Venezuela’s interim president said on Sunday the country would not descend into social unrest after the twin earthquakes which killed more than 3,300 people and left thousands more missing.
One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters, the June 24 shocks collapsed scores of buildings, leaving thousands homeless, especially in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital Caracas.
“There will be no social unrest here, what we have here is deep social solidarity,” Delcy Rodriguez said during a military ceremony marking the country’s independence day.
On Sunday, the death toll had risen to 3,342 with more than 16,700 injured in the disaster, according to updated official figures.
With nearly 200 buildings totally collapsed, most of them in La Guaira, more than 17,000 people have been left homeless and are sleeping in shelters and temporary camps.
The government has not given any figure for those still missing, but the UN estimates that as many as 50,000 people may still be unaccounted for after the shocks. The UN estimates the quakes caused US$6.7 billion in damage – equivalent to 6 per cent of Venezuela’s GDP.