The window to find more survivors is closing

DW spoke with Volker Pellet, Germany’s Ambassador to Venezuela, about the earthquake, the political situation and the disaster response there. He spoke to DW from Caracas.

“There are two realities. There is a reality in Caracas, a huge city, with more than 5 million people affected,” Pellet said. “But the real disaster happened on the coast, which is about an hour from here, La Guerra, you might have heard the name, which is a disaster apocalyptic scenario.

“It’s really a completely different reality out there,” Plett said. “It’s different even on the coast; getting closer to this terrible scene for kilometres, you see very little destruction. And then suddenly, from one moment to the next, there is complete destruction. We have to ask seismologists why this happened. But it is really shocking to see. I was there last night.”

Payette was asked how the government under interim President Delsey Rodriguez has handled the situation. He said it is important to note that the Venezuelan government has struggled to provide public services over the past few decades.

“It’s a chaotic situation. I think it will be problematic in many countries,” Plett said. “But if you take into account the public services that have not been right for the last 20 years, you can imagine what the situation is like.”

Payette also talked about the international aid response. He said that 25 countries are taking part in the relief efforts.

“We have about 3,000 aid workers here. As always in such a disaster, the focus is on search and rescue. I have been in Haiti, so I have some experience in trying to save lives. But unfortunately now after 3 or 4 days of this disaster, the chances of finding victims are decreasing every moment. But they are doing a great job. They are doing everything they can. They are working without rest to help and save human lives. Let’s do the work.”