Caracas: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro announced 30 days of electricity rationing on Sunday, after his government said it was shortening the working day and keeping schools closed due to blackouts.

The measures are a stark admission by the government - which blamed repeated power outages in March on sabotage - that there is not enough electricity to go around, and that the power crisis is here to stay. The blackouts have worsened already dire economic and living conditions in the country.