Monitoring Reveals Lack of Official Records on Children Affected by Earthquakes

Official government figures failed to provide specific data on children impacted by the earthquakes on June 24, according to a monitoring report by the Agency of Journalists Friends of Children and Adolescents (Agencia PANA).

During the first nine days of the emergency, authorities did not release disaggregated figures for minors. This created information gaps that hindered the protection of children amid the catastrophe. The agency's monitoring showed that government spokespeople concentrated their institutional narrative on global balances of the deceased, injured, and displaced. Initial references to children and adolescents only mentioned the suspension of school activities and the specific rescue of an 11-year-old boy in Caraballeda and a two-year-old baby.

It wasn't until July 2 that acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez addressed the situation of children in a press conference. She detailed the deployment of psychologists, distribution of toys, and visits to health centers where she spoke with affected minors. The Agencia PANA report also documented serious inconsistencies in the state's general statistics. The most evident contradiction occurred between June 25 and 26, when Health Minister Carlos Alvarado reported 4,300 injured, but less than six hours later, Delcy Rodríguez set the official figure at 2,980, without explaining the reduction of 1,320 people.

Furthermore, the government implemented a centralized communication strategy that limited crisis management. Only the VENApp platform, the 0-800-RESCATE hotline, and collection centers in La Carlota and Almacenadora Caracas were authorized for donations and missing person reports. This led civil organizations to denounce a "logistical bottleneck" that completely nullified the response of neighborhood networks and autonomous NGOs. Authorities also imposed severe restrictions on international press, citing sanitary reasons for a 48-hour lockdown. The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) further denounced that mandatory registration at the Poliedro de Caracas to enter La Guaira state and limitations at Maiquetía airport served as mechanisms to prevent "citizen and independent auditing of the emergency."