Rodríguez defends Venezuela’s earthquake response as death toll passes 3,000 | Venezuela

Venezuela’s interim president defended his country’s emergency response to twin earthquakes that killed more than 3,000 people and vowed the country would not descend into social unrest.

Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the June 24 disaster before international teams arrived.

Speaking at a military ceremony marking Venezuela’s independence day, Delcy Rodríguez said: “There will be no social unrest here; what we have here is deep social solidarity.”

He added that thousands of public officials and rescue teams were sent to help dig up victims and find survivors.

On Sunday night, Venezuela’s information ministry said the death toll from the earthquakes had risen to 3,342, while the number of injured exceeded 16,700.

The shocks, one of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters, caused many buildings to collapse and thousands of people to become homeless, especially in the coastal La Guaira region north of the capital Caracas.

Eleven days after the double shock, families were still trying to pull the bodies of their loved ones from the rubble as international rescue teams completed their operations to find more survivors.

Rosa López’s 25-year-old son-in-law, José Antonio Toledo, was found under the building where he worked as a security guard during the earthquake. Crews took the body to a local hospital, but staff turned them away due to lack of space. The body was sent to another facility and eventually transported to an open parking lot.

The medical examiner helped the family find him days later on Saturday. But after identifying his body, they didn’t know what to do with it because they couldn’t afford the $450 (£350) a funeral home was asking for.

At nearly midnight on Saturday, López learned that the mayor had offered them a vacant spot at a local cemetery, but they had to act quickly to avoid losing the spot. An hour later, López and her daughter climbed a hill to the cemetery and buried Toledo.

“He was an exemplary person, a kid who loved helping people,” López said.

They rescued him from the mass grave, but many fear horror will come as they search for the bodies of their loved ones.

The number of bodies found is expected to increase.

Forensic technician Joel Mirabal has worked non-stop for seven days since the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes occurred.

The 45-year-old man estimates that in 60 percent to 70 percent of cases, there is a relative or neighbor who can identify the body when it comes to collecting it. Even so, he said it’s a struggle because many rely on tattoos, scars or familiar clothing.

“They don’t even look 10% like their real-life selves,” he said of the victims.

If the body cannot be identified, it is sent to forensic experts working in the port of La Guaira. Private companies have donated large cooling containers to help preserve the bodies, but the death toll continues to rise.

“Of course, mass graves will have to be created,” Mirabal said. “The collapse was massive and the bodies were buried under many layers of debris.”

Mirabal said he and other forensic technicians expect to spend up to three months collecting the bodies.