Venezuelan Acting President thanks world leaders for assistance as earthquakes hit nation

Caracas, Venezuela – Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has extended her thanks to numerous world leaders for their swift assistance after Venezuela was struck by powerful earthquakes. The nation is grappling with catastrophic damage and a rising death toll.

Rodriguez specifically acknowledged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for his "gesture of solidarity" and the government's willingness to provide humanitarian aid. She also announced that the first rescue teams from the Dominican Republic were en route to support the Venezuelan people during this "terrible tragedy."

Further expressions of gratitude were directed towards President Mahmoud Abbas of the State of Palestine, President Laura Fernandez of Costa Rica, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain for their support. Sanchez's government dispatched rescue teams to assist the Spanish community within Venezuela.

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I thank the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, for his gesture of solidarity toward our people. We appreciate the Government of Canada's willingness to prepare humanitarian assistance to support the Venezuelan population during these difficult times.

The United States has also mobilized resources, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing the deployment of search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. Rubio stated he had spoken with Rodriguez and that the U.S. Department of War would utilize its assets on the ground. "The most immediate need right now is search and rescue efforts," Rubio said, noting the collapsed buildings and damaged airport infrastructure. The U.S. is also providing overhead imagery to assess damage in coastal areas.

As of Thursday, at least 188 deaths have been confirmed, with thousands more injured, following two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday. The quakes caused widespread devastation in cities including La Guaira and the capital, Caracas.

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I had an opportunity to talk earlier this morning with Delcy Rodriguez, the acting president. We're deploying search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. There'll be some others we'll add. That's the most immediate need right now is search and rescue efforts. They have much of collapsed buildings and so they'll need a lot of help in terms of digging through that. The airport there is badly damaged so we'll have to rely on the Department of War to deploy assets there. And then we're also helping them with some overhead imagery, especially in coastal areas where they don't have full visibility over what the damage has been and what the impact has been. Those are the acute, like, short-term needs over the next 48 to 72 hours because in search and rescue you're trying to get to people while you can still save their lives. They're buried under rubble.