Earthquake in Venezuela: The Struggle to Survive

Image via Venezuela Analysis on X

By Guillermo Barreto

On 24 June, Venezuela was celebrating two important holidays: the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo, the battle that sealed the country’s independence, and the feast of St. John the Baptist, declared by UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a celebration with deep spiritual significance, especially for the Afro-descendant communities of Venezuela. A day of celebration that was cut short at 6:04 and 6:05 p.m. by two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, respectively, with 39 seconds between them.

At the time of this writing, the official information released by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, reports 1,719 deaths, 5,034 injured, 15,866 displaced, 855 damaged buildings (of which 189 collapsed completely), 38 affected hospitals, and 1,645 other structures—such as bridges and roads—damaged. This level of destruction is unprecedented in the country.

The earthquakes that occurred on 24 June constitute a unique event known as a seismic doublet. It involves the rupture of one fault (in this case, the Boconó Fault), which in turn triggers the rupture of another (the San Sebastián Fault). This phenomenon produces a highly asymmetrical, overlapping, and chaotic wave field. The rupture occurred from west to east, which is why the most severe effects were observed to the east of the epicenter. What makes this ‘double earthquake’ so deadly is that the waves produced by the second earthquake overlap with those of the first, amplifying its destructive power. The overlap also caused an earthquake that normally lasts 30-40 seconds to extend for 2 to 3 minutes, triggering a ‘perfect geodynamic storm.’ So far, 609 aftershocks have been recorded. A monster for which no one could have been prepared.

Immediately, like vultures, the media and so-called ‘influencers’ launched a campaign to dismiss the Venezuelan government’s response, arguing that the collapsed buildings were those constructed by the Venezuela Housing Mission—a program unique in the world that has provided housing to more than 4 million families (the reality is that 80 percent of the collapsed buildings were constructed by the private sector), and that civil protection agencies, firefighters, and rescue workers had failed to show up—all in an attempt to generate more distress and uncertainty among the population.

This is a truly dirty campaign that should put to shame those who, from the comfort of their computers, profit from the suffering of others and—lacking any serious proposals—criticize the government by spreading lies and causing chaos in an already highly delicate situation.

The reality is that as of 29 June, there were 30,000 rescue workers deployed—including military personnel, police, firefighters, civil protection personnel, and Red Cross staff—and 75,238 families have been assisted. 7,237,000 kilos of food have been distributed, 222,478 food bags have been distributed in La Guaira state (the hardest-hit area), 4,200 people have received medical assistance, 90 percent of the power supply has been restored, and even five days after the tragedy, the search for survivors continues. This effort has been joined by 10,834 volunteers who have been accredited to prevent disorder that would hinder rescue operations.

It is important to note that all of this mobilization and effort is taking place despite the more than 1,000 unilateral coercive measures (erroneously called ‘sanctions’) that the U.S. government has imposed on Venezuela, measures to which the European Union has also adhered. Both the U.S. and some EU countries offered ‘humanitarian aid’ to address the tragedy, but there could be no greater cynicism and hypocrisy on the part of those who have subjected the country to hardship for more than a decade with the sole aim of bringing about a change in government and plundering Venezuela’s many resources, including the world’s largest oil reserves. In fact, unilateral coercive measures are designed to undermine the will of the people through attacks on the economy, restrictions that prevent free trade with other countries, the export of the country’s products, and the import of everything that is not produced domestically but is needed—including not only spare parts and machinery but also food and medicine. It is a fact that, during the pandemic, for example, Venezuela was prevented from accessing the COVAX fund to purchase vaccines—a situation that could easily be characterized as an attempt at genocide.

Unilateral coercive measures are a perverse mechanism. A recent study published in the Lancet demonstrates, using rigorous statistical techniques and databases from the United Nations and the World Bank, that coercive measures—especially those implemented unilaterally by the U.S. (without United Nations authorization)—have a direct impact on public health, resulting in 564,258 deaths annually, a figure comparable to those caused by wars. The U.S. has killed more than 28 million people over the past 50 years through the imposition of unilateral coercive measures. These measures are illegal and violate international law and the Charter of the United Nations. A report issued in 2021 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur describes the grave situation Venezuela was facing that year as a result of these coercive measures, confirming the findings of the study we just cited.

It is this country, battered by these illegal and criminal measures—with hospitals and emergency systems compromised by years of attacks—that today faces a tragedy of superlative proportions. Fortunately, there has been sincere solidarity from countries such as Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua, among others, which are providing rescue workers, heavy equipment, medicines, and a great deal of compassion, and are supporting the arduous work carried out by Venezuelan teams. As for the United States—the country that, on January 3 of this year, bombed and kidnapped the president—we can only demand the immediate withdrawal of the coercive measures it has imposed and the release of President Nicolás Maduro and Congresswoman Cilia Flores. The hypocritical aid they offer is not welcome. In Venezuela, the government, the armed forces, and the people—organized with the help of true friends—are working tirelessly to save as many lives as possible and restore normalcy as soon as possible.

Guillermo R. Barreto is Venezuelan and holds a Ph.D. in Science (University of Oxford). Retired professor at Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela). He served as Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, president of the National Fund for Science and Technology, and Minister of Ecosocialism and Water (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela). He is currently a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Social Transformations-IVIC.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.