'The crisis overwhelms us' - Humanitarian aid reaches Venezuela’s La Guaira after deadly earthquakes
Humanitarian aid continues to arrive in Venezuela’s La Guaira state, one of the areas worst affected by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes recorded on June 24, as civil society groups and international organisations step up efforts to support victims.
Footage by Viory from Los Corales, Caraballeda, showed dozens of residents arriving at a collection centre to receive basic supplies, including water, food and clothing. Some of the aid was sent by volunteer groups from nearby areas, as well as from Miranda state and Caracas.
Juan Mujica, one of the survivors, said the response had been difficult because of the scale of the disaster and Venezuela’s wider challenges.
“It is still difficult because, as a state, we do not have a response capacity high enough to be able to reach people, due to the complicated situation Venezuela is facing. But to the extent possible, both private actors and a small part of the state are making efforts to get this food delivered,” Mujica said.
He added that specialised assistance remained inadequate for the number of people affected.
“Precarious because, as I mentioned, it does not have the response capacity for this irregular situation. It is a crisis. As a crisis, it overwhelms us, and we do not have the capacity to respond,” he said.
Residents are also facing severe communication difficulties, making it harder for affected communities to seek help or share information.
“There is no fully complete distribution of information and people are cut off. We have no signal, we have no type of communication, neither internal nor external. So we try to reach the media by walking or hitching a ride or something like that,” Mujica added.
Authorities said on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 1,430, with 3,238 people injured. The official missing persons registry has also recorded more than 78,000 reports, with an estimated 50,668 people still unaccounted for, Viory reports.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
