President announces 30-day rationing plan and says pro-government colectivos must ‘defend the peace of every block’

Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro has called on armed pro-government groups to help subdue unrest as he announced a 30-day electricity rationing plan set to inflict further pain on the population.

In a televised address, Maduro said he had no choice but to take drastic measures while his government rebuilt key sections of Venezuela’s national grid following a succession of crippling power failures since 7 March.

Announcement comes as Juan Guaidó’s wife met with Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence in Washington

The opposition figurehead battling to topple Nicolás Maduro has told supporters to prepare for a final nationwide push against Venezuela’s authoritarian leader after the country suffered its fourth massive blackout in less than three weeks.

Addressing a rally in Caracas, Juan Guaidó said it was time for Venezuelans of all social classes to increase pressure through what he called Operación Libertad (Operation Freedom) – a mobilization across the country that would culminate in a massive march through the capital.

Vice-president blames ‘fascist right’ and its ‘imperial masters’ in Washington for power cuts

Nicolás Maduro’s embattled administration has called for calm after millions of Venezuelans were again plunged into darkness by a nationwide blackout reportedly affecting 21 of its 23 states and the capital, Caracas.

In a late-night television broadcast – which most people were unable to watch because of the outage – the communications minister, Jorge Rodríguez, claimed it was the result of a “brutal” attack on a hydroelectric plant on Monday night.