1/ electricity grid stable since Sunday afternoon after three days of almost uninterrupted blackout. 2/ water distribution is slowly coming back to normal after a complete breakdown during the 3 day blackout. Water is pumped up to the capital (altitud 800metres) from the plains and then pumped again to each buildings through local pumps so » no electricity = no water » … the pumps in my hotel went down so currently we have tap water 30mns in the morning and 30mns in the evening 3/ the puntos (card payment machines) are now working properly after three days of total breakout and a slow and progressive recovery since monday. Note : The puntos are excessively important in a country undergoing what is possibly the worst cash shortage in modern history 4/ shops are slowly reopening (I’d say around 40% in my sector) and have been restocked in water bottles. Farmatodo, a drugstore/supermarket chain whose stores were closed or only accepted cash, have reestablished electronic card payments since yesterday (day 5 of the current electricity crisis)… and by the way yes it’s possible to buy all sorts of medicine in Venezuela. Crazy isn’t it? 5/ Caracas metro is still down, it’s been closed since thursday evening, 6 days ago 7/ banks are still closed, no ATM has delivered cash in the last 6 days 7/ today was again a bank holiday. Schools and administrations and public companies and banks and many private companies closed 8/ We’re in the dark concerning the exact state of the grid and of Guri hydroelectric power station. This is a closely kept state secret drowned under government anti-US warlike counter-propaganda (not judging, just giving facts). One key point is to wait and see what happens with the metro to get an idea of the extent of damage suffered (I’ve read and heard that the metro cannot function without the very high voltage 765kV main lines coming from Guri) note: Guri hydroelectric power station, the 4th largest in the world, provides 80% of the countries electricity, a good deal of it transiting through 3 main lines of 765kV each, these are the lines which broke down last thursday just before 5pm, plunging the country in total blackout. 9/ failed attempt of Juan Guaido yesterday to get the people to streetprotest. In my area two groups of max 50 people where standing on the sidewalk at two crossings, banging in saucepans and shouting, horned approvingly by the occasional car and watched over by 2 policewomen and 2 policemen. Notwhat I’d call a huge security apparatus 10/ as usual in crisis situations the vultures are out. Clear increase of street blackmarket currency dealers and unusualy high presence of jehova witnesses and similar birds of ill omen 11/ any article published in the corporate atlantist press describing scenes of chaos and carnage in Caracas is a damn lie (hello lemonde.fr). The city is quiet. There is no looting, no famine, and nobody is drinking sewage water. People have been traumatised, scared, deeply unnerved by three days of near total blackout : no electricity, no running water, no phone/internet, no means of payment. Now they are stocking food and water, cooling down, and praying that the electricity doesn’t fall again.
les voyages d'ufu
