A powerful earthquake has devastated parts of Venezuela, reducing buildings to rubble, knocking out communications, and leaving families desperately searching for missing loved ones.
Photos shared by Venezuelans on the ground show buildings destroyed throughout La Guaira, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake.
In the days following the disaster, numerous Venezuelans shared firsthand accounts of their experiences during and after the earthquake.
One individual, Jorge Perdomo, spent two days trying to locate his best friend, Edison Jesús Morales, after all communication with him suddenly stopped.
Edison described being inside a three-story home when the earthquake struck, saying the apartment was shaking like a matchbox.
Water tanks and heavy barrels were thrown around as the building violently shook before Edison and those inside were finally able to escape.
While Edison survived, Jorge said what happened after the earthquake revealed an even bigger problem – communities lacked the equipment needed to save lives.
Rescue operations were crippled, and ordinary Venezuelans became the rescue crews, digging through collapsed buildings and pulling people out with their hands.
Hospitals faced similar problems, with no medicine or supplies, and it was ordinary Venezuelans who managed to fill the hospitals with medicine.
International coverage has largely focused on Caracas, but the capital sits roughly 100 miles from the earthquake's epicenter, and communities much closer to the disaster have suffered extensive damage.
Widespread power outages and communications failures have made it nearly impossible for many families to contact loved ones or share images of what has happened.
For Jorge, the greatest tragedy was not simply the earthquake itself, but what decades of corruption had left behind.
He said the government has left the country in a bad state, and as long as those who were with the current leader remain in command, the country will continue to deteriorate.
The earthquake exposed the consequences of years of corruption, mismanagement, and institutional decay, and survivors hope that the world recognizes how severely years of government corruption weakened Venezuela before disaster struck.
The message from the Venezuelans who contacted me is that this tragedy reflects something much larger than a natural disaster – it is the result of a country crippled by corruption and mismanagement.
When governments become systems of entrenched authoritarian corruption, public institutions often deteriorate while those in power preserve themselves.
For years, Venezuelans have warned about this reality, and when the earthquake struck, many told me they felt the consequences immediately – not because the earth shook, but because when it did, there was almost nothing left to help them.
