In Ecuador, power-dependent patients wait in anguish as the government imposes hours-long blackouts

Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The first time electricity went off at night, Linda Vidal went into panic mode. The 52-year-old Ecuadorian woman has relied on an electricity-powered oxygen concentrator to breathe properly since she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and a chronic respiratory disease. Despite her condition, Vidal is one of an estimated 1,000 power-dependent patients in Ecuador who spend hours in anguish, as the government imposes electricity cuts of up to 14 hours a day to deal with a severe drought that has hindered hydroelectric generation, which represents 72% of the national electricity production.