Wolfgang Wedan, Advisor for Humanitarian Aid in Venezuela (the advisory is carried out in cooperation with Jugend Eine Welt).
“People Who Already Had So Little Have Lost Everything”
The humanitarian situation in Venezuela is becoming increasingly dramatic following the devastating earthquakes that struck the country. According to our colleague Wolfgang Wedan, Advisor for Humanitarian Aid in Venezuela (in cooperation with Jugend Eine Welt), the full extent of the destruction is still unknown, but reports from affected areas point to a rapidly worsening crisis.“
In the capital Caracas, some houses have collapsed,” Wedan said. “The situation in Petare, one of the largest slums in Latin America on the outskirts of Caracas, cannot yet be assessed. There, too, many houses are uninhabitable.” Particularly severe damage has been reported in northern Venezuela, where entire homes have collapsed. However, access to reliable information remains difficult. “There is still no confirmed information on how many people are trapped under the rubble or have died,” Wedan explained. Although he currently is in Austria on leave, Wedan lives in Venezuela and will return to the country on Sunday to support relief efforts on the ground.
As rescue and assessment operations continue, access to basic necessities has become the most urgent concern. “The first thing people need now is drinking water, or clean water in general,” Wedan said. “Temperatures are very high, especially north of Caracas, and there is a danger of dehydration.” In addition to water, there is an acute demand for food supplies, particularly staple products such as rice, flour and sardines. The country is also facing a severe shortage of medicines. “These were always scarce in Venezuela,” Wedan noted. “As a result of the earthquake disaster, the supply situation has now become even more critical.” The disaster is placing additional pressure on a country that was already struggling with economic hardship and limited access to essential goods.
Beyond the physical destruction, the earthquakes have left deep psychological scars on survivors. According to Wedan, many victims are severely traumatized, not least because of the continuing aftershocks that regularly trigger renewed panic. “People cannot return to their damaged apartments, or they simply do not dare to go back into their homes because they are afraid that aftershocks could bring the ceiling down on them,” he said. The situation is further complicated by security concerns, particularly in the capital. “The fact that Caracas is not a safe city at night makes the situation even worse,” Wedan explained, “because being outdoors exposes people to additional risks.” For thousands of families, the choice is a painful one: remain in unsafe buildings or spend the night outside without adequate protection.
Drawing on many years of disaster response experience, Wedan stressed that professional humanitarian assistance must be carefully coordinated to ensure resources reach those most in need. “It makes little sense if one family receives the same food supplies from three organizations while the next family receives nothing at all — this requires coordination,” he said. For aid organizations, this means sharing information, avoiding duplication and ensuring that relief efforts complement rather than compete with one another.
While immediate relief is essential, Wedan warned against focusing only on the current emergency. “It requires not only emergency aid, but also funding for reconstruction, which will take years,” he said. “We must not forget that Venezuela was already in a very difficult economic situation before the two earthquakes.” Rebuilding homes, schools, healthcare facilities and public infrastructure will be a long-term challenge. For many communities, recovery is likely to take years rather than months.
For Wedan, the disaster is not only a humanitarian challenge but also a deeply personal tragedy. “I have experienced Venezuela over the past years as a country that is not doing well economically, where people’s poverty is steadily increasing,” he said. “And now, with the earthquake disaster, another blow of fate has struck a population already in need.” Despite the hardship, he has always been struck by the resilience of the Venezuelan people. “The country is very, very poor. But people smile; they have learned to live with poverty,” Wedan reflected. What makes the current situation particularly painful is the scale of what has been lost. “The fact that the earthquakes have now completely taken away the last possessions that many families, children and elderly people still had really deeply affects me.” As emergency responders continue their work and the true extent of the disaster becomes clearer, one thing is already evident: a population that was already facing immense challenges now finds itself confronting yet another humanitarian catastrophe. The need for clean water, food, medicines and shelter is urgent. But equally important will be the long-term commitment required to help Venezuelan communities rebuild their lives in the years ahead.
Jugend Eine Welt: IBAN: AT66 3600 0000 0002 4000, BIC: RZTIAT22, Kennwort: Nothilfe Venezuela
Onlinespenden: www.jugendeinewelt.at/spenden
Caritas Österreich, IBAN: AT23 2011 1000 0123 4560, Kennwort: Erdbeben Venezuela
Online-Spenden: www.caritas.at/erdbeben-venezuela
This blog post is based on this german article of kathpress: https://www.katholisch.at/aktuelles/158533/katastrophen-helfer-lage-in-venezuela-wird-immer-dramatischer
