Power returns to most of Venezuela after Friday's blackout

CARACAS (Reuters) -Electricity returned to Caracas and other parts of Venezuela on Saturday after a blackout plunged much of the country into darkness on Friday, although Reuters witnesses reported continued intermittent outages in the oil-producing state of Zulia.

Venezuela's government blamed the massive blackout that crippled the South American country on an "attack" on the country's largest dam, Guri, without providing additional details.

"The first thing I thought was that the food was going to spoil, and it was so expensive to buy,” said Jose Rincon, a teacher who lives in the central city of Valencia. "When you think everything is bad, it seems like it just gets worse."

Reyner Acosta, a 62-year-old retiree in Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia, said the electricity came back early Saturday morning, only to cut off once again.

"We were struggling because the electricity came and went," he said while shopping at a market to replenish food that had gone bad while the power was out.

On Saturday, the Jose oil terminal, the largest in the country, resumed operations that had been interrupted by the blackout, according to an industry source.

About 70% of Venezuela's oil exports are handled through the terminal, which does not have its own energy system.

A key oil upgrader that produces exportable crude, Petropiar, also resumed operations on Saturday, according to two company sources.

Experts say the blackouts that have plagued Venezuela for years are due to lack of maintenance and disinvestment from the electrical system.

In 2019, a series of nationwide power outages hit Venezuela and lasted days. At the time, Venezuelan authorities also attributed the blackouts to attacks by the opposition.

(Reporting by Mayela Armas in Caracas, Mircely Guanipa in Maracay, Tibisay Romero in Valencia, Mariela Nava in Maracaibo, María Ramírez in Puerto Ordaz and Tathiana Ortiz in San Cristóbal; Writing by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Daniel Wallis)