In a country already trudging through a serious humanitarian crisis, the collapse of the electric grid is a final catastrophe. Venezuelans were already chronically hungry, with large numbers reporting they lost weight because they could not afford enough food. With food in such short supply, a power cut isn’t just an inconvenience: Not being able to refrigerate food becomes life-threatening.
The stories coming out of hospitals up and down the country have been harrowing. Only some had working back-up generators, and virtually none were designed to carry a whole hospital over many days. A video of a nurse using a hand pump to try to keep an infant alive has been circulating on social media. Thousands of kidney dialysis patients, unable to receive treatment, may face a slow and agonizing death.
The economy has simply stopped operating. Due to hyperinflation, the country is chronically low on paper money: The Venezuelan central bank just can’t keep up with the demand for bills of larger and larger denominations. As a result, the vast bulk of payments are made electronically — point-of-sale transactions using debit cards and Venmo-like bank transfers have been the only practical way to pay for things for years. With the power system out, you literally can’t access money. The only economic activity that can likely take place now is transactions in foreign currency: U.S. dollars, mostly, but also euros, Colombian pesos or whatever else is around. Most Venezuelans do not have access to foreign money.
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