Aid official: ‘The world fell apart’ as coastal Venezuela awaits assistance

Several coastal states in Venezuela remain without foreign assistance as thousands of people — including children who have lost their families — are homeless or missing after two earthquakes last week.

“The world fell apart in less than two minutes,” Claudia Gonzales, an external relations manager for World Vision Venezuela, told “EWTN News Nightly” on June 30. “And yesterday our government says that we already have confirmed 1,700 people that died during the earthquakes.”

According to Gonzales, who lives just outside of Caracas, more than 60,000 people remain missing and 50,000 are homeless following a pair of 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck the country on June 24.

In her own city of Guarenas, she said, “we have more than 500 families that are sleeping in the streets, looking for help and looking for comfort.”

“We have people on the ground with concrete under them, and we donʼt know if they are still alive,” she said.

According to Gonzales, the most affected area is the coastal state of La Guaira, north of Caracas. She noted that several other northern states, including Carabobo, Falcón, Aragua, and Miranda, have not received aid.

“We have a lot of children that have not only [lost] their houses,” she said. “We have children that have lost their entire family, their neighbors.”

While Gonzales expressed gratitude for the influx of foreign aid and support, she emphasized that large parts of the population are still waiting for help.

“The international help came,” she said. “But the thing is, La Guaira is big; that is not enough.”

“The size of this tragedy, we’re talking about 80% of the buildings in La Guaira collapsed,” she said. “You know, itʼs just something that we never thought could happen in our country.”

Catholic response

The Catholic Church in Venezuela has mobilized alongside international Catholic nonprofits such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Caritas International, and Catholic Charities to provide support for earthquake victims.

CRS has been working in partnership with Caritas to provide food, shelter, and emergency healthcare to earthquake victims, according to CRS’ website.

Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami announced a relief fund for earthquake victims on June 26, with Archbishop Thomas Wenski calling for “our Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill across South Florida to stand in solidarity with the communities that will be hard hit” and “to please be generous in providing assistance.”