About 2,000 US troops are supporting relief efforts after the earthquake in Venezuela
About 2,000 U.S. service members are supporting relief efforts in Venezuela after last week a devastating earthquakeaccording to the head of the US military’s Southern Command.
“The United States military, the Department of War, has about 2,000 soldiers in the land, air and sea surrounding Venezuela,” General Francis Donovan said in a Wednesday briefing. “They work hard every day to help with search and rescue efforts, to help with recovery efforts to bring in supplies.”
Donovan told reporters that the focus was now on the search for survivors – Wednesday marked the seventh day since two earthquakes.
“In these cases, you have 3 to 7 days to hopefully respond bring people back still alive and possibly injured in the debris,” Donovan said.
The Venezuelan government said on Wednesday that more than 2,000 people have died as a result of the earthquake, and more than 10,000 have been injured.
Immediately after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, the US military helped fly in about 310 experts from search and rescue teams in cities that are now on the ground, according to John Barrett, chief of staff at the US Embassy in Caracas. He said they have rescued five survivors including a mother and her child.
After the US military did i night attack In January to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration outlined a three-pronged plan for Venezuela that included stabilization, economic recovery and transition through free and fair elections.
“That reconstruction looks a little different, since the earthquake that caused so much damage, but the economic recovery had started,” Barrett said. “I am focused on saving people’s lives, but we will return to phase 2 and the recovery of the Venezuelan economy.”
Barrett said the US has provided more than $300 million in humanitarian aid since the disaster.
The US Southern Command in a statement listed military support, including a coordination cell for the transportation of humanitarian aid. Other ground teams include an Army special medical unit that will provide surgical support and a US Marine Combat Logistics Company with a water purification system, a mobile drinking water container, and a military-grade tow truck.
Barrett told reporters that clearing debris from the collapsed buildings would be a “major task.”
“We will continue to work with the Venezuelan people to address these needs, including sanitation, water, power generation, and we will continue that way as long as it takes,” Barrett said.
When asked about the scale of US military support, Gen. Donovan said each crisis is different but the current support is probably more than what was provided after Hurricane Melissa last year in Jamaica but less than after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
“We’re focused on saving lives right now, getting people out of the rubble and setting up logistics, you know, the delivery of relief supplies, so right now it’s what we call ‘full speed ahead,'” Donovan said.
