The military takeover of La Guaira – a coastal region in Venezuela worst hit by a devastating double earthquake – has sparked anger from locals who accuse the government of using the intervention as a “photo opp”.
At least 1,700 people have been confirmed dead with over 46,000 still missing across the country as emergency crews continue to search through the rubble.
Hundreds of buildings have collapsed with satellite images showing the widespread scale of the destruction wrought.
In the aftermath of the crisis, interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared a state of emergency in La Guaira and said the county would be placed under military control in an effort to assist with aid and emergency missions.
However, social media posts paint an entirely different picture with reports of military forces looting TVs from the remnants of destroyed homes, staging rescue missions for media, asking citizens to thank their president for footage, and confiscating phones after accusing the holders of “espionage”.
Francisco Lermanda of aid group Topos Chile told local media that his team members were asked by the military for their documentation while they were working in tunnels and on rescue missions.
He claimed that his phone was confiscated while taking pictures of a young person under the rubble for the medical teams.
US congressman Carlos Gimenez shared unverified footage on Tuesday appearing to show troops lifting possessions, including a TV, from someone’s home.
One video, since-removed from Venezuela’s official government social media channels, appears to show a group of people working through a pile of dirt that does not appear to be real rubble from the earthquake.
The men listlessly plough away at a pile of soil and bricks that upon closer inspection seem to have been randomly gathered at the centre of the floor to look like rubble.
One Venezuelan with relatives in the country told The Independent that there was a feeling on the ground that government and military aid efforts were being used as a “photo opp”.
Héctor Méndez, of the Mexican rescue group Topos Azteca, told Sports Venezuela that he had been asked by a state media reporter to thank the country’s president, which he declined.
“Look, honey, let me tell you something: I’m 80 years old and you’re not going to tell me what to say, you’re nobody’s boss,” he said. “I was furious and I told her to go to hell.”
Other footage appears to show armed personnel carrying away boxes of TVs from shops. Allegations online suggest that police and military have also been a part of the thefts. Others suggest the looting is by survivors looking for supplies to survive.
One 71-year-old woman, Maria Esther Bernal, said all of the shops she had rented to merchants had been ransacked.
“They even took the wiring,” she said of one shop owned by a Chinese merchant. “They were stepping over his body to loot. It was a supermarket.”
Rubén Chirinos, a Venezuelan pollster, told the Miami Herald that the country is “deeply shaken” in the aftermath of the disaster.
“The anger toward the government’s response is on another level,” he said. “This was their chance to rehabilitate their image. Instead, many Venezuelans feel they became spectators to the tragedy.”
Chamos, a UK-based Venezuelan children’s charity, told The Independent that the needs on the ground are dire.
“There are a lot of water sanitation issues, so we have distributed a lot of water filters to the centres where people are being transferred after they’ve been pulled out of the rubble,” said Adriana Mendoza.
“We are also donating to hospitals with items such as baby formula and medicine.” The group has raised a fundraiser for the efforts.
The UK’s Disaster Emergency Committee also launched its own urgent appeal today.
