Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido answers media questions during a gathering of supporters in Caracas, Venezuela April 1, 2019. Venezuela's chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers to strip Juan Guaido of immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting the opposition leader as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
In an address on state television, Maduro said he named Igor Gavidia, a 65-year-old electrical engineer who was previously president of state power generator Electrificacion del Caroni, to replace Electricity Minister Luis Motta. “Turkey will continue to support Venezuela, as problems there could affect all of Latin America and even the Caribbean,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference alongside his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza in Ankara, Turkey's capital.Maduro imposes 30-day rationing plan
The 30 days will be used to restore stability to the country's electricity and water infrastructure. The blackout began around 7.10 pm , leaving the capital as well as cities including Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay and San Cristobal without electricity, according to users on social media networks.A plane load of medicine and supplies landed in Caracas, the first of many according to Chinese and Venezuelan officials on hand for the arrival of the aid.
Also on Friday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crecent Societies were preparing to deliver aid to Venezuela and can start distributing aid to an estimated 650,000 people in around 15 days. The S-300 is a major missile defence programme designed to shoot down aircraft and other missiles that was designed by the Soviet Union. Russian official media in 2012 reported an S-300 shipment to Venezuela.Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido is to be barred from holding public office for 15years , the maximum punishment allowable by law, state comptroller Elvis Amoroso said on Thursday.
The ministry did not provide any further details in its statement about the specialists. It effectively repeated earlier statements about the soldiers' presence in Venezuela. Authorities gave no immediate statements about the outage, which began shortly after 1700 GMT and appeared to have affected as many as 16 of Venezuela's 23 states, according to reports on social media.
That comes three months after the two nations held military exercise s on Venezuelan soil that Maduro called a sign of strengthening relations, but which Washington criticized as Russian encroachment in the region.