Caracas.- The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, reported this Thursday that she is maintaining conversations with the United States Department of State and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to “recover resources” that will allow for the reconstruction of infrastructure affected in the South American country by the devastating earthquakes of last June 24.
In a press conference, the president also said that her Government has been in contact with the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, which “have already offered non-reimbursable cooperation to address the recovery process,” in addition to “credit lines” for Venezuela.
According to the Chavista leader, there are at least 855 buildings affected by the earthquakes, which have left at least 2,595 dead and 12,400 injured.
Reconstruction plan underway
Rodríguez recalled that she created an initial fund with the equivalent of 200 million dollars and an account at the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean for “international monetary donations” that will be allocated for housing and will have “all auditing mechanisms.”
In addition, he reported the recent arrival of a “highly specialized and professional” group from Israel for infrastructure recovery and “situation assessment” of buildings that did not completely collapse but suffered damage.
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The damage caused to homes and economic assets, such as vehicles, buildings, or businesses after the two earthquakes has a preliminary estimate of 6.7 billion dollars, according to a satellite assessment based on the Rapid Digital Analysis (Rapida) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Government has estimated that over 12,800 people have lost their homes, while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has documented 16,000 citizens who have had to seek an alternative place to live.
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Brazil’s Defense Minister, José Múcio, visited Venezuela on Tuesday to expand humanitarian cooperation and evaluate potential initiatives related to infrastructure and housing reconstruction.
