President Defends Government's Slow Response to Earthquake

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez on Tuesday defended her government's response to a devastating earthquake, pushing back against widespread criticism that the administration acted too slowly.

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This is a natural disaster on a scale we never imagined, although we are aware that seismic events can occur in our country.

Rodríguez, who took over leadership in January after the U.S. ousted Nicolas Maduro, stated that the government did not hesitate to act. She asserted that emergency measures and public protection protocols were activated just hours after two earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, struck the country's northern coast last Wednesday.

"This is a natural disaster on a scale we never imagined, although we are aware that seismic events can occur in our country," Rodríguez told reporters at her first press conference since assuming power. She reported that nearly all regional government officials in La Guaira, the most severely affected coastal state, died when their building collapsed.

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We did not wait a day, two days, or three days. We acted immediately.

The death toll has risen to 2,595, but Rodríguez stated that search and rescue operations are ongoing. "We can still find survivors," she said, though she did not disclose the number of missing individuals. Unofficial but widely used online lists suggest around 38,500 people remain unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon, a decrease from nearly 60,000 in the initial days after the earthquake.

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We can still find survivors.