Venezuela shuts schools, suspends working day as blackout continues

[March 08, 2019]    CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government shut schools and suspended working hours on Friday after the capital Caracas and other major cities awoke without electricity due to a problem that struck the South American country's main hydroelectric plant on Thursday.

A man walks pass a closed shops during a blackout in Caracas, Venezuela March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

President Nicolas Maduro "has suspended classes and the working day today in order to facilitate the efforts for the recovery of electric service in the country," wrote Vice President Delcy Rodríguez on her Twitter account.

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Daniel Flynn)

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