Frustration is rising in Venezuela over a lack of aid and coordinated government response in the regions struck by devastating earthquakes last Wednesday, residents in some hard-hit towns said on Monday.
Reuters reported that In El Junquito, a small mountainous region about 33 km (20 miles) west of Caracas where Venezuelans often vacation on weekends, residents say they have seen few public officials. Farmers and other residents have been providing basic supplies to the community, the report said.
“We are waiting for answers, for debris to be cleaned up, for inspections, for people who have been really affected to be helped,” said Keily Ibarra, a 33-year-old manicurist leading citizen complaints to authorities. She called on the government to do “what needs to be done.”
El Junquito’s commercial centre was largely destroyed by the quakes, with collapsed buildings visible during a Reuters visit. Several residents with nowhere else to go have set up tents in an open field, despite the risk posed by damaged and collapsed buildings nearby.
“We don’t know where we are going to be located or how long we are going to be here,” said Tony Abreu, the owner of a local candy store who has been living in a tent since the quakes, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, a hotel near Maiquetia Airport where more than 140 people deported from the United States, including seven children, were staying while being processed by Venezuelan authorities, collapsed in the quakes, Reuters reported. Most are believed to have been killed.
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