00:00And as in Venezuela, the rescue efforts continue after the back-to-back earthquakes measured in 7.2 and 7
00:06.5 affected the country.
00:09Our correspondent Luis Alberto Mato continues to keep informed from Los Corales neighborhood in La Guaira.
00:16Hello, Luis Alberto.
00:19Good morning, Lode. As you were saying, we are currently in Los Corales, in La Guaira,
00:24the most impacted state after the back-to-back earthquake, the 7.2, 7.5 earthquake that struck the Bolivar
00:28Republic.
00:29Last Wednesday, June 24th.
00:31Where I'm standing right now, we have two sides of the coin.
00:35We have a case of a building that has completely collapsed, like many more that were completely collapsed.
00:40Over 180 buildings collapsed entirely due to the earthquakes.
00:44But also we have a clear example of the hundreds more that were affected.
00:48Besides the 180 that collapsed, there are hundreds and over 800 more buildings that were impacted by the earthquakes.
00:56And not only that they were impacted, but some of these buildings were being categorized in the red,
01:01which means that people cannot return to those buildings because those buildings are in danger of collapsing by themselves following
01:08the impact of the earthquakes.
01:09If you look up here, you can see one of the examples of this building.
01:13You can see this 11-story building that has two boxes, two sides, two towers, united by the middle.
01:21But you can see the damage that it received to the impact.
01:24You can see the damage to the columns, to the support columns.
01:27That is why the authorities already did the inspection and declared that they were under red.
01:32So this, what I mean with the red, I refer to the light system, which is green, yellow, and red.
01:38Green meaning that it's okay, it's safe to return to that building because it only suffered minor superficial damage.
01:44Yellow, which represents that it has to go under a more deep investigation to determine the true extent of the
01:52damage.
01:52And the red, of course, means that people cannot return there because the building is in danger of collapse.
01:58Any aftershocks can trigger a collapse of the building, or just the weight itself of the building can trigger a
02:04collapse.
02:04Referring to aftershocks, we have had more than 800 aftershocks already a week after the day of the earthquakes.
02:11So that is the current situation regarding the structures of the building.
02:15And regarding also the structure of the building, the acting president of Venezuela, Dels Rodriguez,
02:20yesterday in a press conference announced an initial fund of $200 million to begin the process
02:26once the whole operation, search and rescue operation concludes and the cleanup operation concludes
02:32to begin the process of reconstruction, of rebuilding the homes for the thousands and thousands of people
02:37that were affected by the earthquakes that lost their homes, their apartments, their houses.
02:43So that's what's going to happen in that regard.
02:45Where is the money coming from? People may ask.
02:47The money is going to be, is part of the money is going to be released by the International Monetary
02:52Fund.
02:53Money, as we recall, due to sanctions was frozen by the International Monetary Fund.
02:56And the International Monetary Fund will release the money which will be allocated to that initial fund
03:02to begin the reconstruction process to provide adequate housing for the people that were affected.
03:10Now, in regards to the search and rescue operation, it continues until today.
03:14It's still ongoing today.
03:16We are currently in the ninth day following the devastating earthquakes.
03:19Search and rescue operations are underway.
03:22They have not stopped.
03:23The authorities have said that as long as there is sign of life in any collapsed area,
03:29they are going to continue working until the very end.
03:32These search and rescue operations, as we have been reporting on Telesur on our screen since day one,
03:37has been comprised, firstly, in the first four hours by volunteers, by Venezuelan people
03:42and by the Venezuelan authorities, the civil guard, the police, the military,
03:46who later, in less than 24 hours, began to be joined by international delegations.
03:51Over 120 countries have joined the search and rescue operations.
03:55They have traveled here.
03:56We have thousands of rescue workers that are coming from all parts of the world.
04:02They come from the Americas, from Europe, from Asia, from Oceania, from all sides of the world.
04:08People have come here to provide their support to the Venezuelan people
04:11and to help in that rescue operation.
04:13Just yesterday we had a successful rescue mission after more than 48 hours of intense work
04:18carried out by Costa Rica, Portugal, Spain, Venezuela, of course.
04:24They've managed to rescue a man, a man over 40 years old, Hernán Hill, who is currently healing well.
04:30He's unstable.
04:31He's taking necessary attention at a health facility, health facilities which have been completely activated.
04:37We must highlight the solidarity of the Venezuelan people in this regard.
04:41All health workers across not only the public sector but also the private sector,
04:46all health facilities have been working around the clock to provide necessary help in terms of physical health,
04:51but also more importantly, as we have been talking with some of the doctors here in the area,
04:56is also the psychological health, which is a key component of that comprehensive attention
05:01that is going to be delivered to the Venezuelan people,
05:03which is taking place right now in the different temporary camps that are established across the wire,
05:09especially because it's the most effective place,
05:10but also in the other regions of the country were impacted by the back-to-back efforts
05:15where people are receiving comprehensive attention in all sides, in all aspects of health,
05:20in terms of food, of clothing.
05:21They are receiving comprehensive care to come out of this devastating situation.
05:27Also, another topic before I go back to you, Lorre, is the issue of the remains of the victims.
05:33We have seen as we move around, we travel around the night here in this area, Caraballada,
05:39in the places that have been collapsed, there are people outside which are the family members,
05:44the loved ones of the people that unfortunately were left trapped on the rubble and have passed away.
05:50There are no longer signs of life in those areas,
05:52and they are there just waiting for the successful recovery of the body
05:56so that they can be, they can approach farewell to their loved ones.
05:59And this is also something that the acting president touched on last night's press conference,
06:04which is the fact that there will be no mass grave.
06:06They're going to try their utmost, they're going to try their best,
06:09they're going to give it 100% to be able to recover every single body that is on their rubble
06:13so that the people can have a proper farewell to their loved ones
06:17and close a chapter and begin the healing process that comes after that.
06:20Also, just as a final note before we go back to you,
06:25there's special care centers that have been established for special vulnerable population
06:30as it is the case of the elderly and children,
06:33which are also receiving a special attention currently as the situation is unfolding.
06:39Thank you so much, Luis.
06:41We will keep in touch following the current situation in La Guayra.
06:44We will keep in touch with you.
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