Venezuela’s interim leader angrily defends earthquake response
CATIA LA MAR: Venezuela’s US-backed acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday issued a fiery defense of her government’s response to last week’s devastating earthquakes, lashing out at critics who say authorities reacted too slowly, pushing back on suggestions that the true death toll is far higher than the government has acknowledged and rejecting accusations that the nation’s shoddily constructed social housing exacerbated the disaster.
The self-described socialist government of Rodríguez, striving for legitimacy months after the United States removed former President Nicolás Maduro from power in January, has come under fire for what residents have described as a sluggish and haphazard response to the quakes.
Residents of the hardest-hit state, La Guaira, complain that the absence of a serious government search-and-rescue operation immediately after the temblors left them alone to scour for neighbors and loved ones with their bare hands. Rescuers have lamented that the country’s shortages of specialized equipment slowed efforts to find survivors. Experts have noted that substandard construction of social housing projects — a hallmark of the tenure of former President Hugo Chávez — left many neighborhoods vulnerable to quakes.
At a press conference for foreign journalists in the capital of Caracas late Thursday, Rodríguez, wearing a black ribbon as a symbol of mourning, refused to accept the criticism.
“We did not wait one day, two days or three days. We activated immediately,” she said, lacing into journalists who she accused of spreading misinformation. “To politicize a humanitarian tragedy like this — when the Venezuelan government and its authorities have spared no effort, public, private, national, or international — is disgraceful.”
Authorities have counted at least 2,295 people killed by the earthquake as of Wednesday — a number that’s expected to rise. They did not offer an updated death toll on Thursday, and have maintained tight control over public communications and relief efforts.
