00:00And as we have been informing, La White State has been the hardest hit territory by the two powerful earthquakes
00:06that struck the nation on Wednesday, June 24th.
00:09And precisely from there, we are going to make a live contact at this hour with our colleague Belen de
00:15los Santos.
00:16Hello, Belen. What can you share with us at this hour?
00:22Hello, Ale. It's a pleasure to greet you, as always, in this case, in a very difficult day, as all
00:29of these days, six days have passed since the twin earthquakes that hit Venezuela.
00:37You were saying it correctly. La Guayra is one of the hardest hit regions, and we are at the Corales
00:43region right now, one that has been very much affected with collapsed buildings.
00:49We are just meters away from one of the rescue sites. We have been going back and forth between different
00:55rescue sites alongside the entire territory of La Guayra.
01:00And part of what you were saying is what is happening right now, it's the sixth day, so that means
01:08that, of course, time is of the essence more than ever in terms of the rescue operation.
01:13Rescue operations that continue despite the amount of hours that have happened since the earthquakes.
01:19You were just mentioning a moment ago, I heard you about the young boy, two and a half years old,
01:26who was rescued alive just last night by the, with the help of the Jordan brigade, international brigade.
01:33We actually talked to the team of that Jordan brigade, the team leader, and he explained us a little bit
01:41of what was going on.
01:43He also said that it was such an important rescue. The fact that that little boy could come out almost
01:51six days after the event and that he was now at the moment, he said, well and stabilized in the
01:58hospital, truly a miracle.
01:59We have seen other rescue sites that continue to be ongoing as well and other rescues, but of course, it
02:08is a difficult moment for the families who are also continuing these efforts alongside the Venezuelan organizations and different sectors
02:17of the military, the police forces, the communal forces as well here in Venezuela with the international brigades.
02:25But Ale, I also wanted to tell you that while all of this is going on non-stop rescue efforts,
02:32there's also a lot of work being done in terms of the assistance to the population.
02:38We have been visiting and seeing different installations that have to do with the collection and distribution of donations, for
02:45example, for those who have lost their homes, for those who are waiting around for their family members to be
02:53found, for their home sites to be recovered.
02:57Also sites that are providing with medical assistance, yes, like hospitals that were set up in different places, we just
03:08visited one that was recently inaugurated alongside towards the airport region as well in La Guayra.
03:15We have also just visited one of the temporary camps that are being set up in assistance to all these
03:23people, one specifically targeting the elderly population.
03:27They, and when I say day, I say the people from the community, the communal forces, the organizations, the Venezuelan
03:35state, they have gathered up a team and they're going around looking for grandmothers and grandfathers that maybe are alone.
03:43They have lost their apartment or they have lost contact with a family member to take care of them and
03:49they are bringing them in, giving them medical assistance, giving them a place to talk about how they are, to
03:57evaluate their health and also have a good place to stay.
04:00That is also happening and those efforts are being led by the Venezuelan organizations and by the community and communal
04:09members.
04:10They have been telling us we know of the strength of popular power in Venezuela and that is also one
04:17of the protagonists here in La Guayra amid this tragedy that was between earthquakes last week.
04:23Well, I wanted to ask you, in the very first moments that followed to these two powerful earthquakes, people started
04:31mobilizing in order to reach La Guayra state to support in the rescue efforts and also to bring solidarity aid.
04:37At this very moment, La Guayra has restrictions on access precisely to not become an obstacle that massive support in
04:47the rescue efforts precisely.
04:48I wanted to ask you, how is this solidarity aid being articulated?
04:52You were mentioning there are tens that are refusing at this moment, those who are waiting for their loved ones
04:59beneath the rebels.
05:01But I wanted to ask you, how is this solidarity being reaching those affected in the site while La Guayra
05:08has restrictions on access?
05:13Yes, very important what you were mentioning.
05:16As you were saying, the La Guayra area has some restrictions regarding access.
05:21It's not a complete ban on the access of La Guayra, but vehicles do have to register to come inside.
05:29There are also, there's also no public transportation right now.
05:33And that is because it is directly related to the rescue efforts that are underway.
05:39Two very easy things to explain.
05:41One, the amount of vehicles heading to La Guayra where we're interrupting the possibility of ambulances, for example, getting back
05:51and forth.
05:51Through the rescue sites, such an important thing when an ambulance is taking, for example, someone who has been rescued
05:59from a collapsed building and they need the cleared roads to do that.
06:04And another very important factor that we have been covering during these days is the fact that silence is one
06:12of the main tools for the rescue operations.
