CARACAS (Reuters) - The furious Venezuelans lined up to buy water and fuel on Sunday, while the country suffered a fourth day of a blackout across the country that left food already scarce in stores, homes suffering from lack of water and cell phones without reception.
A woman whistles while she and others block a street to show their anger at the continuous blackout in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 10, 2019.REUTERS / Carlos Jasso
Authorities have managed to provide unequal access to power since the blackout began Thursday in what President Nicolas Maduro called an act of sabotage
On Sunday, the government suspended school and business activities for the next day without providing any information on a likely time frame to resolve the situation, leaving many worried that it could be extended indefinitely.
The worst blackout in the country occurs when Maduro faces a hyperinflationary economic collapse and an unprecedented political crisis. The opposition leader Juan Guaido in January invoked the constitution to assume the presidency after declaring the re-election of Maduro in 2018 as a fraud.
The angry residents of the Chacao neighborhood in Caracas installed the angry residents of the Chacao neighborhood in Caracas installed barricades on a main avenue and on side streets on Sunday to protest against the continuous blackout.
The food we had in our refrigerators has been spoiled, businesses are closed, there is no communication, even by cell phone," said Ana Cerrato, a 49-year-old merchant, in front of a pile of barbed wire and debris.
The lines at the fuel stations were spread out in blocks as drivers lined up to buy gasoline and the buses waited to fill up with diesel. Families stopped in the sun to buy drinking water, which is not available to most residents whose homes do not have electricity.
State oil company PDVSA said on Sunday that fuel supplies were guaranteed. But only about 100 of the country's 1,800 service stations were operating due to the blackout, according to industry sources at service stations. The merchants who could not operate the refrigerators began to give away cheese, vegetables and meat to the customers.
Other stores had stolen supplies. A supermarket in southeastern Caracas was ransacked Sunday night, prompting a shootout with police and National Guard troops, according to Reuters witnesses and an employee present. The looters took food that included pasta, rice and tomato sauce. A neighboring store that sold items for the home, such as plastic chairs, was also ransacked.
The National Guard gathered more than 40 people at the scene, tied their hands behind their backs and ordered them to lie face down on a road that authorities had blocked during the confrontation, a Reuters witness said. On Saturday night, a small supermarket in a working-class area of western Caracas was ransacked after protesters blocked an avenue and clashed with police, according to locals and store owner Manuel Calderia.
" We need help! We are in a humanitarian crisis
