The United States plans to send another “nine-figure” aid package this week to Venezuela as the search for survivors of two massive earthquakes that hit the South American country Wednesday continues, a senior Trump administration official said Saturday.
That package would follow a $150 million aid package the State Department announced shortly after the quakes wreaked devastation in Venezuela — the strongest temblors to hit the country in decades. Search-and-rescue teams from Virginia and Los Angeles are on the ground trying to save residents trapped underneath rubble, and additional rescuers from Miami are set to land in Venezuela on Saturday, the senior official said.
At least 920 were killed in the back-to-back earthquakes. Thousands of people were injured, and tens of thousands are still missing. Authorities expect the death toll to climb.
Now in their third day, the rescue missions were complicated by damage to the country’s main international airport, located in La Guaira, the coastal state north of the capital Caracas that was hardest hit by the quakes.
U.S. teams were able to repair one of the airport’s runways, which the senior official said could now be used to send mobile hospitals and other supplies via aircraft to Venezuela. Another runway at Simón Bolívar International Airport is still “completely cracked and inoperable,” the official said.
The federal government has also deployed the USS Fort Lauderdale, a warship that can be used as a launching pad to help airlift both people and supplies.
The administration is working with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and international partners to help in the earthquake response. Rodríguez has been helming the Venezuelan government for months since the U.S. military in January captured President Nicolás Maduro.
In some areas, Venezuelan government responders didn’t arrive until the morning after the earthquakes, leaving residents to search for loved ones alongside their neighbors and other volunteers. In other places, residents said they had not yet seen evidence of resources pledged by the U.S. and other countries.
Helena Carpio and Samantha Schmidt contributed to this report.
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