{"id":3174,"date":"2026-06-27T21:39:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3174"},"modified":"2026-06-27T21:39:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:39:38","slug":"frustration-grows-in-venezuela-as-earthquake-death-toll-reaches-1430","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3174","title":{"rendered":"Frustration grows in Venezuela as earthquake death toll reaches 1,430"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By REGINA GARCIA CANO, ANDRY RINC\u00d3N and MEGAN JANETSKY<\/p>\n<p>LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) \u2014 Tensions flared Saturday as desperation grew in Venezuela\u2019s state of La Guaira as rescuers and civilians searched for earthquake survivors and the death toll rose sharply to 1,430.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3172\">Sharks take goalie, a son of a team executive and a 7-footer on final day of NHL draft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Venezuela\u2019s government said families reported at least 68,900 people missing, three days after the one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes devastated the South American nation.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuelans looking for loved ones and neighbors used shovels, heavy equipment, ropes and bare hands atop mounds of toppled concrete throughout La Guaira, one of the hardest-hit states. They were joined by a growing number of international rescue teams who began to climb through the rubble, offering a small glint of hope to anguished families.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions peaked over what many Venezuelans viewed as an inadequate response by the government, whose soldiers, firefighters, police and military cadets were evidently underprepared to respond to the scope of the tragedy. Many felt every minute ticking away as they ran out of time to rescue people alive.<\/p>\n<p>Frustration was amplified by efforts to project the image of a robust state response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a pile of bodies over there from last night. Newborn babies,\u201d said Mileidy Romero, who was among those searching in the seaside town of Caraballeada. \u201cAt 8 p.m. (yesterday) there were people alive down there, and they haven\u2019t bothered to rescue them. We\u2019ve located several bodies, and they haven\u2019t helped us recover them either. What are they waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours as crucial for retrieving people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water. Venezuelan officials said 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue team members had touched down by Saturday.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Tension mounts during rescue efforts<\/h4>\n<p>Acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez said on state television that more than 14,000 members of the military and police are patrolling the area, where access is now blocked and special permits are required to enter. But many in disaster zones said they had seen little of their government.<\/p>\n<p>Some people climbed the remnants of buildings and cried out names, hoping for any proof of life. Dust coated coastal communities. In punishing heat, more people wore masks as the stench of decomposition spread. In other parts of La Guaira, teams unloaded stacks of bodies from white trucks onto the ground of a dirt hospital parking lot, where they were to be identified.<\/p>\n<p>With the absence of hard hats, rescuers and civilians used motorcycle helmets as they searched piles of debris that were once people\u2019s belongings: Eddie Murphy and Nemo DVDs, a kitchen sink, mattresses and shoes.<\/p>\n<p>Some, frustrated by the government\u2019s response, blocked an excavator from leaving the site of a collapse and pulled the operator from its cabin shortly after state workers took selfies in front of flattened buildings and left without helping. The ruling party\u2019s officials often take selfies to show participation in government-related events.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A few feet away, at least five bodies wrapped in blankets.<\/p>\n<p>A member of the crowd, Yeison Marcano, said those searching had received some assistance from an investigations unit but neither police nor the National Guard helped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey came to eat arepas and take pictures to make it look like they were working,\u201d Marcano said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t even get their uniforms dirty like we have. We\u2019ve been here for three days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A minute later, a man tried to grab a firefighter, shouting and cursing. \u201cSilence! Silence!\u201d rescuers shouted as they tried to confirm whether someone was trapped alive.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3170\">Bullet fragments found in \u2018many\u2019 of 117 dogs exhumed at Miranda\u2019s Rescue this week<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, an older man was pulled from the rubble of a public housing building. Visibly disoriented, he begged a nurse for water. He fought with personnel who put him into a pickup truck, screaming, \u201cMy family! My family!\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>The capital\u2019s main airport is badly damaged<\/h4>\n<p>The International Organization for Migration said over 6 million people could be affected, some 2 million in the capital, Caracas, alone.<\/p>\n<p>Experts said the destruction was amplified by the quick succession of shallow quakes. For days, smaller aftershocks occasionally shook the capital, Caracas and areas hit by the quakes, including one measuring 4.8 on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The disaster poses a huge challenge for Rodr\u00edguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the U.S. capture and removal of then-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodr\u00edguez represents.<\/p>\n<p>Search teams and foreign aid continued to arrive from Mexico, the U.S., Brazil, El Salvador, France and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, Mexican rescue teams climbed over collapsed buildings and pushed their heads into holes in the pancaked concrete to search for signs of life, occasionally hearing movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re rescuers from the Mexican military, if there\u2019s anyone down there still alive, make noise or scream. Now!\u201d one man shouted.<\/p>\n<p>For many, the images of international aid teams arriving and climbing through the rubble alongside them offered a glimmer of hope. Yonah\u00ed Regalado has been calling out the names of her sister and 1-year-old nephew and godson since 1 a.m. the day after the earthquakes until aid workers began to arrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who it is, whoever, whether it\u2019s family or somebody else. If there is anyone alive, let\u2019s get them out,\u201d she said, as helicopters circled overhead.<\/p>\n<p>Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar International Airport, which serves Caracas, was badly damaged. One runway was operational as U.S. teams worked to repair the crucial throughway, Jeremy Lewin, a senior State Department official in charge of foreign assistance, told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Lewin said the U.S. military would help coordinate flights to bring in search and rescue workers, mobile hospitals and supplies. He said a U.S. Navy transport ship was docked off the coast, ready to receive airlifted survivors in need of medical attention. Lewin said it is a \u201crace against the clock\u201d to find people injured in the quakes.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Juan Pablo Arraez and Mat\u00edas Delacroix in La Guaira, Venezuela, Clara Preve in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Ali Swenson in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3168\">A soothing cup of herbal tea can begin in your garden<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tensions flared Saturday as desperation grew in Venezuela\u2019s state of La Guaira as rescuers and civilians searched for quake survivors and the death toll rose to 1,430.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Frustration grows in Venezuela as earthquake death toll reaches 1,430 - 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