On July 5, Venezuelans observed their country’s Independence Day amidst the suffering and chaos of the recent twin earthquakes. A quiet crowd came together for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the victims.
The death toll keeps rising, with Reuters now reporting that at least 3,300 people are known to have died in the quakes, with more than 16,000 injured. But reports indicate tens of thousands of people are still missing.
*** Operation Blessing is providing disaster relief to earthquake victims in Venezuela. Click here to help. ***
Exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado has issued an appeal for support as she appears to be angling to replace acting President Delcy Rodríguez, whose term expired on Friday.
“My presence stabilizes the situation; it is part of the organizing forces that the country needs at a time when the total absence of the state has become evident,” Machado said, as critics accuse the socialist government of being slow and disorganized in its earthquake response.
Machado’s team has set up an online database to locate the missing, listing 36,000 people as of Friday. The party has mobilized volunteers to collect donations, soliciting aid from among the millions who previously escaped the brutal regime of Nicolas Maduro before the U.S. deposed him.
CBN’s Operation Blessing is there in Venezuela, operating a relief kitchen to prepare thousands of meals, packing them up, and sending them out to the streets.
After the earthquakes struck, Operation Blessing transformed a local restaurant in Caracas into the Help & Hope Café—a relief kitchen preparing and distributing more than 2,400 fresh meals every day.
Over the weekend, Operation Blessing Vice President Drew Friedrich visited the country to see firsthand the devastation and the ministry’s efforts to help.
*** Operation Blessing is providing disaster relief to earthquake victims in Venezuela. Click here to help. ***
