Venezuela to cut electricity four hours a day to save energy

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 22 (UPI) -- Venezuela announced a cutback in electricity of four hours per day to contend with a worsening economic crisis.

The 40-day program, in a country already accustomed to repeated blackouts, begins Monday in 10 of Venezuela's 23 states and will include major cities, Electricity Minister Luis Motta Dominguez said.

Motta called the sacrifice patriotic and a symbol of Venezuelan solidarity, and blamed a drought for reducing the water supply at Guri Dam. The massive hydroelectric dam which supplies 65 percent of the country's electricity.

The emergency measures are the latest setback for Venezuela. While many residents blame corruption and incompetence in the government of President Nicolas Maduro, workers now have three-day weekends, shopping mall hours have been reduced and clocks will be reset a half-hour forward for more light in the workday, all in the name of energy conservation. With its primary export, oil, selling at low prices on the world market, inflation is up, crime is rampant, basic goods are missing from store shelves and the International Monetary Fund said Venezuela's economy is expected to contract by 8 percent in 2016.

Empresas Polar SA, the country's largest brewer with 80 percent of the internal market, announced it will stop production in April, citing lack of funds to buy imported barley; 10,000 workers are expected to be idled.

Maduro has blamed the drought, and an alleged collusion between the United States and Venezuelan business leaders, including Polar Beer President Lorenzo Mendoza, against him for the country's problems. Energy consultants and opposition politicians blame government corruption and mismanagement, and a lack of investment in energy production.