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Venezuelans dig with bare hands as state machinery sits idle after earthquake
🇷🇸 Serbia /Disasters & Emergencies

Venezuelans dig with bare hands as state machinery sits idle after earthquake

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Residents of La Guaira, Venezuela, are digging through rubble with their bare hands for missing family members nearly a week after two strong earthquakes struck.
  • State-owned excavators remain idle due to a lack of fuel, despite Venezuela holding the world's largest oil reserves.
  • Critics accuse the government of prioritizing repression and propaganda over providing basic necessities, while officials defend their response and call for organization through community structures.

In the devastated Venezuelan coastal city of La Guaira, residents are resorting to desperate measures, digging through collapsed buildings with their bare hands in search of loved ones. This grim reality unfolds as state-owned heavy machinery sits idle, a stark symbol of the nation's crisis.

People are outraged.

— Carmen Beatriz FernándezPolitical analyst Carmen Beatriz Fernández, director of the consulting firm DataStrategia, commented on the public's reaction to the crisis.

A CNN inquiry revealed that a crucial excavator lacked fuel, a critical shortage in a country possessing the world's largest proven oil reserves. This fuels public anger and deepens the tragedy for those facing the aftermath of one of the most powerful earthquakes in decades.

What we are seeing is a tragedy that reflects another tragedy - the fact that the state's capacity has been solely dedicated to repression and propaganda. You have destroyed the state's ability to provide basic needs to citizens.

— Carmen Beatriz FernándezPolitical analyst Carmen Beatriz Fernández, director of the consulting firm DataStrategia, criticized the government's priorities.

Political analyst Carmen Beatriz Fernández of DataStrategia criticized the government's response, stating, "The state's capacity has been solely dedicated to repression and propaganda. You have destroyed the state's ability to provide basic needs to citizens." Opposition leader María Corina Machado echoed these sentiments, returning from exile in the United States to stand with her countrymen.

We must be together.

— María Corina MachadoOpposition leader María Corina Machado spoke about her return from exile to Venezuela.

However, government officials are defending their actions. Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodríguez praised a new initiative to deploy volunteers based on priorities. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged citizens to trust authorities, asking for organization through communes and other structures to identify the missing and conduct rescue operations more precisely. He stated, "We must know who is reported missing, where people were, so that we can carry out rescue operations as precisely as possible."

We must know who is reported missing, where people were, so that we can carry out rescue operations as precisely as possible.

— Diosdado CabelloInterior Minister Diosdado Cabello explained the need for organized information during rescue efforts.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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