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Rivals jostle for power in 'dark' Venezuela

AFP, Caracas
Thousands of Venezuelans protested once again yesterday as opposition leader Juan Guaido cranks up the pressure on beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro and the lights came back on following an electricity blackout that caused chaos in the crisis-wracked country.
Both Guaido and Maduro, who are locked in a bitter power struggle for the right to lead the oil-rich South American nation, have asked their supporters to fill the streets of Caracas and other cities.
"I call on the Venezuelan people to make a huge statement in the streets against the usurper, corrupt and incapable regime that has plunged our country into darkness," Guaido wrote on Twitter.
"We return to the streets and we won't leave until we reach the goal," said the 35-year-old National Assembly leader, who is recognized by more than 50 countries as Venezuela's interim president.
Guaido is trying to force out Maduro -whose re-election in May he deems illegitimate -- in orderto setup new elections.
Early yesterday, riot police were out in force at the site of Guaido's proposed
protest.
Maduro has asked his backers to march against" imperialism."
The mounting political pressure comes as services slowly returned to normal in Caracas and the states of Miranda and Vargas, home to the country's international airport and main port.
"The US empire once again underestimates the conscience and determination ofVenezuela's people, “ Maduro tweeted. "I assure them that every attempt at imperial aggression will be met with a forceful response from the patriots who love and valiantly defend our homeland."
The western regions of Barinas, Tachira and Zulia remained without electricity while in other states the supply was proving unstable.
It was one of the worst and longest blackouts in recent memory in Venezuela, which began Thursday after-
noon and paralyzed most of the country. Its cause is still unknown.
Maduro has accused US for the power outage. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Maduro was wrong to blame the US or any other country for Venezuela's woes.
"Power shortages and starvation are the result of the Maduro regime's incompetence," he tweeted.
During the blackout, witnesses described scenes of chaos at several hospitals as people tried to move sick relatives in the dark to clinics with better emergency power facilities.
Marielsi Aray, a patient at the University Hospital in Caracas, died after her respirator stopped working.
"The doctors tried to help her by pumping manually. They did everything they could, but with no electricity, what were they to do?" asked Jose Lugo, her distraught uncle.
Flights were canceled, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded at airports. The Caracas subway, which transports two million people a day, remained suspended early yesterday and shops were closed, but internet and telecommunications services were returning to normal.