Zulia energy collapse
With previous events in 2015[1] and 2016,[2] the collapse intensified in 2017, when in September an alleged theft of cables left the city of Maracaibo (considered the second most important municipality in the country) and its surroundings without electricity.[3] Since then long and short-term blackouts have been reported, which also cause the suspension of water supply, failures in cable television, telephone coverage and Internet access, among other services, as well as difficulty conducting business transactions, caused by the scarcity of banknotes and the dependence on the large-scale use of the point of sale terminals as well as electronic payments (such as wire transfers) that are deficient in the absence of electricity and the Internet, resulting in closing of establishments, absence of work, damage of food and electrical appliances, the decrease in quality of life, among other factors, which added to the high temperatures suffered by citizens, affect the normal development of the population.[10][11] The service has also been interrupted but to a lesser extent in other states such as Bolívar, Carabobo, Falcón, Mérida, Miranda, Nueva Esparta, Táchira, Vargas and the country's capital Caracas.[52] On 24 October 2018, part of the state suffered a blackout that Corpoelec attributed to a fault in the Yaracuy-El Tablazo line, but citizens reported that the failure could be due to the explosion at the Punta Iguana electric substation in Santa Rita, located near the bridge over the lake, which had to be closed.[54] On 23 December, the government reported that there was a new cutting of cables and damage to the towers of the Las Peonias substation, which according to the governor of the entity affected approximately 200MW of the electricity system, causing blackouts in various sectors.[62][63][64] The Minister of Electric Energy, Luis Motta Domínguez, announced the suspension of the rationing on 23 September 2018, informing that the sublacustrine cable was reconnected and a turbo generator with 150 megawatts (MW) entered service for the Zulia state.