Many years ago, we traveled to Bolívar State on two occasions—since my uncle lives there and he was usually the one who visited us. However, this time seemed like a great opportunity for sightseeing and the like. I’ll never forget my uncle’s amusing idea to take a longer route, resulting in nineteen hours on the road; although we saw beautiful landscapes and got to know Venezuela better, it was incredibly exhausting—so much so that we didn't even stay at my uncle's actual home, but rather in some lovely cabins. Anyway, during one of those trips—I believe it was the first one—my dad thought it would be a good idea for us to see the Guri system. Since he worked for Corpoelec, he wanted to show us the place that made all the electricity possible. You can imagine that, back then, the system was operating at—let's say—70% capacity; nowadays, the situation is much worse.

Well, it’s not exactly the sort of place I’d think of as a tourist attraction, but it was certainly imposing; my mom felt a severe sense of vertigo there—her fear of heights was particularly acute in that area—and while I felt it too, I found it a bit more manageable. When you’re young, you’re really struck by the machinery and the way water is used to generate power. Nowadays, from what my dad has been told, many of the turbines aren't working, and the few that remain don't meet the population's needs—well, that’s predictable and something many of us already know. My dad asked my uncle about it recently, and he confirmed that they have indeed experienced power outages, which is even more unfortunate given that this state is the primary hub for energy generation.