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Anger over Venezuela’s earthquake recovery grew on June 29 as residents accused authorities of blocking civilian volunteers and delivering an inadequate response to the June 24 twin quakes that killed at least 1,430 people. Volunteers searched for survivors in Catia la Mar rubble while access to La Guaira was limited to authorized personnel, BBC News, the New York Times and Al Jazeera reported, as the UN said the event would worsen the humanitarian crisis for up to 6.76 million people.
The earthquakes, a magnitude 7.2 foreshock followed 39 seconds later by a 7.5 mainshock, struck the north-central region on June 24, the Pan American Health Organization reported. An estimated 3.9 million people were exposed to severe shaking, with more than 712,000 in municipalities facing higher intensity, PAHO data showed. A state of emergency was declared, and preliminary assessments indicated widespread damage to buildings and critical infrastructure across states including Yaracuy, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, though full details were hampered by power and telecommunications outages, the organization added.
According to the New York Times, the government restricted access on Saturday to government vehicles and authorized personnel in La Guaira after determining civilian volunteer flow was unmanageable. Many Venezuelans prefer to deliver aid directly due to distrust in official channels, a dynamic that contributed to the bottleneck, the newspaper reported. The brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez stated that only authorized personnel would be allowed into the area.
Al Jazeera reported that frustration and anger are mounting over the government’s slow and uneven emergency response. International Crisis Group senior analyst Phil Gunson said in an interview with the outlet, “The government response is anything from totally non-existent to, at best, completely inadequate.” He added that the government is incapable of demonstrating efficiency even with US assistance.
The UN is scaling up its response with hundreds of staff supporting efforts that are expected to last several months, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Al Jazeera. More than 3,200 people were injured and over 50,000 remain missing, Kuwait Times cited UN figures as showing. Estimated damage reached $6.7 billion, exacerbating challenges in a nation already facing economic collapse, the reports indicated.
Amnesty International urged Venezuelan authorities to provide relief in line with humanitarian standards and international human rights law, in a statement released three days after the disaster. Secretary General Agnès Callamard said the authorities must ensure prompt, credible and regular disclosure of information on damage, casualties, relief efforts and plans for the missing. The group raised concerns over limited and uncorroborated information released so far.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that the quakes were Venezuela’s worst in decades and would test the hollowed-out armed forces as first responders. The analysis highlighted that the Simón Bolívar International Airport airstrip was rendered inoperable, complicating large-scale aid delivery. Experts called for the government to accept aid from all sources and prioritize transparent communication to avoid further disaffection.
In an on-the-ground BBC News video from Catia la Mar, correspondent Orla Guerin captured scenes of locals feeling the state had let them down as volunteers worked to find those trapped under debris. This reporting aligns with broader accounts of public skepticism toward the use of the VenApp for sharing information on missing persons, given its previous role in repression, CSIS observed. International pledges of support, including from the US, have arrived but the effectiveness of coordination remains under scrutiny.
