Venezuela plunged into darkness early Friday morning as a massive blackout affected at least 20 of its 23 states, underscoring the country’s ongoing struggles with its fragile electrical infrastructure.

The outage affected at least 13 regions, including Carabobo and Aragua, according to posts on social media and Reuters staff

Venezuela is set to begin restoring power, starting with the capital city of Caracas, following a nationwide blackout that started early Friday morning. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on state television that the power will be reintroduced gradually,

Electricity returned to Caracas and other parts of Venezuela on Saturday after a blackout plunged much of the country into darkness on Friday, although Reuters witnesses reported continued intermittent outages in the oil-producing state of Zulia.

Venezuela's capital Caracas and much of the rest of the country were without power early on Friday, the government said, blaming the blackout on sabotage by the opposition without providing any evidence.

Power was gradually returning to Venezuela Friday after a nationwide blackout that authorities blamed on sabotage of the national electrical grid -- the latest crisis to hit the country after a disputed presidential election.