The inhabitants of Zulia continue to undergo a 12-hour rationing schedule without electricity every day, implemented in 6×6 blocks. Scheduled power outages go back all the way to the government announcements made in mid-April.
Santa Lucía, Veritas, Tierra Negra, La Fusta, Ayacucho and Pomona are some of the sectors of Maracaibo, the capital of the municipality, that report power outages occurring regularly from 8am until 2pm, and they are repeated, again, from 8pm until 2am.
Although the rationing schedule should be occurring at the established times, inhabitants of Maracaibo and San Francisco report that power outages often occur suddenly, leaving them unable to preserve food and medicine that require refrigeration, nor the appliances that are suddenly shut down.
Despite the fact that many families have reported a total or partial loss of household appliances and other electronic devices due to power outages, the State is not held responsible nor insures compensation.
As if this wasn’t enough for the inhabitants, in May the general blackouts in the municipality were frequent. On May 9th, 16th, 23rd and 24th there were blackouts that particularly affected the state of Zulia and its capital, Maracaibo.
The official information on the causes of the blackouts is repetitive and does not offer more details about the magnitude of the electrical crisis, nor for how long the rationing schedule will be in effect. There are no statements from the National Electric Corporation about the causes of the power cuts.
In Zulia there is no guaranteed access to an adequate standard of living and the barriers to access fundamental rights such as water, food, health, work and education are increasing. Zulians’ physical and mental exhaustion caused by continuous power cuts is evident in homes, classrooms and work. The inhabitants of the region live every day measuring electricity hours, knowing that the State is unable to guarantee continuous electrical service that would ensure a decent life for its citizens.
In these circumstances, the Comisión para los Derechos Humanos del Estado Zulia (Codhez) (Commission for Human Rights of the State of Zulia) reiterates that an optimal and sustainable solution to the region’s electricity problem must be found immediately, for the benefit of a better life for all Zulians.
