Blackout hits parts of Venezuelan capital Caracas

CARACAS, (Reuters) – A blackout hit parts of the Venezuelan capital Caracas yesterday, Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon said, adding that authorities were working to restore service.

A substation outage affected power service in the downtown area and in several neighborhoods in the east of the city, Chacon said via Twitter.

Venezuela has in recent years suffered frequent blackouts that critics attribute to insufficient investment following the 2007 nationalization of the electricity sector.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro has in some cases attributed blackouts to sabotage by his adversaries.