Photo: Cadena SER
By Onai
HAVANA TIMES – The brief moment of seismic shaking buries you beneath the rubble in seconds, then hours stretch into an eternity. This is a time to act without protocols, to bring forth survivors from the collapse—people trapped beneath the debris, waiting for help from a government that cannot function without its stupid bureaucracy.
Faced with such a scene, people’s solidarity springs into action immediately. Resource-lacking rescue workers and poorly paid firefighters rush in without hesitating for a second. No matter the scale of the disaster, there they are—men, women, and dogs—searching tirelessly with broken fingernails and dust-covered faces for any sign of life, any lifeless body, while waiting for assistance from a state incapable of responding effectively to a national emergency like Wednesday’s earthquakes in our country.
It is an incredibly painful scene. The two earthquakes were sudden, direct, and brutal—a powerful double jolt that shook all of Venezuela, turning so many lives upside down in a matter of seconds. It reminds me of the tragedy of the Vargas mudslides (caused by torrential rains and overflowing rivers) there in La Guaira back in 1999.
Back then, too, the people’s solidarity was immediate. And because of the political circumstances of that time, the National Armed Forces also responded swiftly, deploying an entire military apparatus to aid in rescuing the victims. And now? Now it is different. We are living in a time of social deprivation because investment in the people—in both education and civic values—has long since ceased. The regime made that choice, and in disasters like this we lack the immediate knowledge and technical resources needed to save lives.
Photo: Cadena SER
Yet the work of those already on the ground, along with those arriving from other countries, continues. They keep digging, trying to shorten the endless time experienced by the survivors trapped beneath the rubble, hoping to rescue more people alive—and, sadly, to recover those who have died as well. At the same time, we are preparing for what comes next, which will not be easy: grief, the loss of everything people had—their loved ones, their homes, their cherished spaces, their pets. Even so, we continue to raise our hands in defense of life, because it is the only thing we truly have.
What remains is the hope inspired by the solidarity of all the people of Venezuela: ordinary men and women organizing collection centers in their communities, gathering medicines, clothing, nonperishable food, and shoes; rescue teams and small groups of firefighters setting out from every state to offer their hearts to this cause—a cause that belongs to everyone, both inside and outside the country. They are bypassing absurd bureaucratic protocols and putting a stop to the politicians who seek to exploit this tragedy, breaking down barriers so that we may finally stop being buried beneath the weight of this country’s long history of suffering.
Read more from the diary of Onai here on Havana Times.
