Maduro’s Gone. The Blackouts Aren’t.
Forget oil. The biggest challenge in Venezuela — and Cuba — after Maduro is electricity.
When US military forces swept into Caracas early Saturday morning to capture Nicolás Maduro, among the first targets hit were, predictably, electricity targets. The fastest way to sow confusion in a society is to shut down or destroy its electric grid. And as I noted in an article last year, the US military has been using that tactic in nearly every conflict since the Korean War.
While the extent of the damage to Venezuela’s grid is still being assessed, early evidence suggests that it was extensive. Yesterday, the energy minister, Jorge Marquez, told Xinhua that the US inflicted significant damage to transmission infrastructure near Caracas and workers at the National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec) were trying to restore power. Also yesterday, a journalist with Sky News reported that Caracas residents are living in a “total blackout.” With no electricity or Internet, the reporter, Rosali Hernandez, said that citizens are unable to get any news or information about what will happen next or when the power might return.
Electric grids are a near-perfect reflection of the societies they power. In countries where corruption is rampant, electricity systems don’t work because the leaders, and citizens alike, are stealing too much. The theft includes cash intended for grid investment, equipment needed to deliver power, and the juice itself. Put another way, theft is the enemy of light. And under Maduro’s kleptocratic regime, Venezuela’s electricity production has plummeted.
Since Saturday, geopolitical analysts have primarily focused on Venezuela’s enormous heavy oil resources and how quickly that oil might enter global markets. Resuscitating the country’s oil production, and reforming its state-controlled company, PdVSA, will take years. But the most immediate challenge — and it will require spending billions of dollars — is stabilizing and rebuilding Venezuela’s tattered electric grid.
And remember, the stakes here go far beyond Venezuela’s grid. By snatching Maduro, the Trump administration is also cranking up the heat on the kleptocrats in Havana.
Let’s take a look.
