Venezuela's government told workers and school children to stay home on Tuesday as the second major blackout this month left the streets of Caracas mostly empty and residents wondering how long power would be out amid a deepening economic crisis.
Venezuela blamed an attack on its electric system for a blackout on Monday, the second to hit the OPEC nation this month, that shuttered businesses, plunged the main airport into darkness and left commuters stranded in the capital. Power went out in much of Caracas and nearly a dozen states in the early afternoon, stirring memories of a week-long outage earlier in the month that was the most severe in the country's history.
Venezuela's national election board announced the vote slated for April 22 had been pushed back to the second half of May, with a final date to be specified later, after a pact between Maduro’s government and some opposition parties.
The pro-government representative in the negotiations in Dominican Republic, Jorge Rodriguez announced that a pre-agreement had been reached and that he was almost certain that on Wednesday the talks would come to fruition. However, the opposition came to deny it.
The deputy of the pro-government National Constituent Assembly, Tomás Lucena, was killed on Wednesday afternoon in Trujillo state, in western Venezuela when he was intercepted by two suspects on motorcycles and wounded with several bullets, according to witnesses. The government rates the crime of revenge.
Venezuela said future elections in the country would only take place once U.S. sanctions against top ranking officials and its finances are lifted, in a sign from the government that next year’s presidential vote is at risk.
President Hugo Chavez candidates swept nearly all of Venezuela's 23 states in Sunday's regional vote, but Henrique Capriles consolidated his position as top opposition leader by winning re-election as governor.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez will personally go to register his candidacy for the October 7 election on Monday, officials said, brushing aside rumors he might be too unwell from cancer or considering a successor.Chavez, 57, is after re-election despite a year-long battle against an unspecified cancer.