Second major blackout leaves Venezuelans fearing power cuts will be the norm

Electricity experts say the outages are the result of inadequate maintenance and incompetent management of the power grid since the late President Hugo Chávez nationalized the sector in 2007.

"The new normal for the electrical supply is greater vulnerability and less reliability," said Miguel Lara, a former president of the state-run entity responsible for the power system.

Exactly.

No outside sabotage. Squirrels. Iguanas. Poor maintenance by a govt too heavily dependent on 1 industry.

How "online-connected" is Venezuela's power grid anyway?

That's an advantage of having older, dilapidated, "analogue" systems - they're not as easy to hack

Saw some footage on TV today. Subways not running, everything shuttered, fights to push onto buses, no food, hospitals without power, etc.

No chance for a cashless world if this is our future. Scary times.