"Silencio!" the rescuers scream, turning towards the road with their fists up, motioning everyone to remain silent. The vehicles stop. People stop talking. The diggers fall silent. A rescuer puts his ear to a hole they've just drilled through a concrete slab; another shines a torch into it. They are listening for any sounds of survivors trapped under the rubble of a 12-storey building in La Guaira, one of the areas worst hit by the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday and killed at least 1,700 people.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has called the quakes the "most brutal natural catastrophe" in Venezuela's history. But for the families waiting by the collapsed structure, the government's response has been too little, too late.
“Survivors of Venezuela's twin earthquakes accuse authorities of negligence as rescue efforts lag and families wait for trapped loved ones.”
Miguel Oscar Nunez holds his breath, huddled with other families who had loved ones in the building. His only child, 34-year-old Angel, lived there. Moments pass. Nothing. The silence ends; work resumes. "My son, like hundreds of others, is trapped under the rubble. But we need more support from authorities urgently to dig them out," Miguel says, anger showing on his face. "It's possible that the earthquake has not killed him, but can you imagine if he is killed because of the negligence of the authorities?"
Kevin Montilla, 34, was away at work when the earthquake struck; his wife Luzmary and 16-year-old daughter Jhoerliyzmar were at home. "The rescue operation started very late and it's been slow. Initially it was only people who live in the community who came in to help. The police just came to check, but they didn't help. The government's response has been frustrating and impotent," he says.
When our team visited, rescue crews from Venezuela and Colombia were on site with two diggers and a crane lifting concrete slabs. But families said precious days had been wasted before this effort began. "I have not lost hope but I feel devastated. Nature's law is that a father should die before his son. Imagine if your son dies suddenly," says Miguel.
The building was part of a government-owned complex, its prominent location perhaps drawing the rescue teams' attention. Elsewhere in La Guaira state, search teams have not even reached some areas.