06:14You will see it when we were walking up and down in La Guayra that the rescue sites, many of
06:21which are just besides the road.
06:24You can maybe see that right behind me.
06:26I don't know because it's dark, but there is one of the rescue sites of a collapsed building.
06:30They are just beside the road and they need silence for the rescue teams to be able to use microphones
06:38to hear if there are survivors inside the building.
06:41For that, every time they need to set up the microphone, they need to stop the entire road.
06:47They will come out, they will ask the cars to stop their engines, the motorcycles to stop their engines, and
06:54that is how they can carry it out.
06:55Of course, that logistic needs some sort of restriction to the vehicles coming in because if not, it wouldn't be
07:04possible.
07:04But as you were saying, it still is coming in. It's coming in in the form of volunteers that are
07:11participating in all of these brigades, organizations.
07:14We have talked to a lot of young Venezuelan doctors, for example, nurses, veterinarians, different specialists who have come from
07:25Caracas and from other states, from Carabobo, from Trujillo.
07:28They are here to help everyone in their own speciality. Just a few meters from where we are right now,
07:35there are a few doctors, very, very young doctors, men and women,
07:40who have come with a lot of medicines to distribute them at the places in which these donations are being
07:48distributed.
07:49You also have the main sites of distribution that are being organized and held by the Venezuelan Bolivarian Armed Forces.
07:58They are in charge of collecting, organizing and distributing the aid that is happening here as well.
08:05And then, as I was saying before, you have the communal power, you have the communes here who have so
08:13much experience in terms of the organization,
08:16the popular organization of Venezuela, they are also, they are part of this community.
08:21They have family members who have been victims of these earthquakes, but they are there working with their community,
08:28trying to help those survivors, trying to give them a good day, a good meal, a good healthcare assistance,
08:36because they continue to work for their community.
08:38So, assistance in terms of solidarity is seen in a lot of different aspects.
08:45Maybe it wasn't just the case of everyone coming down to La Guayra.
08:50There's a lot of ways to help and to continue helping.
08:53Well, one more question. I want to thank you.
08:58Six days into these two powerful earthquakes, there's still hope beneath the rubble.
09:04I want to ask you, how's the feeling? How can you describe the feeling whenever there is a confirmation that
09:11there is a person alive
09:13and they manage to get to them and to rescue them alive?
09:17What's the feeling that you have felt and you have seen for yourself there?
09:29Ale, I'm sorry. I think that the connection is not really good right now.
09:34It's one of the other effects of the twin earthquakes. I don't know if you can repeat the question.
09:38Yes, of course. I'm going to repeat the question. I want to know, how could you describe the feeling of
09:45finding someone that is alive
09:48and that they managed to get to them through the rubble six days into these two powerful earthquakes and there
09:55yet is still hope?
09:57What are the feelings that you have witnessed there?
10:02Well, I can share you a moment of the day that we witnessed today.
10:07We were talking to different colleagues and that we are here right now, how a lot of things are different
10:16here.
10:17They have shifted. For example, when someone yells silence, it is completely followed by everyone
10:27because everyone knows that yelling silence is the possibility that there may be someone alive.
10:33And when someone cries for medical assistance, something that in another situation would be a terrible thing.
10:40In this case, someone crying for medical assistance is received almost as a good sign
10:46because if you need medical assistance, it's because the rescue teams are seeing that there is a survivor
10:51and it's one of the indications that they may be just on the brink of getting someone out.
10:58And that was the case. We were in the Los Cocos area, one of the hardest hit again here in
11:04La Guaira.
11:05And the rescue teams continue to work. They are. They continue to get out survivors yet today.
11:13And when one of them called for the medical teams to come, a couple of people who were family members
11:22working on the rubble as well,
11:24helping the rescue teams, they stopped for a minute and they yelled,
11:29Come on, everyone. There's still life under the rubble. You know, we have hope. We will not lose hope.
11:36So, and there were tears in their eyes and in everyone's eyes. That is a little bit the feeling.
11:41We know that it's been a long time since the earthquakes, but the truth is that the rescues continue to
11:49take place.
11:50And it's a great community effort in terms of the members of the community, also the Venezuelan organizations
11:58and also the international brigades to come together and try to get as many lives as possible.
12:04And of course, the hope is still there.
12:07Thank you. Thank you, Belle, very much for being our eyes in this difficult moment for Venezuelans there in La
12:14Guaira State.
12:17Thank you, Ale.
12:19We're speaking to our colleague, Belen de los Santos. She's at La Guaira State in these very difficult hours for
12:25Venezuela
12:25and crucial hours as well for those victims that are waiting to be rescued.
