The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, emphasized that the Venezuelan institutional response to the June 24 double earthquakes began just minutes after the disaster, with the activation of all emergency agencies and the creation of a General Staff to coordinate rescue efforts and care for the population.
“The Venezuelan State as a whole was immediately activated,” Rodríguez said at a press conference with international media on Thursday, July 2. She explained that one of the first measures was to issue a decree to create the General Staff responsible for addressing the emergency, in compliance with national legislation on natural disasters.
She also emphasized that the fundamental objective, eight days after the earthquakes, remains saving lives. “We have not ended the search and rescue phase, we are still in that process, because there is a mother who is crying, a father who is crying, a brother, a sister, a grandfather, a grandmother, an uncle who is suffering for that family member. And we will not rest,” she declared.
The acting president explained that after the earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 occurred in the evening of June 24, the government immediately deployed the Civil Protection and public emergency system, appointed Major General Juan Ernesto Sulbarán Quintero as the sole authority to coordinate operations, and mobilized rescue teams from all over the country via an air bridge to the affected areas.
“We did not wait for one day, two days, three days. The response was activated immediately,” she emphasized, highlighting that the first hours were focused on saving lives and locating survivors among the rubble.
She reported that, initially, 4,000 civil and military officials were deployed. The day after the earthquakes, the number rose to 14,000 and it currently exceeds 19,000 personnel in the state of La Guaira, declared a disaster zone a few hours after the earthquakes, which according to the latest report have left 2,595 dead and 12,400 injured, while the number of people rescued is 6,462.
The government created a fund for the initial reconstruction of affected infrastructure, amounting to $200 million from resources recovered from the International Monetary Fund. “At least 855 buildings were affected, including hospitals,” she said.
The acting president explained that the day after the earthquakes, the militarization of La Guaira was declared in order to facilitate the work of the search and rescue teams. The measure aimed to restrict access to individuals not involved in the operations and to prevent obstacles in emergency efforts.
She decried the existence of a disinformation campaign on social media to promote the mass relocation of people to La Guaira. “The first media narrative was: ‘Everyone has to go to La Guaira,’ an action that sought to create chaos and hinder the work of the rescuers,” she indicated.
Rodríguez also highlighted the coordination between the State and the private sector to clear access routes to the affected areas. In this regard, she said that from the early hours she had requested the head of Fedecámaras (association of business-owners), Felipe Capozzolo, to make heavy machinery available to the government to speed up the removal of debris and facilitate the entry of emergency teams.
She also addressed the start of the process of recovery and infrastructure assessment, and the continued presence of specialized teams to “determine if there are people alive in a certain place, or bodies that we need to recover, before starting any infrastructure reconstruction process.”
As part of that objective, a specialized team from “Israel” arrived in the country on Thursday, which will contribute to those tasks. Its arrival was made possible by the efforts of the Jewish community in Venezuela.
Rodríguez further specified that evaluations of roads and bridges and public services have been made to determine the extent of the damage caused by the double earthquake, considering these a priority.
Venezuela Earthquake Toll Reaches 2,295 Dead and 6,461 Rescued 1 Week After Tragedy
First request to international community: rescuers to save lives
Rodríguez said to the international press that in the first 24 hours after the earthquakes, “we received calls from 72 heads of state and government, and when they asked what we needed, I told all of them, without exception, that our first objective is to save lives. We need rescuers. Without conditions, without political or geopolitical considerations. There is only one humanitarian reason which motivates us, it is to save lives.”
The Venezuelan government also asked for rescuers in an early call to the United Nations resident coordinator in the country, Gianluca Rampolla. “From the very first minute, Venezuela requested international assistance, and that international assistance was focused on having rescuers in our country,” Rodríguez stated.
The acting president added that 147 countries (34 from America, 43 from Asia, 19 from Africa, 46 from Europe, three from Oceania), in addition to 33 international and multilateral organizations, have shown solidarity with Venezuela.
“I thank you, on behalf of our people, on behalfof the Venezuelan state,” she said, referring to the countries that sent specialized rescuers, as well as personalities from the world of arts and sports who expressed their support for the country. “The international solidarity of the peoples and governments of the world has been moving,” she declared.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC
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