Caracas (Venezuela): An Indian-origin man from the Venezualan capital Caracas reported the panic and chaos that descended on the city after the capture of president Nicols Maduro and his wife by US forces on Saturday.
The US airstrikes severely damaged critical infrastructure and power grids, plunging large parts of the capital into darkness and leaving communication networks crippled, Sunil Malhotra told India Today TV.
“There is significant damage. They attacked the airport in Caracas, and there is an airbase about 100 kilometres outside the city — the country’s largest base. That was also hit. The most damage occurred at Fuerte Tiuna; that’s where the impact was the heaviest,” he said.
Major establishments and shops downed shutters, forcing people to queue up outside neighbourhood stores, he noted. Public transport services were also suspended and people were asked to remain indoors.
“Most supermarkets were shut. Only small neighbourhood stores, what we call kirana stores in India, were open, and there were long queues. There were maybe 500 to 600 people lining up per block, and they were letting in just one or two people at a time,” Malhotra said.
The longest queues were seen outside stores selling bread, as people rushed to secure food.
“It’s not that there is a total shortage yet, but there are huge lines at pharmacies too, because pharmacies here also sell canned food like tuna, sardines and ham,” he added.
Malhotra said how he had to walk a long distance along with others to find a place to charge his phone at an illegal setup. He had to wait his turn for hours there.
“There is a streetlight quite far from where I am that still has power. Hot dog vendors have set up a mechanism to steal electricity. People are now using that to charge their phones,” he said.
Malhotra said he went to charge his phone around 4 pm and was able to return only around 11 pm.
“It was so crowded that I had to wait for someone else to finish before I could get a spot. That’s how I’m able to talk to you,” he said.
Local authorities were not able to say when the situation would improve.
“While we were charging our phones, police personnel came and asked us to leave. They told us to take care of ourselves and move away as soon as possible. When I asked about electricity, they said there was considerable damage at Fuerte Tiuna, where the power supply comes from, and they could not give any timeline for restoration,” Malhotra said.
When asked if there were protests, he said that people were too afraid to step out.
“People are staying inside. They aren’t coming out on the streets because they are scared. Between 2014 and 2017, there were constant protests and many people died. Even 13- and 14-year-old children were jailed and never released. No parent wants their child out protesting. Also, seven to eight million people have already fled the country. So there are hardly any protests now. Everyone is just sitting at home, scared,” he said.
Caracas has a relatively small Indian community, Malhotra said, adding that the Indian Embassy has created a WhatsApp group for people like him living in Venezuela. They are sharing instructions through this group.
Venezuela has strongly protested the US action, calling it a blatant violation of international law. It has accused the US of attempting to control and plunder the country’s abundant oil and natural resources.
