Venezuela’s Interim President Defends Earthquake Response

Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday rejected accusations that her government had reacted too slowly to the devastation caused by two earthquakes that killed more than 2,000 people. Speaking at her first press conference since taking office in January, she said the government had acted immediately and activated emergency protocols.

Rodriguez said 4,000 officials had been deployed at once, rising to 14,000 the next day and then to 19,000 in the affected areas, particularly the hardest-hit northern state of La Guaira.

She dismissed criticism from bereaved families, volunteers and humanitarian organizations, who have cited delayed food and medical supplies and a desperate shortage of heavy machinery, as a politically motivated campaign by “media laboratories” seeking to create an impression of chaos. Reuters witnesses, however, said much of the disaster response was being led by civilians, students and volunteers, many of them digging through the rubble with their hands, shovels and pickaxes.

Rodriguez said the death toll from the two earthquakes on 24 June had reached 2,595 and that search-and-rescue efforts were continuing. She did not give a figure for the missing, but an unofficial online list had fallen to about 38,500 after peaking at nearly 60,000 in the days after the quakes.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have offered aid and credit for recovery efforts, Rodriguez said. Venezuela is working with the IMF to set up a $200m (€171m) housing reconstruction fund, with the money to be paid directly to audited contractors.

(Reuters, Max)