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China Backs Venezuela’s Claim That Blackout Is Result Of U.S. Sabotage, Offers Help

Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

Nick Sherman Contributor
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China reportedly offered to help Venezuela restore its power Wednesday after the South American nation suffered its worst blackout ever.

China also backed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his socialist party’s claim that the power outage was a result of U.S. sabotage, according to Reuters.

The power outage reportedly started last week. While most of the country has regained power, some places have not. This can be a huge problem as some places in Venezuela can reach high temperatures.

China said Wednesday that they would provide technical support to help Maduro’s government regain power. (RELATED: ‘Rapid & Catastrophic Turn:’ Marco Rubio Says Venezuela Is On A Collision Course)

China, as well as Maduro, claimed that the power failure was the result of a U.S.-backed sabotage attempt.

Experts say that the power outage was a result of a technical problem from the Guri Dam in Southern Venezuela, according to the Reuters article.

Marco Rubio chimed in last week, incorrectly said that “German Dam” broke in Venezuela. However, German Dam is the name of a reporter covering the electrical outage caused by a broken power plant, which in turn caused the crisis.

Schools, hospitals, and factories have been shut down, and flights have been canceled due to the power outage, according to The Wall Street Journal.

While China and Maduro claim that the power outage was the result of U.S. cyber-sabotage, people like Juan Guiado, recognized by many nations to be the rightful interim president, claim that the power outage was the result of corruption and mismanagement by the Maduro government, according to a video by Reuters.

In the video, a Chinese official claimed “there are reports saying that the system affected by the accident was the Venezuelan national power grid, which suffered a hacking attack. This is also what we saw written in relevant reports; China is deeply concerned.” (RELATED: Maduro Blames Historic Blackout In Venezuela On US ‘Electrical War’)

The power outage has hurt many people in Venezuela. Many were already having trouble getting food, but now the food that they have is going bad in their refrigerators due to loss of power.