Rodríguez defends Venezuela’s emergency earthquake response as number of bodies expected to soar

Puerto Viejo beach, Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, Venezuela. The twin earthquakes, which killed more than 3,000 people, hit hardest in the coastal La Guaira area. Photograph: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Puerto Viejo beach, Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, Venezuela. The twin earthquakes, which killed more than 3,000 people, hit hardest in the coastal La Guaira area. Photograph: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images Rodríguez defends Venezuela’s earthquake response as death toll passes 3,000 Interim president says unrest will not break out despite anger at official response to the 24 June disaster Venezuela’s interim president has defended her country’s emergency response to the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest. Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the 24 June disaster before international teams arrived. Delcy Rodríguez, speaking during a military ceremony marking Venezuela’s independence day, said: “There will be no social unrest here – what we have here is deep social solidarity.” Thousands of public officials and rescue teams had been sent to help dig out victims and find survivors, she added. View image in fullscreen Delcy Rodríguez vowed the country would not descend into social unrest. Photograph: Pedro Mattey/AP On Sunday night, Venezuela’s information ministry said the number of people killed in the quakes had risen to 3,342, while the number of people injured had passed 16,700. One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters, the shocks collapsed scores of buildings, leaving thousands homeless, especially in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital, Caracas. Eleven days after the double shocks, international rescue teams were wrapping up operations to find more survivors while families were still trying to dig out bodies of loved ones from the wreckage. ‘Tonnes of rubble’: 58,000 buildings estimated destroyed in Venezuela earthquakes Read more Rosa López’s 25-year-old son-in-law, José Antonio Toledo, was found under the building where he was working as a security guard when the quakes struck. Crews took his body to a local hospital, where staff turned them away because there was no space. The body was sent to another facility and eventually transferred to an open parking lot. A forensic doctor helped the family find him days later, on Saturday. But once they identified his body, they didn’t know what to do with it because they couldn’t afford the $450 (£350) that a funeral home was charging. 1:09 Man pulled alive from collapsed Venezuela shopping centre eight days after earthquakes – video At almost midnight on Saturday, López got word that the mayor’s office was offering them a free space at a local cemetery, but they had to move quickly so as not to lose the spot. An hour later, López and her daughter trudged up a hill leading to the cemetery and buried T