The official death toll in Venezuela has risen to 920, with 3,360 injured and many still trapped under the rubble.
President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, provided a live update at 1:15pm Friday in which he assured that rescue teams are tirelessly trying to reach those trapped under buildings, particularly in La Guaira.
860 foreign rescue personnel are at work in Venezuela alongside the thousands of Venezuelan responders, volunteers and the state.
Rodríguez announced that 383 buildings have been damaged or destroyed and that a total of 1,423 structures have been damaged or destroyed.
He also reported that Venezuela has experienced 302 seismic events since the initial 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes of June 24, which began at 6:03pm.
Bellow is a transcription of this latest update.
Jorge Rodríguez: Good afternoon to all the people of Venezuela. We are on the second day after the greatest tragedy our country has suffered, especially the regions of La Guaira and the capital region, in recent decades.
What we have seen allows us, in addition to sending a supportive embrace to each and every one of you, to thank the thousands of volunteers and to thank the thousands upon thousands of officials from the rescue groups of our Bolivarian National Armed Forces, the Police Forces, the State Governments, the Municipalities of Chacao, Caracas, and the Municipality of La Guaira, for the tireless effort they have made to save lives and to care for the thousands upon thousands affected by the tragedy of the earthquakes of June 24 at 6:03 in the afternoon.
Up to this moment, at 1:17 in the afternoon, we have experienced a total of 302 seismic events. I repeat, 302. That is to say, in addition to the two fateful earthquakes with a power rarely seen in the history of planet Earth, at least in the last thousand years, in addition to the two earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude—7.2 and 7.5—we have had 300 other seismic experiences that have occurred as aftershocks along the three fault lines that exist in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
We want to send a strong message and ask you, while maintaining calm and National Unity as you have done, to heed this request we wish to make. We ask everyone who wants to support and everyone who wants to help, please do not go down to La Guaira. I repeat, please do not go down to La Guaira, because while we understand that the intention and desire to help others has been massive among all of you, it also happens that the roads where we are evacuating and transporting affected people and the injured, whether to shelters or to hospitals in the capital city and Miranda state, become congested.
The best help you can provide, the best support, is not to congest the roads so that health teams can quickly transport patients and so that the Armed Forces, police forces, and rescue corps can do their work more effectively.
If you wish to support with any kind of supplies—water, food, mattresses, clothing, blankets, light or heavy machinery equipment, the so-called yellow machinery—we have set up two major collection centers here in Caracas, one at the Carpa de La Carlota and another at Almacenador a Caracas in Catia.
I repeat, the collection centers for all supplies for all those who wish to collaborate: on one hand, the Carpa de La Carlota, and on the other, Almacenador a Caracas in Catia, in the Sucre parish of Caracas.
That is the best contribution you can all make. In a few minutes, we will publish a 0-800 number so that you can report there or indicate if there is a missing person or the whereabouts of any family member you are looking for.
We have already linked up with all the hospitals that have received injured people affected from La Guaira, Caracas, Chacao, San Bernardino, Paraíso. All the people who have been affected and treated in hospitals are already on automated lists, and that allows us to respond quickly about the whereabouts of any person if they are already in one of the hospitals.
As for today’s report, at this hour we must announce with sorrow, because they are our sisters and brothers, that 920 people have died due to the violent action of the June 24 earthquakes, that we have received 3,360 injured or otherwise affected people as a consequence of the earthquakes, and that up to the present moment we have more than 4,000 people left homeless.
Affected buildings, including single-family and multi-family homes: 383 structures have been totally or significantly affected, most of them in La Guaira state.
That is why President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of natural disaster there in La Guaira. And we want to tell everyone at this moment that the state of La Guaira is completely militarized. It is completely under the control of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces to guarantee security, to guarantee internal order, and to facilitate the rescue efforts that, tirelessly and without resting or sleeping a minute, almost without eating and almost without hydrating, the Venezuelan rescue corps and international solidarity are carrying out. Mostly in Carabayllo, in Macuto, in Los Corales, mostly in Catia La Mar, in the Playa Grande sector.
These are the areas of La Guaira that are brutally affected by the action of the earthquakes.
But fortunately, we are present in all the points where that level of impact occurred. Fortunately, one of the first things done in the first hours after the earthquake was to clear the roads. I would like to remind you that in another tragedy suffered by La Guaira state, such as the landslide of ’99, the roads remained blocked even for several weeks. It was very difficult because the mountain had slid toward the sea. Access to areas like Caraballeda, Macuto, and beyond toward Henares and Los Caracas was very difficult.
At this moment, the road is completely cleared by the action of the Venezuelan government all the way to Los Caracas, and that has allowed us to bring in rescue corps, to maintain security and internal order throughout the disaster zone in La Guaira.
But those hospitals have been affected and also intervened by the Unified Command and the Sole Authority.
