Venezuelan youth: 'They only save the rich in the earthquake, they ignore us'

In the Caribe region of Venezuela's Vargas state, a building has completely collapsed following the earthquake on June 24, which caused massive destruction. Amidst the dust and rubble rising from the 'Gran Misión Vivienda' housing complex in this area, considered the epicenter of the disaster, 18-year-old baker Luis Pérez and his family are in a desperate and hopeless struggle. Luis works day and night with gloves and shovels to reach his musician cousin Jesús Serrada (22), his cousin's girlfriend Antonieta Brito, and the couple's baby, Alessia, who is only two days old, all trapped under the rubble of the collapsed OPP27 building.

Even though they hear no voices from under the rubble and believe their loved ones are not alive, the family is fighting with a last hope to retrieve the bodies for burial. For eight days after the event, Luis and other family members have been trying to remove the rubble with their own means without receiving any support from state officials or professional rescue teams. The failure of elected officials and heavy machinery to arrive at the scene has added deep despair and anger to the family's grief.

According to Luis Pérez, the situation is not limited to the chaos caused by a natural disaster but also reveals a cruel face of social inequality. Despite losing everything, the family does not have the financial power to rent the heavy machinery needed to clear the rubble and reach the bodies. The daily rental cost of these machines in the private sector ranges between 500 and 900 dollars, an impossible figure for a family affected by a disaster.

Expressing his disappointment, Luis claims that the teams or machines sent by the state were directed to wealthier areas instead of helping state housing where low-income people like him live. Stating that even the basic equipment they needed was not delivered to them, the youth highlighted systematic discrimination, stating that their requests for help went unanswered and machines were sent to places where 'money is seen', while they were not shown the necessary interest.

The story stands out not just as an effort to rescue bodies trapped under the rubble, but as a testament to the deep chasm created between citizens even at the time of disaster. Luis revealed that heavy machinery passing through the area went to private sites in Tanaguarena or areas where officials lived, and that they did not stop despite their helplessness, and that they were completely ignored. This situation has etched itself into memory as one of the most tragic examples of social injustice and imbalance in resource distribution in Venezuela.