The Guardian: 'Horror, fear, despair': Venezuela's oil capital shattered by 'tsunami' of violent looting
In the second city of Maracaibo, the crippling blackout sparked a terrifying rampage that police seemed unable to control
Tom Phillips
Some liken the damage wrought on Venezuela’s second city to a natural disaster. Others suspect satanic intervention.
“El demonio,” says Betty Méndez, a local shopkeeper, by way of explanation for the wave of looting and unrest that convulsed Maracaibo earlier this month.
Most, however, describe the mayhem in psychiatric terms: a collective breakdown that shocked this lakeside city to its core and offered a terrifying glimpse of Venezuela’s possible future as it sinks deeper into economic, political and social decline.
“Horror, fear, despair,” said María Villalobos, a 35-year-old journalist, weeping as she relived three days of violence that many here call la locura – “the madness”.
“I thought it was the start of a civil war.”
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WNU Editor: WNU first reported on this story 10 days ago .... More Details Emerge On How Venezuela's Oil Capital And Second Largest City Was Ransacked When The Power Went Out (March 16, 2019). With this second power-blackout continuing, I can only imagine how unbearable it must be for the people who are living in the middle of it.
