Race to save those trapped

Almost seven million people may have been impacted by the twin earthquakesin Venezuela, the United Nations estimated.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said “up to 6.76 million people could be affected,” adding that the calculation was based on available population and damage data.

The projections include up to two million people in Caracas alone.

The IOM said the estimate highlights “the potentially vast humanitarian impact of the disaster.”

The national death toll stands at 920, while thousands of people remain missing, many of them trapped under the rubble in the coastal city, La Guaira, and elsewhere.

The UN migration agency urged a bigger response from the international community, adding that the country’s needs were “immediate and significant.”

IOM called for emergency shelter, safe water and sanitation, as well as health care.

Rescuers have found a newborn baby in the rubble of a collapsed building, 32 hours after the twin earthquakes struck Venezuela.

Footage posted on social media shows rescuers bringing the infant out to applause late Friday in the hardest-hit city of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas.

The video shows them passing the baby, wrapped in a quilt, from person to person before cleaning the child with tissues.

The person who took the video, Andreina Quintero, said the baby was just 18 days old and was uninjured.

The child’s mother was rescued an hour after the child and was later shown in a separate video in a hospital bed.

There has been an influx of international search and rescue teams, Venezuela’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oliver Blanco, said.

“In the last few hours, Venezuela has received 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 members of rescue teams,” he wrote on social media.

Over the next few days, the arrival of 25 additional flights is expected.

Teams from countries such as Mexico, Spain, Colombia and the US are now working in the hardest-hit areas of Caracas and La Guaira.

Meanwhile, thousands of Venezuelan volunteers are joining the response, helping search for survivors and distribute supplies as the crisis unfolds.

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United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said more than 50,000 people were still missing after Wednesday’s powerful earthquakes in Venezuela.

He said the UN has deployed 35 search and rescue teams, including 1,600 fully trained rescuers and over 100 dogs to help Venezuelan teams in the rescue effort.

“The priority is pulling as many people from the rubble, saving as many lives as we can,” he told Multimedios TV.

Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours a crucial window to retrieve people alive, though this can be extended if they have access to food and water.

Fletcher said the “scale of the devastation and working in an active earthquake zone,” posed challenges to the rescue teams.

The Venezuelan government has said it will limit access to La Guaira state, one of the regions hit hardest by a pair of deadly earthquakes.

“Access to La Guaira state is restricted as of 8 p.m. (0000 GMT),” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in an address on the state-run channel Venezolana de Television.

Cabello said anyone wishing to travel to La Guaira would have to complete a registration form set up by the government in Caracas to “prevent people who do not have any assigned tasks” from traveling to the state.

Interim leader Delcy Rodriguez earlier asked people not to travel to the area north of Caracas.

The AFP news agency reported that residents and relatives of people trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in Caracas booed Rodriguez when she traveled to the site.

“Enough already with the political campaigning amid a tragedy like the one we’re experiencing,” they shouted while also accusing the government of “not doing anything for the people.”

Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela’s national assembly, said the death toll from the quakes has now jumped to 920.

There are also 3,360 injured due to the catastrophe, authorities say.

US President Donald Trump has touted his relationship with the Venezuelan government under Delcy Rodriguez. Rodriguez came to power after the US military ousted President Nicolas Maduro and took him to the US to face trial.

Since taking office, Rodriguez has agreed to open up Venezuela’s state-run oil sector to foreign companies and has announced the release of political prisoners — both demands of the US.

DW asked Dr. Annette Idler, an associate professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, if the Trump administration will use the disaster situation after the earthquakes in Venezuela to bolster US influence there and get more more concessions from the Rodriguez government.

“I think it is too early to say whether the Trump administration will seek additional concessions from the Rodriguez government,” Idler told DW. “What we can say is that major humanitarian crises often create moments in which international influence expands because countries providing significant assistance naturally become more important partners in recovery and reconstruction.”

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“The key question is therefore not simply how much support the United States provides, but how that support is structured. If reconstruction is carried out in a way that strengthens Venezuelan institutions and remains locally led, it can reinforce the country’s political transition,” Idler said.

“If, on the other hand, recovery becomes overly dependent on decisions taken in Washington, perceptions of US influence are likely to grow. That balance between international support and local ownership will be one of the defining political challenges in the months ahead.”

Dr. Annette Idler, an associate professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, gave her analysis of what the catastrophe means for Venezuela and the interim government under Delcy Rodriguez.

“The earthquake is not only a humanitarian catastrophe; it is also a geopolitical stress test that will shape Venezuela’s political future and its relationship with the United States,” Idler said.

“US support has been quickly announced but what is at stake is whether Venezuela is perceived as being dependent on decisions taken in Washington or whether Washington can support a locally-owned process of both short-term recovery and long-term reconstruction.”

 “The question is whether Venezuela’s interim government will gain or lose legitimacy and confidence.”

The death toll from the twin earthquakes that hit Venezuela late on Wednesday has reached 589 on Friday, acting president Delcy Rodriguez said.

Injuries are now at 2,980, she added.

“We are going to rescue the people who are trapped,” she said, surrounded by government and military officials. “We are working tirelessly on this task.”

She said the coastal state of La Guaira — which lies north of the capital, Caracas — has been hit the hardest. She said that security forces had been deployed to assist as crews search for survivors and distribute food and water.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered disaster relief and reconstruction support to Venezuela following deadly earthquakes.

State media said Xi sent a message of condolences to interim president Delcy Rodriguez, pledging assistance after the disaster.

The quakes have killed at least 235 people, with Chinese authorities earlier confirming that two of their nationals were among the victims.

Xi said Beijing stands ready to help with both immediate relief efforts and longer-term rebuilding.

The first German aircraft carrying aid workers and relief supplies to Venezuela took off from Wunstorf in Lower Saxony on Friday, the German DPA news agency reported.

The A400M  Bundeswehr transport plane is carrying both soldiers and relief personnel, as well as  equipment and supplies.

More planes are due to take off later on Friday.

“All the supplies are from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief or other aid organizations. We’re not taking any Bundeswehr equipment with us,” a crewmember was quoted as saying by the DPA news agency.

A senior US military official has arrived in Caracas after Venezuela’s interim government “formally requested US support” following the two devastating earthquakes this week, Pentagon said on Friday.

“US Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Jarrard arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, today, to oversee Department of War support to Venezuela earthquake relief efforts,” said the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), whose area of responsibility covers Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to SOUTHCOM, the US military forces deployed will “utilize fixed and rotor wing aircraft to provide specialized mobility services and assist US Government personnel, search and rescue teams, and partners assessing damage and delivering critical life-saving assistance.”

Two Spanish nationals have been confirmed dead after the earthquakes in Venezuela, raising the number of foreign citizens killed in the Venezuela earthquakes to eight. Many more remain missing.

“We deeply regret the death of two Spaniards confirmed by their own families, to whom we extend our condolences,” the Spanish Foreign Ministry said.

“The number of Spaniards currently unaccounted for stands at 80.”