Venezuela electricity crisis sparks human rights denunciations

Political leaders in Venezuela are denouncing the escalating electricity crisis, characterizing the prolonged power outages as a violation of fundamental human rights. In Zulia, former Maracaibo mayor Rafael Ramírez Colina petitioned the Defensoría del Pueblo in Caracas, demanding a technical committee to address daily blackouts exceeding six hours. Ramírez warned that the lack of electricity is endangering lives by preventing medical procedures, such as dialysis and surgeries, and is paralyzing the education and labor sectors.

In Mérida, Yones Molina of Vente Mérida reported that all 23 municipalities are suffering from daily outages of more than eight hours. Molina stated that the electrical collapse is destroying local commerce and forcing healthcare centers to operate in darkness. He attributed the crisis to the systematic dismantling of the national electrical system and called for a complete overhaul of the current political and economic model to restore essential services.