Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 2 March 2018

Venezuela, some opposition, agree to delay presidential vote

members of the opposition, With a deadline looming
including some whose par- Thursday for parties to nom-
ties have so far refused to inate candidates, Falcon
participate. has emerged as Maduro's
The accord, which is sub- strongest challenger.
ject to approval by elec- But he lacks the support of
toral authorities, would re- the opposition coalition,
schedule the election for which has vowed to boy-
the second half of May to cott the election unless
give candidates more time the government moves to
to campaign, allow millions ensure fairness. One de-
of Venezuelan exiles to reg- mand has been delaying
ister to vote abroad and the vote.
pave the way for a jointly It remains to be seen if the
proposed team of elector- more limited concessions
al observers from the Unit- made Thursday by the gov-
ed Nations. ernment will be enough to
As part of the deal, long- convince the coalition to
overdue elections for city reverse course. Rodriguez
councils and state legisla- alleged that many are tak-
tures would now also be ing orders from the Trump
held on the same day. administration not to com-
"Venezuela is sending a pete.
powerful message to the “It matters more what Mr.
Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez signs an agreement made with several opposition par- world that we want to settle Robinson says than mil-
ties to delay presidential elections at the Venezuelan National Electoral Council in Caracas, Ven- our differences in peace, lions of Venezuelan voters,”
ezuela, Thursday, March 1, 2018. Rodriguez announced that the government reached an agree- by voting," said Rodriguez. he said, referring to Todd
ment with several opposition parties to delay the April 22 presidential election until the second
half of May, which would now coincide with elections for local city councils and state legislatures The accord was signed by Robinson, the new, out-
nationwide. three smaller parties that spoken top U.S. diplomat
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano) broke off from the Demo- in Caracas. The U.S. has
cratic Unity coalition's call sanctioned dozens of top
By JOSHUA GOODMAN minute deal with a few of alition. for a boycott and have officials, including Maduro
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) the political parties seeking Communications Minister thrown their support behind himself, and has called the
— Venezuela's govern- to unseat President Nicolas Jorge Rodriguez said the the independent candida- snap election further proof
ment has agreed to delay Maduro, despite a U.S.-sup- accord was hammered cy of Henri Falcon, a former of the president’s intention
presidential elections by ported boycott of the race out during several days of backer of the late President to dismantle Venezuela’s
a month as part of a last- by the main opposition co- secret negotiations with Hugo Chavez. democracy.q

Blackout hits Puerto Rico after 2 power plants shut down

By DANICA COTO caused the shutdown.
Associated Press Power company director
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Justo Gonzalez said crews
— A blackout hit Puerto Ri- flying over a main power
co's capital and surround- line found the failure just
ing areas Thursday after miles from a power plant in
two of the U.S. territory's southern Puerto Rico and
main power plants shut were working to repair it.
down, a failure that came Another power line that
amid warnings from offi- serves as backup has not
cials that the power com- been repaired since Hur-
pany is struggling to remain ricane Maria hit the island
operational. Sept. 20. Gonzalez said one
The capital of San Juan was of the power plants that
left without power along shut down earlier in the day
with the neighboring mu- was slowly coming back
nicipalities of Caguas, Bay- online.
amon and Carolina, com- While officials said the out-
pany spokeswoman Yohari age was limited to four mu-
Molina told The Associated nicipalities, people on so-
Press. She said crews were cial media were reporting
working to repair the prob- outages in other areas as
lem but that it wasn't clear well. The blackout snarled
how many customers were In this Sept. 30, 2017 photo, the foundation of a heavily damaged house stands amid broken trees traffic and knocked out
affected by the outage. in the mountains after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, water service to dozens of
Puerto Rico. A blackout hit Puerto Rico's capital and surrounding areas Thursday after two of the
More than 970,000 people U.S. territory's main power plants shut down. neighborhoods, including
live in the areas hit by the (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) the historic part of Puerto
blackout. Rico's capital known as Old
By Thursday afternoon, of- to the island's main interna- Puerto Rico's Electric Power plants shut down to protect San Juan.
ficials announced that tional airport and several Authority tweeted that the the electrical system, but The investigation into that
power had been restored hospitals. Palo Seco and San Juan said it was unclear what incident is still ongoing.q