Nearly 30 hours after his enforced disappearance, journalist and human rights activist Luis Carlos Díaz was released from SEBIN headquarters in El Helicoide with precautionary measures. A safety net of people was all that stood between him and a prison cell.
At Caracas hospitals, every one of the innumerable problems is getting worse, while colectivos and security forces threaten everyone who is trying to help or even get some answers about the extent of the crisis.
Although he didn’t prepare for this exactly, he knew something could come up that would require him to hole up and resist. Our own Victor Drax is a prepper and this is how he faced the massive blackout that attacked Venezuelans.
Venezuela’s second city spent the first 50 hours of blackout trying to survive under the intense heat. But once food and water began to run out, the looting started. All kinds of businesses are being destroyed by a mob made of desperate people and common thugs.
After the humanitarian aid debacle at the border on February 23rd, and amid the ongoing national blackout, pressure has been building on caretaker President Juan Guaidó to come up with a definitive solution to the crisis in the form of military intervention, undermining critical unity.
Once a pleasant, clear-water creek, in our times the Guaire is no more than Caracas’ open air sewer. Amid power cuts that took down the water pumping stations that feed Caracas, the people from the slums of San Agustin had to climb down to its embankment to collect water of unknown origin and very dubious safety.
As Nicolás Maduro forced all TV and radio stations to broadcast his accusation that the U.S. caused the collapse of Venezuela’s power grid, the secret police was arresting Luis Carlos Diaz, the journalist and occasional Caracas Chronicles contributor, that state media is framing for “sabotage”.
While caretaker President Juan Guaidó decrees the emergency and installs a situational room, the Maduro regime stays silent about the precise diagnose and forecast of the crisis, besides the propaganda trope of sabotage. This is what we can assess on the fifth day of the nationwide blackout.
Following the old Roman custom of bread and circus, the Maduro regime has been menacing the country’s baseball and soccer football teams to support the illusion of normality. But as we just saw in a protest in Maracaibo, the players are refusing to follow orders and are standing with the common people.
One night without electricity in one of the most dangerous cities in the world is stressful. Two, three, four nights in a row, amidst a nationwide blackout, is absolutely terrifying. Priorities, customs, expectations are subjected to all kinds of changes. But one old British novel on a screen can provide shelter.
We’ve been able to hang on for 22 years in one of the craziest media landscapes in the world. We’ve seen different media outlets in Venezuela (and abroad) closing shop, something we’re looking to avoid at all costs. Your collaboration goes a long way in helping us weather the storm.
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