CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuelan cities cleaned up from a night of looting and fiery protests Wednesday as government offices closed their doors for the rest of the week in the face of a worsening energy crisis that is causing daily blackouts.
The socialist administration began imposing a four-hour daily blackout around the country this week to save power. Then on Tuesday, President Nicolas Maduro announced that millions of officials will now work only Monday and Tuesday.
Angry residents in darkened towns around the country took to the streets Tuesday night, setting up flaming barricades and raiding shops for bread and other scarce food.
More than two dozen people were arrested for looting in the western city of Maracaibo, according to state security secretary Biagio Parisi.
The administration says the water level behind the nation’s largest dam has fallen to near its minimum operating level because of a severe drought. Experts say lack of planning and maintenance is also to blame.