How Venezuela’s Earthquakes Test US-Backed GovernmentExBulletin

A person searches for victims on June 27 amid the rubble of a collapsed building after powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, in Los Corales, Venezuela. Edilzon Gamez / Getty Images .

. Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images

LOS CORALES, Venezuela – A bulldozer is digging through the rubble of a 12-story building that collapsed in this town on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast during successive earthquakes last week. But the government excavator operator never showed up, so locals agreed to donations to pay for one.

Rosalia Bustamante, who lost several friends who were inside the building, says such delays cost lives.

“There were people in the ruins who responded when we called them,” she says. “But now they’re dead.”

Frustration is growing in Venezuela after two powerful earthquakes that the government says killed at least 1,719 people. Critics claim the country’s US-backed government’s response has been slow and inept, leaving it largely up to people in the disaster zone to rescue themselves and recover the dead.

This is the scene in Los Corrales, in La Guaira, the state the government says was hardest hit by the disaster.

Neighborhood volunteers pulled more than a dozen bodies from the 12-story building. But lacking body bags, they resort to garbage bags and plastic sheeting. There are no refrigerated containers to store bodies, and in the tropical heat, the stench is overwhelming.

Venezuela has thousands of police and military forces. But they were slow to arrive and some were accused of looting. They have also set up roadblocks and are demanding government permits from doctors and rescue workers.

Julio Melendez, who owns a construction company in Caracas, tried to bring a much-needed jackhammer to help dismantle the rubble and search for survivors. But the process took two days because the police wanted to see his permit as well as the receipt for the sale of the jackhammer.

“The only thing the authorities do is block the road,” he says.

Politics also got in the way the last time this part of Venezuela faced disaster.

In 1999, after mudslides killed at least 10,000 people, then-President Hugo Chavez refused help from the US Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild roads and bridges. Instead he relied on help from his Communist allies in Cuba.

Now, aid workers are arriving from all over the world. Venezuela was already in bad shape before the earthquakes struck. People here have suffered economic collapse as well as the suppression of their democracy. All this has prompted more than a quarter of the population to flee the country, including large numbers of health workers and engineers.

Alejandro Palomino, center, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, checks his radio during a search and rescue mission in Catia La Mar, La Guaira State, Venezuela, on Sunday. The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s International Urban Search and Rescue team was working in neighborhoods devastated by successive earthquakes in Venezuela, part of the scramble to find survivors. Carlos Becerra/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images .

. Carlos Becerra/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Retired Venezuelan Army Gen. Antonio Rivero says Rodriguez could have deployed the country’s armed forces immediately with trucks, generators, portable lights and water systems. This did not happen.

Rivero says that instead of helping people, security forces are trained to view them as a threat who could revolt against the country’s oppressive government. In fact, they have spent much of the past decade suppressing opposition protests and arresting activists.

Angel Rangel, former head of Venezuela’s Civil Defense Agency, told local reporters: “How could the armed forces be absent during the worst earthquake in our history?” “They are prepared for riots but not for natural disasters.”

After US forces captured President Nicolas Maduro in January, he was replaced by his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. She held a variety of high-ranking positions in his authoritarian regime and retained many of Maduro’s hardliners in her cabinet.

It has been widely blamed for the government’s haphazard response to the earthquake.

Phil Johnson, who works at the International Crisis Group in Caracas, says autocracies sometimes react faster than democracies during crises because they oversee vertical systems of command. But he says Venezuela has failed to maintain its civil defense capabilities and lacks ambulances, firefighting equipment and other basics.

“So, we have the worst of both worlds: an authoritarian regime with none of the benefits,” he says.

At the same time, the crisis allowed Rodriguez to further delay the transition to democracy. The political opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, is demanding new elections after voter statistics suggested Maduro stole the 2024 election. But now, the earthquake and recovery efforts are at the center of attention.

“No one is talking seriously about elections anymore,” says Orlando Perez, a Latin American specialist at the University of North Texas in Dallas. “It’s all been postponed indefinitely.”

But he warns that earthquakes can upend governments, as was the case in Nicaragua. Its dictator Anastasio Somoza and his cronies stole much of the relief aid after the 1972 earthquake, which gave a boost to the Sandinista rebels who eventually overthrew him.

“That earthquake marked the beginning of the end for the Somoza regime,” Perez says.

In Venezuela, even before the earthquakes that struck the country last week, opinion polls showed that the popularity of interim President Rodriguez was declining, and now, in the disaster zone, the anger is palpable.

“They are cursed dogs,” said a crying woman who lost her nephew when the 12-storey building collapsed. “I hope they rot in hell.”

Nearby, volunteers continue to improvise as they search for signs of life. In one collapsed building, they attached a cable to a piece of concrete and then hit gas to try to remove it.

But it barely budges.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos