Venezuelan police officers arrested for looting after earthquakes | Venezuela

Four Venezuelan police officers were arrested and face dismissal after being accused of stealing money from the rubble of a building that collapsed during the two devastating earthquakes last week.

Local residents and national and international rescue teams continue to search for survivors in the wake of successive earthquakes, which have killed nearly 2,000 people, injured more than 10,000 others, and left tens of thousands missing.

Videos on social media showed angry people trying to prevent members of the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigation Commission (CICPC) from helping themselves to a safe full of dollars from a destroyed building in the hard-hit state of La Guaira.

In a statement, CICPC said that four officers were arrested and relieved of their duties, and disciplinary proceedings were initiated due to their “immediate dismissal.”

The statement said: “In light of the recent events witnessed in the areas affected by the earthquakes in the state of La Guaira, it has been confirmed that a group of officers, deviating from their duties and benefiting from rescue efforts and humanitarian aid, behaved inappropriately by seizing valuables that were found among the rubble.”

He added, “This individual behavior, which is reprehensible and contrary to the core values ​​of our faith, directly undermines the institution’s prestige and public respect.”

Hopes of finding more survivors in La Guaira are fading. Photography: Deco Betancourt/Anadolu/Getty Images

Although a three-year-old boy was recovered alive from the rubble of a building in La Guaira on Tuesday, hopes of finding more survivors are dwindling. On the other hand, public anger is growing at the slow pace of the government’s rescue efforts – and at the behavior of some members of the army and police.

Volunteers, many of them equipped with nothing more than shovels, ropes and their bare hands, say they are doing everything they can to locate survivors, while, they say, some Venezuelan military and police are looting, blocking aid and co-opting donations.

On Wednesday, hundreds of volunteers were still flocking to La Guaira, the starting point of the disaster, to offer their support.

“We want to do everything we can to help,” said Fabiano Nadales, 35, a volunteer from the city of Valencia who was riding in a pickup truck with a team of about 15 medical students and amateur researchers.

Nadalis said he still has hope that more survivors will be found. “Miracles happen. Some people can survive for 10 days,” he said as his convoy waited in heavy traffic.

Volunteer rescuers say they are doing everything they can to find survivors. Photography: Deco Betancourt/Anadolu/Getty Images

“It’s really difficult… but we’re just trying to help,” said Estefania Callejas, 25, a third-year medical student from Valencia who was also among those who struggled to reach the scene in hopes of helping treat thousands of injured walkers.

Senior government officials blamed misinformation for growing civilian anger, reports of military personnel engaging in looting, and slow aid. They urged the public to ignore “manipulative strategies on social networks” and rely on official information.

But some volunteer rescuers say they see little evidence of authorities rushing to help, a week after the disaster struck.

“You see the firefighters and [Mexican rescue team] “Los Topos. But you don’t see the country as such,” Alexandre Delgado, a teacher from Aragua state in central Venezuela, told Reuters.

His team spent five days moving rubble and listening intently to the sounds of life under the hot Caribbean sun of La Guaira. They are supported by other local volunteers, who bring water, face masks, ice and knowledge about Hugo Chavez’s eight-tower housing project, where six towers are now in ruins.

Venezuela’s Ministry of Communications, which handles media inquiries for the military and police, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Rescuers and volunteers rest on the ruins of collapsed buildings in Carrabaleda, La Guaira. Photography: Miguel Medina – Reuters

By Tuesday, six days later, there were two international rescue teams and some local firefighters, as well as one truck from Venezuela’s forensic service, but they still lacked heavy equipment, Delgado said.

Majeed Diaz, a veterinarian who joined other volunteers, said more help was needed from Venezuelan authorities. “I would like a greater presence of the public authorities, who are really responsible for this,” he said as he searched for the body bags of four bodies that had just been recovered from the rubble. “But in the end we got used to being content with almost nothing.”

Daniela Armas, who was waiting for food at an emergency shelter in La Guaira, said the situation was desperate. “They distribute supplies here, but sometimes people almost kill each other for food,” she told AFP. “It’s like a cockfight.”

After initially thanking civilian volunteers, the government on Friday imposed restrictions on public access to La Guaira, angering people trying to help find survivors.

A government employee stationed at a checkpoint in La Guaira on Sunday told Reuters they saw police officers and military personnel seizing aid from three trucks carrying supplies and bragging about what they had managed to “record.”

People line up to receive food and materials from volunteers in Carrabaleda, La Guaira. Photograph: Miguel Medina/Pool AFP/AFP

Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez is trying to consolidate her power after the United States kidnapped her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, in January.

“Delsey and her partners have been in charge for 26 years and they only have one script,” said James Story, who was the US ambassador to Venezuela until 2023. “They take credit for anything positive, blame anything negative and try to control the narrative.”

However, Donald Trump praised the US relationship with Rodriguez, and US companies expressed interest in everything from oil to gold.

US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires John Barrett also confirmed Rodriguez’s handling of the disaster, telling Univision on Monday that he had a “great deal of confidence” in local authorities.

Magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 shocks – one of the worst earthquake disasters in Latin American history – led to the collapse of entire residential complexes on June 24.

Preliminary analysis of satellite data suggests that more than 58,000 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed in the quake, dwarfing official estimates of destruction. Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly, said Monday that 855 buildings were damaged, including 189 “total collapses.”

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

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