Last Thursday, Venezuela suffered a massive blackout, affecting at least 18 of its 23 states and leaving at least 26 people dead, according to opposition leaders. Analysts and engineers agree that the power cut was the result of years of underinvestment of the country’s state-owned energy company, Corpolec, corruption and brain drain. However, if you ask Nicolás Maduro, the blackout was the result of a U.S. “demonic” plot to force him from power by crippling the country’s electricity system with a “electromagnetic attack.”
But Venezuela’s power outage isn’t the only blackout occurring in the country. The Maduro regime has imposed “radically invasive digital restrictions in an attempt to stifle the free flow of information and quell interim president Juan Guaidó’s mounting challenge.”
With control of CANTV, the largest internet service provider in Venezuela, Maduro has been successful in restricting access to the internet at pivotal points during the country’s political crisis. One of these incidents occurred on January 21, when reports surfaced that Twitter, Instagram and Youtube were all temporarily blocked during a military dispute in Caracas. Maduro also seems to block access to Youtube and social media platforms whenever Guaidó shares his speeches online (he is also banned from making televised addresses). Maduro’s tactics seem less about suppressing all information, and more about shifting public opinion “while giving the outward impression of business as usual.”
