Venezuela Recovers Power After Massive Blackout

Electricity returned to Caracas and other parts of Venezuela after a blackout plunged much of the country into darkness, although witnesses reported continued intermittent outages in the oil-producing state of Zulia.

Venezuela's government blamed the massive blackout that crippled the South American country on an "attack" on the country's largest dam, Guri, without providing additional details.

Power had returned to some parts of Venezuela after capital Caracas and much of the rest of the country were plunged into a blackout that the government blamed on sabotage by the opposition, without providing evidence.

President Nicolas Maduro, who is locked in a dispute with the opposition over the outcome of a July 28 presidential election, often blames what he says are "attacks" on the power grid on his political rivals, accusations the opposition has always denied.

The blackout was the result of an attack on the Guri Reservoir, Venezuela's largest hydroelectric project, Maduro said on state television, as he blamed the opposition and what he said were fascists in the United States.

Maduro offered no evidence for his claims, but said the attack had been focused on transmission lines and was large.

All 24 of the country's states reported a total or partial loss of electricity supply, Freddy Nanez, the minister of communication and information, said on state television.

The Jose oil terminal, the largest in the country, resumed operations that had been interrupted by the blackout, according to an industry source.

About 70% of Venezuela's oil exports are handled through the terminal, which does not have its own energy system.

A key oil upgrader that produces exportable crude, Petropiar, also resumed operations, according to two company sources.