CARACAS.- Six months after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela is dealing with the devastating consequences of the earthquakes that caused at least 2,595 deaths and have put the process of institutional reforms and the path toward eventual elections on hold.
The capture of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a U.S. military attack in Caracas and three surrounding regions on January 3 had opened a new and promising chapter for a country trapped in a prolonged political, economic, and social crisis.
But now that same Venezuela is going through a national emergency that has brought mourning to thousands of families and is struggling to heal the more than 12,000 injured.
The oil-producing country, with infrastructure deteriorated after years of corruption, lack of maintenance, and questionable management, now also faces the colossal challenge of repairing physical damages equivalent to 6.7 billion dollars, about 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP), according to preliminary estimates by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
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The Venezuelan government estimates that more than 12,800 people were left homeless due to compromising damage and the collapse of numerous buildings, the vast majority in the coastal state of La Guaira, in the north of the country and adjacent to Caracas, which was the hardest hit by the earthquakes.
It is a catastrophe that tests not only the Government of the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the position after the capture of Maduro, but also her new “friend and partner,” the United States, and the plan established by the Donald Trump Administration for Venezuela, especially the second of the three phases: recovery.
