When Venezuela was hit by two subsequent earthquakes on the evening of June 24, the initial feeling among the people was shock. Entire blocks of residential buildings and hotels were suddenly turned into rubble, with countless people buried underneath.
Tens of thousands of people went missing, many still unaccounted for, with an official death toll of around 2,600 at the time of writing and the UN calling an estimate of 50,000 still missing "terrifyingly plausible."
Immediately after the quakes, Venezuelans set out to look for survivors or deliver aid on their own. In many places around Caracas, collection points were set up for donations and civilian convoys from around the country headed to the disaster zone to help with the relief effort.
But after a few days, shock started to turn into anger. Even as Venezuelans did everything they could to help each other, the response of Delcy Rodríguez's interim government proved severely lacking, and at times even counterproductive.
From the outset of search and rescue efforts, Venezuelans complained about both how little the authorities did and how poorly they did it. Policemen were accused of going into destroyed buildings to steal valuables and national guardsmen were said to be idle and eating food meant for earthquake victims.
Far from facilitating aid, the military erected barriers that kept help out of certain areas altogether. The most damning example was from footage showing Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello personally blocking the road to a team of American rescue workers, telling them their vehicle couldn’t pass despite their pleas that someone was alive and needed to be rescued.
