500 kWh).
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