Venezuelans have reacted with anger and confusion as the government's power-saving campaign kicked in, turning off electricity across wide swathes of Caracas and the country, amid a drought-driven energy crisis.
In the capital's thriving central La Candelaria neighborhood, homeowners and shopkeepers alike threw up their hands in frustration at the looming electricity cuts announced by the government on Tuesday.
"We don't know anything. Nobody knows anything. If they turn off the electricity we'll have to close. Nothing will be sold and things will go bad," family grocery owner Irene De Freitas told AFP.
In Caracas, power cuts will take place on alternate days, in specific sectors at certain times, the head of state-run Electricidad de Caracas said Tuesday.
The rest of the country also faces power cuts that could last until the start of the rainy season in May, he added.
But there was confusion as to when and where the power cuts would start.
"I'd rather have it at night, because if it happens during the day it would hurt us a lot," said Jorge Costa, who runs an arepa (cornbread) stand that Wednesday morning was full of customers.
"If they switch off the light, how can I stay open," adjacent barber shop owner Pedro Ramirez chimed in.
In an office building nearby, security guards were telling workers on all nine floors that the elevators and faucets would stop working at midday, the start of an announced four-hour power cut.
In the upscale Chacao neighborhood, people got together and improvised a "human traffic light" system to keep traffic flowing during the power cuts.
Venezuela is flush with oil, the country's chief export, and natural gas, but meets domestic energy demand with electricity generated by its massive Guri Dam hydroelectric complex on the Orinoco River, which supplies 70 percent of the nation's power needs.
But with drought affecting large swathes of Latin America, water levels at the Guri Dam have dropped to a critical nine meters (30 feet) below normal and are still falling at a rate of 10 centimeters (four inches) daily, experts said.
The government blames the drought on the cyclical El Nino climate pattern.
Leftist President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday fielded public complaints over the new measures.
"It hasn't rained. Neither Chavez or the government is to blame. It just hasn't rained," he said in a televised speech.
"Now it's the rich and middle class who get angry. And what do they want? Do you want only the poor to be rationed? That's how it was before," Chavez said.
"I'm calling on everybody to accept (the electricity cuts). They are necessary, just like when you're fat and you've got to go on a diet and exercise.
"You have to cut back on something," he added.
Some Caracas residents are worried the blackouts will spur more crime in the already dangerous city of five million. Related article: Venezuela sells bonds to curb black-market dollar
"Power went off before nightfall and I didn't have any problem. But on Friday, when the next cut is due at midnight, I'm afraid of being in the dark during the night because I live near some dangerous neighborhoods," Katian Castro told AFP.
The power cuts compound daily woes for Venezuelans that lately include other cost-cutting measures ranging from water rationing to a major devaluation of the bolivar.
"When did we ever see this in Venezuela?" complained homemaker Maria Miranda at a grocery store. "I've always used all the electricity and water I wanted."
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
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