Last Thursday, a massive power outage struck across much of Venezuela, affecting huge parts of its infrastructure, from clean water and food storage to medical care, communications, and more. Amid a years-long economic crisis and building political crisis, the Venezuelan government and its opposition are blaming each other for the collapse of the power grid. Electricity has been slowly restored to parts of Caracas, but rolling blackouts remain, and much of the rest of the country is still in the dark. Collected here, photos from the past week, taken in Caracas, in San Cristóbal, and on the border with Colombia.
Ongoing Blackouts Hit Already Struggling Venezuelans
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A little girl stands inside a plastic barrel while her family waits to collect water from an open pipe above the Guaire River, during rolling blackouts in Caracas on March 11, 2019. #
Ariana Cubillos / AP -
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A woman takes a picture of a damaged power substation in Caracas where explosions of unknown cause took place early on March 11, 2019, as a massive power outage continues affecting some areas of the country. #
Yuri Cortez / AFP / Getty -
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A food vendor tells shoppers that he can't accept their debit cards, the most common form of payment due to inflation, during a blackout in Caracas on March 10, 2019. #
Eduardo Verdugo / AP -
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People cross the border from Venezuela to Colombia on "trochas"—illegal trails—across the Táchira River, near the Simón Bolívar International Bridge, traveling from San Antonio, Venezuela, to Cúcuta, Colombia, on March 11, 2019. #
Juan Pablo Bayona / AFP / Getty -
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