Six days after the June 24 quakes, survivors in La Guaira said heavy machinery still had not reached many collapsed buildings, leaving families waiting for bodies and answers over who is directing the rescue.
In the crucial first 72 hours, residents said the state response centered on traffic control while ambulances sat in jams, hospitals lacked staff and supplies, and emergency crews worked with little or no equipment.
Foreign rescuers and local civilians carried out many of the searches with thermal cameras, sound detectors and dogs, while some Venezuelan uniformed personnel were seen standing by or taking selfies.
At some sites, wealth and political connections appeared to shape access to equipment: relatives at one building rented a telescopic crane, while anger elsewhere led residents to block an excavator from leaving.
The government says 1,943 people were killed, more than 10,500 injured and thousands remain missing, underscoring how the disaster has exposed deeper state dysfunction under acting President Delcy Rodríguez.