00:00Following two deadly earthquakes in Venezuela, Prime Minister Kamla Pesad-Besessa on her social media pages extended on her own
00:08behalf and that of the government and people of Trinidad and Tobago heartfelt sympathy to the government and people of
00:15Venezuela.
00:16Prime Minister Pesad-Besessa further said, quote, our thoughts, prayers and solidarity are with all those affected. We stand ready
00:23to assist in whatever humanitarian way we can during this difficult time, end quote.
00:28The Prime Minister also reposted the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign and Carcom Affairs, which said that the
00:34government of Trinidad and Tobago stands prepared to provide any requested support and assistance to Venezuelan authorities where possible.
00:43Venezuela's National Assembly said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that the Assembly's president, Jorge Rodriguez, reported that the death
00:52toll from Wednesday's earthquakes rose to 188, that 1,520 people were injured, 157 people were missing and 200 were
01:03trapped under the rubble.
01:04Venezuela's National Assembly further said that 2,927 families have been affected and 250 buildings have been damaged, mainly in
01:14the state of Laguera, as well as eight hospitals and 20 shopping centers.
01:18In October of last year, Venezuela's National Assembly approved a motion, declaring the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Pesad
01:25-Besessa, a move Prime Minister Pesad-Besessa had described as useless.
01:30At that time, the Prime Minister and her administration supported U.S. military actions against what the U.S. called
01:36narco-terrorists in the Caribbean.
01:38In January of this year, Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife were taken to the U.S. via a
01:43U.S. military operation.
01:45Since then, Delce Rodriguez has been serving as Venezuela's acting president.
01:49In a social media post, Acting President Rodriguez said she held a phone call with the Secretary of State of
01:55the United States of America, Marco Rubio,
01:58who has expressed solidarity and support for the Venezuelan people during this difficult time.
02:03Secretary Rubio confirmed the phone call and outlined the initial elements of the assistance being offered by the U.S.
02:09when he spoke with the media during an official trip in Bahrain.
02:12I had an opportunity to talk earlier this morning with Delce Rodriguez, the acting president.
02:16We're obviously awaiting the... We're already deploying search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles.
02:24There'll be some others we'll add. That's their most immediate need right now, is search and rescue efforts.
02:28They have a bunch of collapsed buildings, and so they'll need a lot of help in terms of digging through
02:32that.
02:33The airport there is badly damaged, so we'll have to rely on the Department of War to deploy assets there.
02:38Acting President Rodriguez has acknowledged messages of support from the U.S. and several other countries, including Guyana,
02:45but so far has not acknowledged similar sentiments expressed by the government of Trinidad and Tobago.
02:51The Foreign and Caracom Affairs Ministry said it is continuing to monitor the situation closely through Trinidad and Tobago's diplomatic
02:58mission in Caracas.
02:59The ministry said the diplomatic mission was not significantly impacted by the event.
03:05Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
