Venezuela Earthquake + 5 Days

Latin America Correspondent Jon Bonfiglio looks at the current situation in Venezuela, 5 days after the earthquakes struck. 

Transcript

Jon Bonfiglio 0:00

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the ongoing breakdown of the situation in Venezuela, very specifically in Caracas and La Guaíra, which was particularly badly hit by the twin earthquakes. We're into day five now, at time of recording, and I think first up, let's sum up where things are at. So the death toll currently stands at 1,450 as of yesterday, but that will undoubtedly continue to rise pretty significantly, as at least 68,900 people have been reported unaccounted for by their families. An incredible 774 buildings have been reported as badly damaged. The search and rescue missions continue, but government support is limited in this, meaning the citizens are left to their own devices to pull out loved ones from the rubble using the likes of homemade implements, shovels, and their bare hands, a fact which is not only hugely risky and problematic, and also in some in some cases being impeded by the government who are interested in controlling the landscape, but it's also seeing anger grow now across the country. There's been a strong international response though, and groups from a variety of countries are present on the ground. Of course, five days in, the stories of successful rescues are getting fewer and seemingly more miraculous. What has been puzzling Venezuelans is why the military are seemingly generally absent, given that control of the disaster was handed over to them by interim President Delcy Rodriguez after the earthquake struck. What is undoubtedly clear is uh that the level of unpreparedness of the Venezuelan government is stark and noteworthy, especially for an event of this magnitude, which to some extent is defendable given how much of a black swan event it is, but it also points to how the government are primarily engaged with holding and maintaining power rather than civic service, all of which is a historic truism of the Maduro autocracy, which of course, you know, as we've spoken about before, is still in place, despite the fact that Maduro is not. Of course, there are political repercussions too, not just as the anger builds, but also as different groups, including the Venezuelan opposition, try to take credit for support, rescues, and the delivery of aid. Externally, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has seen an opportunity here and is pushing the US government for patronage in supporting her return. In her mind, media images of her pouring over the rubble could assist in uh leading to a direct transition of power, but her return is being resisted for the moment, with one US official saying that Machado's requests were a political stunt.