March 2019 Nationwide Blackout: Maduro Denounces an Alleged Cyberattack on the El Guri Dam and the Corpoelec Control Center
On March 7, 2019, the largest power outage in Venezuela’s history began, leaving most of the country (affecting all 23 states and the Capital District) without electricity for several days. The government of Nicolás Maduro publicly denounced an alleged “cyberattack” against the computer system of the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant (El Guri Dam) and Corpoelec’s “electronic brain” in Caracas, attributing it to the United States and the Venezuelan opposition. The claim of a cyberattack is disputed and was not proven: experts and electrical engineers pointed out that the facilities do not use the internet and cannot be hacked remotely, and attributed the blackout to a lack of maintenance, a wildfire that damaged transmission lines from El Guri, corruption, and the brain drain of technical talent. The U.S. denied any responsibility, and no technical evidence of the attack was presented.
Impact details
0 Exposed records
The March 2019 blackout caused a nationwide power outage throughout Venezuela. Government sources claimed that cyber or electromagnetic attacks were carried out against the Guri and Corpoelec systems, but the cyber cause remains controversial according to external media coverage and has not been technically verified by public sources.
Classification & severity
- Category
- Availability
- Subtype
- national power outage disputed cyberattack claim
- Confidence
- Low
The nationwide service disruption is well documented, but the government’s explanation of the cyberattack is a controversial claim rather than independently verified technical evidence.
Severity assessment
Emergency- Functional impact
- Denial (critical)
- Information impact
- None
- Affected scope
- National
- Critical service
- Disrupted
- Public confidence
- Severe
- Recoverability
- Extended
The disruption of critical services nationwide has been confirmed; the attribution of the cyberattack remains a matter of controversy and should not be considered verified.
Timeline
A massive nationwide blackout begins (~4:55 p.m. local time) following a failure in the transmission system associated with the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Power Plant (El Guri).
The Maduro government publicly attributes the blackout to a “cyberattack” on the power grid, blaming the U.S. and the opposition.
Maduro explains that the computer system at El Guri and Corpoelec’s “electronic brain” in Caracas were attacked; he describes a multi-phase attack (cyber, electromagnetic, and physical).
The U.S. denies any responsibility; electrical experts and sources at Corpoelec question the cyberattack theory and attribute the outage to a lack of maintenance and a fire on transmission lines. No technical evidence is presented.