Twenty-five shopping centers have also been affected, and other structures—1,002—have been affected, for a total of 1,423 infrastructure works affected. We intervened on the roads of La Guaira to enable rapid access by rescue groups.
Up to this moment, mainly in La Guaira, but also throughout all of Caracas, in Greater Caracas. We thank the actions of the Mayor of Caracas, Carmen Meléndez, and the Mayor of Chacao Municipality, Gustavo Duque, who have also poured themselves into caring for their municipality, caring for their people, and joining this immense effort of attention, life-saving, and recovery.
Up to this moment, 2,600,000 kilograms of food have been distributed—including perishable and non-perishable foods and proteins—to all affected people, including those who, due to damage to their homes or simply out of fear, have been staying overnight in public spaces. Today we are intensifying care for this group of people. For anyone who wishes to go to a temporary shelter, they may go to a temporary shelter, or if they stay in that area, we can provide them with food, hydration, and personal hygiene supplies.
Several hundred people have been rescued by rescue groups. And I want to give an example because, as I heard someone say yesterday, every person saved is a miracle. Every person who is reunited with their family constitutes a miracle that fills our souls with joy. Just as every affected or deceased person fills us with sadness, every person rescued is a miracle that restores our hope that we will recover and that we will overcome this grave misfortune.
Yesterday, the acting president of the work teams, together with Admiral Carmen Meléndez, were at the building that collapsed in the San Bernardino parish of Caracas, and Mayor Carmen Meléndez told us that even though they had recovered seven deceased people, 20 living people were rescued from that building, and 22 pets that were also trapped there were rescued alive.
That is the tireless effort that rescue groups are making, and we will not rest until we act throughout the entire disaster zone. We will not have enough life to thank the brotherly countries that immediately and promptly devoted themselves to solidarity with the people of Venezuela. In this tragedy, at this moment in the field, mainly in La Guaira, but also in Chacao and Caracas, in Libertador Municipality: 272 people from Mexico, 328 rescuers from the United States of America, 115 rescuers from El Salvador. We thank the government of El Salvador and the people of El Salvador for the effort shown by the helping hand extended to us in this tragedy.
Ninety people from Switzerland, 63 from Colombia, 40 from Spain, 53 from Ecuador, 34 from Chile, 11 from the Dominican Republic, 13 from Panama, and also the United Nations Special Rescue Team.
These are people specialized in rescuing people in natural disasters. They are people specialized in overcoming all obstacles—debris, walls, barriers—to reach the life that must be saved. In total, there are 860 at this moment, and planes of solidarity continue to arrive from all over the world—861 specialized rescuers who join the thousands of the Bolivarian government and the thousands of volunteers who have come to support.
In total, regarding supplies and tools they have brought with them to help us: there are 73.2 metric tons of supplies and also 33 canines, which are very useful in this contingency. We insist: do not go to La Guaira if you want to help us; do not go to La Guaira if you do not have an absolutely urgent need to go there. If you want to collaborate, if you have something to contribute, go to the collection centers at the Carpa de La Carlota or Almacenador a Caracas.
I want to make one final comment that I thought long and hard about whether it was necessary, but it is necessary for the population to become aware. It is that amid so much altruism, amid so much greatness shown by our population, the volunteers, the rescuers, and international solidarity, the wretched and misery also appear. In an attempt to seek some kind of profit from this horrible tragedy, instead of joining in—as political factors have joined, including the Venezuelan opposition that operates in the National Assembly, as Dr. Dinora Figueroa has joined, who sent me a message of solidarity and support.
At this moment, Dr. Dinora Figueroa, who represents those former deputies from the 2015–2020 Assembly, the miserable ones who wanted to take some kind of advantage from something so horrible have not been absent. Yesterday they set up—they had been, since the earthquake itself, looking for some kind of false setup. Yesterday they fabricated the issue of the supposed tsunami, the false tsunami. Knowing it was a lie, they generated significant delays in the rescue process for trapped people.
They generated a true—this is about people who, in the circumstances we are in, have already experienced the greatest suffering; they added desperation to desperation. And all with an intention. That is why we want to ask the population to remain calm and only heed official communications. We are not going to hide absolutely anything about the magnitude of this tragedy, which is immense, the greatest we have suffered in the last 100 years.
We are not going to hide absolutely anything, but understand that when we give you the recommendations we give you, we do so to accelerate the rescue work in this stage and the care for people in this stage. Do not heed false rumors and fakes, even if they seem very real. They even showed videos of a beach in Sucre state where the water naturally recedes.
There is no type of tsunami alert. It was already said yesterday by Vice President Diosdado Cabello, but it is not strange that other types of rumors appear. Heed only official communications, heed only what the Bolivarian government and the Sole Authority want to communicate to you. Do not pay attention to falsehoods and lies, and please, do not go to La Guaira.
At this moment, we are in control of the situation, and if you want to help us, do not go; take your contributions to the Carpa de La Carlota or to Almacenador a Caracas in Catia. Thank you very much for your attention.
