Venezuela: Maduro blames blackout on sniper and tells people to pray

Nicolás Maduro has asked Venezuelans to pray for the country’s recovery from another crippling nationwide blackout, in a crackly and foreboding telephone interview that reinforced the mounting sense of crisis.

Related: Venezuela blackout: what caused it and what happens next?

In a late-night broadcast, Maduro claimed the latest powercut had been caused by a sniper attack on a key part of Venezuela’s energy infrastructure carried out by mercenaries “sent by the coup-mongering right”.

“They knew what they were attacking … Only the North American empire has enough hatred, enough wickedness in its brain, enough perversity – has a diabolical enough mind – to order an attack like this,” Maduro said, claiming the supposed long-range rifle attack had caused a devastating fire.

“This is a total war,” Venezuela’s authoritarian leader added. “Since they can’t invade the country … they have decided to damage, damage, damage.”

Experts believe the crippling power failures – which have continued to blight Venezuela this week after a historic six-day outage early this month – are a consequence of years of underinvestment and corruption.

“There is an electrical war being waged against Venezuela, but it is by the Maduro government,” said José Aguilar, a Venezuelan energy consultant.

Maduro alleged the “brutal terrorist attack” had been masterminded by Donald Trump and his “diabolical puppet”, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader who most western governments now recognize as Venezuela’s interim president.

“It was an enemy bombardment – and you can be certain Donald Trump had a hand in this … Donald Trump is obsessed with Venezuela.”

On Thursday, Maduro’s comptroller general announced that Guaidó would be banned from holding public office for 15 years – the maximum period allowed under Venezuelan law.

Elvis Amoroso, a key Maduro ally, accused Guaidó of “usurping public functions and committing actions with foreign governments that have harmed the Venezuelan people and national patrimony”.

Last week, Guaidó’s chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, was detained, sparking fears of a severe political crackdown designed to snuff out opposition to Maduro.

Maduro’s telephone interview with state television – which many Venezuelans were unable to watch because they had no electricity – was intended to reassure the population his administration was in control.

“I am neither a coward nor a weakling – and I will not shirk my responsibility,” Maduro insisted, adding that he had not slept since the blackout began.

Maduro also called on Venezuelans to respond to the crisis by showing “maximum union and maximum Christian spirituality and resistance”.

But Maduro’s comments – and the fact that he failed to appear in the flesh – reinforced the sense that tough days lie ahead for a country already struggling with hyperinflation and chronic shortages of food, water and medicine.

Only on Thursday morning - 12 hours after the phone interview took place – was video footage published on Maduro’s Twitter account.

Maduro admitted “tremendous damage” had been done to the national grid and asked Venezuelans to pray.

“Everyone should know that the damage that has been done is more severe than any Venezuelan can imagine,” he said, announcing that electricity “administration” would be necessary in the coming days.

Related: 'Horror, fear, despair': Venezuela's oil capital shattered by 'tsunami' of violent looting

Aguilar, the energy specialist, rejected Maduro’s claims that the “evil empire” was to blame and warned nationwide blackouts might become Venezuela’s new normal.

“This will happen again and again, because with every blackout the grid is more strained and more substations go up in flames,” Aguilar said, adding that rationing could alleviate some of the burden while repairs were made.

Venezuela’s second-largest city, Maracaibo – which was plunged into chaos by the first blackout – remained in the dark on Wednesday night, two days after the latest blackout began.

At a rally in Caracas, Guaidó mocked the government’s claims that foreign saboteurs had caused the blackouts and told supporters to prepare for a final nationwide push against Maduro dubbed “Operation Freedom”.

“What we are asking for, and what we are fighting for every single day, is to live normally,” Guaidó said.