LA GUAIRA/BOGOTA, July 7 (Reuters) – Venezuela has been “fully compliant” with requests from the United States to advance the humanitarian response to twin earthquakes there last month, U.S. chargé d’affaires John Barrett said on Tuesday, amid widespread criticism that official help has been slow and ineffective.
The death toll from the quakes has risen to 3,535, with more than 16,700 injured, authorities said on Monday, while nearly 18,000 people remain homeless. Civilians and humanitarian groups have accused the government of responding too slowly to the June 24 disaster and say official aid remains inadequate.
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has vehemently defended the government’s handling of the quakes, saying there is a media conspiracy to discredit the official response, though providing no evidence of her accusation, and that security forces were deployed immediately after the quakes.
Civilians have led much of the rescue and recovery operations on the ground, with the help of professional rescue teams from around the world and some local authorities including firefighters and volunteers from the army. Civilians also provided much of the in-kind aid available in the initial days after the quakes, especially in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira.
Global humanitarian organizations including the International Rescue Committee have also criticized the government’s response.
“The interim government as I have said has been fully compliant in terms of requests to advance this massive humanitarian response and we will continue to lead initiatives that mobilize us and international response teams to reach those communities in need,” Barrett said on a phone call with journalists when asked about the criticism of the official response and his previous praise for Rodriguez.
Barrett, who told media last week he had “a great deal of confidence” in local authorities, said that total humanitarian assistance from the United States for the quakes now exceeds $310 million.
Asked about the possibility of corruption in aid distribution raised by some civilians and aid groups, Barrett said U.S. assistance had been “speedy and reliable” in its delivery.
“In my conversations and our eyes on the ground, and there’s a lot of people on the ground looking at this, we follow up with every comment or observation that we get. And I’m just really proud of this response and how effective it has been in terms of our success, our continuing success,” he said.
The government has said all aid will go to quake victims.
BURIAL WORK
Police in La Guaira were on Tuesday blocking media access to a cemetery where quake victims – some identified and others not – were being buried.
People living nearby told Reuters preparations to receive bodies began at the site the day after the June 24 quakes.
La Guaira’s port is serving as a makeshift morgue where families wait under tents outside before being taken in to view bodies. Authorities have said they will cover funeral costs for those without resources.
Venezuelan authorities are working to identify remaining bodies, Barrett added.
“The government reports that they have accounted for and identified the vast majority of bodies received, but they’re continuing to go through that process and as I understand it, are collecting DNA, fingerprints, dental records from those bodies that they’re in the process of still waiting to identify, in coordination with family members,” he said.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Sarah Kinosian in La Guaira and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
