DISINFO: Venezuela blackout caused by a US attack
SUMMARY
On Monday 25 March, a new electrical blackout happened in several states of Venezuela. The cause of a power outage is supposed to be a cyber-attack. This is one of the first cyber-attacks of such a scale. All indications are that the attack was conducted from the United States.
RESPONSE
No evidence given. The story advances a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on Western efforts to destabilise Venezuela and/or eject President Nicolas Maduro from office. The 2019 power outage is only the latest in a long period of power instability which Venezuela has faced for roughly a decade. The blackouts have been linked to "disastrous" policymaking in the energy sector, widespread government graft, and poor maintenance of energy installations which, according to one Venezuelan NGO, had been altogether abandoned by 1998. In 2018, a Venezuelan trade union official was arrested after warning that a blackout was likely to happen due to the government's negligence. This is not the first time that the United States is accused of a power outage in Venezuela. In early March 2019, most of the states of Venezuela were left without light. The responsibility for the situation then was also put on the US.