Venezuela's main hydroelectric dam was targeted during an attack on March 25, 2019. (Photo: AFP)

Caracas (People's Daily) - Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Monday that the country's main hydroelectric dam has been victim of an attack. 

The outage began shortly after 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) and appeared to have affected as many as 16 of Venezuela’s 23 states, according to AP. 

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez declared on state television, describing it as an “electromagnetic” assault, AP reported. 

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan opposition has declared the blackout was the result of the government's lack of upkeep of the dam.