Solidarity in Venezuela: aid groups cook pizza, lasagna, distribute water and food in the midst of the disaster

The security and customs personnel behaved with enormous kindness, without the distrust of other times that was generally perceived when entering the country. Even when they saw the Argentine passports the agents made some smiling comments about Lionel Messi and the national team. Only they took away the drone because it is legislated in the country to prohibit the use of these devices, with the exception of the authorities. They’ll return it when we leave, they promised.

This airport replaces the Maiquetía international airport, a neighbor of Caracas that suffered serious damage. Part of its roof fell off and had to be canceled. To get here the team Clarion He had to travel to Brazil, from there connect to Panama and then with another flight to Venezuela.

In Maracaibo, 700 kilometers from the capital, the buildings withstood the two consecutive earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale well, but desperation is still palpable.

In the dialogues with the people, in the tour of the city, it was perceived anxiety about searching for family members who have not yet responded and they are part of the enormous list of missing people that is already around 50,000. Everyone’s perception is that this drama will result in a huge number of fatalities. In many cases that feeling and desperation is channeled into accelerated displays of solidarity.

Social networks, so often used to express political criticism, which ended in repression, are now the meeting point to organize aid.

“We need volunteers. Urgent: call for personnel. Doctors and nurses, veterinarians, paramedics, rescuers. Interested parties, please get in touch. Immediate trip to Caracas,” says one of the flyers and a WhatsApp number appears below.

Clarion He visited some of the points where people gather water, cleaning products, and food to stockpile and send to Caracas but especially to La Guaira, the coastal city near Maiquetía, which was destroyed and where most of the victims of this crime accumulate. unprecedented disaster in the Caribbean country.

A large group of self-convened people was organized at the Faculty of Medicine of the Zulia University. Maracaibo is the capital of this state, the Venezuelan oil center. They tell us that there are more than ninety people including medical students, doctors, nursing students, nurses, and staff from the Maracaibo university hospital who have joined this aid brigade with teams that are being coordinated.

“We gather food, supplies, clothing. We go in three buses from Maracaibo to Caracas and La Guaira. Tomorrow more groups leave,” Cleidy Hidalgo, organizer of the self-convened groups of the Faculty of Medicine, tells this chronicler.

The Catholic Church also participates in local collections. “The archdiocese of Maracaibo, together with the Nuestra Señora del Carmen parish and the San Antonio Educational Complex, join together to provide support to our brothers,” says one of the messages that is published on screens and small flyers in the very hot Maracaibo.

That Catholic headquarters now functions as a food collection center non-perishable items, drinking water, blankets, flashlights, candles and first aid items. Along the same lines, the city’s Grand Bazaar Shopping Center also serves as a place to receive donations.

Atilio, owner of a pizzeria in the charming Altamira neighborhood, in Caracas, passing through this city, is one of the collaborators in his own way of collective solidarity. “We made 150 pizzas and 100 pastichos (Italian lasagna). We took them to distribute among the rescuers in Palos Grandes, where buildings have fallen, and they work non-stop to rescue people alive,” he says. He prefers not to give the name of his place, precisely because of the spirit of solidarity that emerged among Venezuelans.

The other phenomenon is the videos of Venezuelans asking for help because they still hear the voices of their relatives under the ruins. During the holiday commemorating the Battle of Carabobo, their apartments became traps.

“The first 72 hours are critical to be able to save lives, which is why search, rescue and rescue operations have been intensified, expanded with the international support that is arriving in our country,” stressed this Friday the Venezuelan ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Alexander Yánez.

“All forms of material and moral solidarity are essential in these critical moments,” he said. That comment was repeated by Venezuelan state television, which connects soccer and reports on the crisis.

The volume of the humanitarian catastrophe due to the two consecutive earthquakes in Venezuela seems to have paused international political differences. With a situation that worsens with the passing of the hours, the collaboration of different countries, several critics of the regime, multiplied.

In different authorized airports in Venezuela, including particularly the one in this city, flights with aid, rescuers, and military transport from countries such as Germany, El Salvador, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Switzerland have landed. The United States, China, Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada, in addition to Argentina, also promised collaboration.

At least 16 countries have begun sending search and rescue teams to help search for victims in the rubble, with 25 teams totaling more than a thousand rescuers. Every minute counts, in a countdown against the clock that has thousands of people waiting inside and outside Venezuela.