US military reopens port for Venezuela earthquake relief

The US military has reopened a major port in Venezuela to help get aid into the country following last Wednesday's earthquakes. The death toll has now surpassed 1,700 and is expected to rise significantly as rescue efforts continue. Many residents have expressed frustration with what they see as a slow and inadequate response from the authorities.

In the Hugo Chavez housing complex, a joint project between Venezuela and Turkey that provided prefabricated homes for some of the poorest families, the destruction was severe. The ground floor homes were flattened by the four floors above, and locals fear hundreds died. Nearby concrete apartment blocks also collapsed, with twelve storeys crumpling in seconds. Across the complex, residents complained that the government's response was slow, disjointed and inadequate. Relatives have been forced to dig for their missing loved ones with shovels and bare hands. Juan Diego Araujo, searching for his cousin, aunt and uncle, said: "You're digging with shovels, your hands. Hands, bare hands. Like the big rocks, we had to get together a group of three full people in order to move them." He added that the authorities' mishandling had cost his young cousin the chance to grow old.

Just a few hundred metres away, a different scene unfolded. A security guard was found alive under the rubble of a ruined shopping mall. An international rescue team, including crews from the United States, Portugal, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Chile and Venezuela, worked together to free him. The operation was described as very complicated, made harder by aftershocks. Wagner Leyva from the Costa Rican Red Cross said: "We've pulled together all these experts and have worked out a line to him." The rescue effort drew widespread support from Venezuelans, but it also highlighted the disparity in resources and attention given to different victims. One life was saved, but many others did not receive the same level of cooperation.