Maduro: “an account called Anonymous” had threatened a national blackout

Caracas, Aug 30 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Friday that “an account called Anonymous” from the “far right” had already threatened a national blackout, after a power outage occurred early this morning that left much of the country without electricity, caused – the president said – by a “heart attack” of the Guri system, the main electricity generating facility located in Bolívar state (south, bordering Brazil).

«We already know who operated an account called Anonymous, who hired it, who financed it. I won’t say any more. An Anonymous account at the service of the war of hate against Venezuela threatened on several occasions with a national blackout»Maduro said during a broadcast on the state channel VTV.

The president also showed an alleged post on X from “August 7” that he linked to the hacking group, which says “we apologize to the people of Venezuela for the attack that the national electrical system will receive,” while affirming that the account is “anti-Venezuelan” and “works directly with the CIA.”

The president said the aim of the attack was to “liquidate” Guri, which he blamed on “fascist currents” that “pretended to be the opposition.”

He said that they have “determined the mechanisms that were used” in the attack, but did not provide further details, since – he said – the investigation “is in full process” in order “to achieve justice in this case.”

“The investigations are advanced, accelerated, and will be furthered,” he said.

The president said that behind this attack there is a “fascist war room” that is -he said- in the United States.

“There are technical details that I should not give, I don’t know if I will give them later, in the days to come,” he said.

The president reported that “more than 90% of the country’s supermarkets” were “activated” with their “self-generation plants”, as well as “100% of popular and municipal markets” and “almost 60%” of “trade in general”, while the Internet service is being “restored”.

He also stated that “practically 100% of the health system” worked with its “self-generated” electricity, while he assured that a “bone marrow transplant was performed in one of the hospitals in Caracas,” without specifying which one.

Maduro said that authorities remain in Guri to “restore normality” to the electric service so that the people “can continue enjoying the right to peace,” although he did not offer an assessment of the restoration of electricity in the country’s states.

Friday’s blackout affected most states, according to reports, and was the second in Venezuela after the one in March 2019, when a large part of the country was without electricity for four days, for which the government pointed the finger at the opposition and the United States and Colombia, led at the time by Donald Trump and Iván Duque, respectively.