Venezuela Earthquakes: Death Toll Rises to 2,595, Government Refutes Slow Response Claims

Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, announced that the death toll from two major earthquakes has risen to 2,595, with 12,400 people injured. The quakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, struck the country's north. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with teams from 33 different nations actively participating.

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The state's entire mechanisms were mobilized immediately. Issuing a decree to combat this emergency was the first step just a few hours after the tremors. All civil defense and public defense mechanisms were immediately dispatched to the field.

Rodriguez reported that 6,462 individuals have been pulled alive from the debris since the earthquakes hit. She emphasized the government's swift response, stating that a decree was issued just hours after the tremors to combat the emergency. Civil defense and public defense mechanisms were immediately deployed to the affected areas.

Addressing accusations of a "late response," Rodriguez strongly refuted these claims, calling them "miserable, heartless, and thoughtless." She challenged anyone to provide evidence of aid being blocked or assistance being denied, asserting that no such thing occurred. The primary objective, she stated, was saving lives, and search and rescue teams were needed without any political considerations.

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To make these claims in the face of a people in pain and anguish is miserable, heartless, and thoughtless. Let someone come forward and say that help or entry was denied; let someone say 'there is no help.' Absolutely nothing like that is happening. Our first and most important goal is to save lives. We need search and rescue teams without any reservations, without any political considerations.

Rodriguez also dismissed claims of security forces and rescue teams being absent from the field as deliberate "black propaganda." She recalled that the first official statement after the quakes came from Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who ordered the rapid deployment of security and military personnel. The acting president also mentioned engaging in international diplomacy, having received calls from 72 heads of state and government in the initial hours following the disaster. The government has stated that 12,841 people lost their homes, and promised new housing for the displaced by year's end.

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The claims that security forces and search and rescue teams are not present in the field are untrue and are deliberately fabricated black propaganda.