The intense rainfall that has occurred in recent weeks in Venezuela has set off alarms in the 23 states that make up the national territory. The overflow of streams and rivers, fallen trees, collapsed bridges, destroyed roads, unexpected landslides, damaged homes, thousands of victims and dozens of deaths, are some of the consequences of the natural phenomenon which will continue to be present at least until next November, according to the forecasts of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Inameh).
By La Patilla – Thairy Baute
Oct 18, 2022
The towns of Las Tejerías and El Castaño in Aragua somehow relived the nightmare of the worst tragedy of the 20th century in Venezuela: the Vargas landslide, which began on December 15th, 1999, precisely the same day a national referendum was held to approve the Bolivarian Constitution, a fatal coincidence that perhaps foreshadowed the dark future that we would have to live in the following years.
Lapatilla.com contacted Ángel Rangel Sánchez, former National Director of Civil Defense (now Civil Protection), university professor (UCV/UCAB) and consultant in Risk and Disaster Management, to analyze the dramatic situation that many Venezuelans are suffering today caused by the intense rains.
-What happened in Las Tejerías? Why did this tragedy happen?
There are no actual records at this time indicating that these were exceptional rainfall records. What there has been in that area and in a good part of the country are more frequent precipitations that have fallen in some areas of the national territory above the average of the last 20 years.
That does not mean that the country is experiencing the worst and strongest rainfall in the last two decades. They are different things. To make a consideration of this type, we have the problem of the absence of quality records in terms of precipitation.
There is a problem there in defining what happened (the landslide in Las Tejerías) as the event with the highest record in recent years. What is true is that there have been precipitations that are more frequent every day and this has an impact. Nor at this moment am I certain that any technical commission, not political nor military, has evaluated the state of the dikes, containment structures, and basin management areas, so as to define that effectively, like some citizens point out (that a dam broke) is true.
What we can guarantee is that what is happening is an event of “social construction”. When I say social, the main responsible party is the State. Decisions on policies, investments, regulation of urban development, which by definition are in the hands of the national, regional and municipal governments, if they do not comply with demanding that laws, regulations, standards for urbanization of certain areas be followed, we are building risk.
The rain is not to blame for what is happening. The problem is how we have been developing our cities, how governments have been allowing communities to develop in cities without respecting the risk variable. That is, populations that are exposed to the phenomenon of rains without being properly protected or prepared to face them and not be affected.
When we do not address the main condition of vulnerability as a society, which is poverty, the poorest are always the most affected in times of emergency linked to physical-natural phenomena. So, that social vulnerability added to the inaction of the State and the citizen culture not framed in prevention, ends up generating disasters and tragedies.
-How have the authorities acted in the face of this emergency that occurred in Las Tejerías and others that are occurring in some other regions?
It has been uncoordinated and this is very serious. In the care of this type of situation, we are all necessary: public or private institutions. All levels of government have to be coordinated in their actions. It is not about militarizing an area. It is about covering an area with enough resources, and prepared and equipped personnel.
And what is happening right now? We see that emergency response institutions, such as Civil Protection, firefighters, NGOs that provide rescue and rescue support, have a very low operational response capacity. These institutions have a great mystique, an extraordinary capacity for work, but they have damaged vehicles, lack spare parts, tires that do not exist… They have lost human capital with emigration and what has happened in the country with this complex humanitarian crisis.
We can all see that there was no specific care plan. Emergency care plans are not made at the time of the emergency, but are made beforehand. That is why I insist on the need to act in advance: prepare for potential scenarios, risk conditions. You have to have operational capacity to respond, to communicate.
It can be observed that organizations of all kinds show up, and some doing little and others doing a lot, but we don’t see a unity of command, of management that, in addition, can tell the country day after day how it is working, how things are going for the victims. Open and transparent information does not exist. It is seen that there are drawbacks in this aspect, and that bodes ill for what is being done.
-What would be the consequences of not informing citizens truthfully and transparently about what is happening, for example, in Las Tejerías or with other emergency situations that are occurring in the country?
This has several drawbacks. Failure to handle the truth in emergency situations is very serious. Not only because of the loss of credibility of the responsible entities, but because if emergencies and disasters have something, it is that they are a great showcase that exhibits the good and the bad. It shows the responsibilities, the strengths, the weaknesses. Reveal the truth, sooner or later, the truth will be known. You cannot cheat with the number of victims or deaths, with the impact on homes, with the causes of the disaster, because the truth will eventually come out.
If there is no quality command and information unit, with qualified spokespersons, the emergency is complicated, because it is not an issue for the political-governmental sector to handle, but rather the technicians who know about this. In the government there must be technical personnel, but they only allow two or three ministers who handle the issue to speak. It is necessary for the national, regional and municipal governments to allow the technical spokespersons to explain to the country how they are working, and not for these technicians to explain to the ministers, who badly try to explain what is being done.
If the international organizations, which have said they want to help, do not see coordination and have not received true, real information about what is happening, they will not be able to help. So, if they want to help you, they don’t have the means, because seriousness is required in the information and in the interlocutor.
And the other is the country. People start to guess. I have heard all kinds of things: from “there was a mine that was being exploited”, that the dam was knocked down because they put a bomb in it, unbelievable things. That happens when there is no credible technical information. Comments are being generated, creating fables, and that is terrible because this produces great confusion.
If the country needs something at this time, it is unity in attention, because those who suffer from the disorder are the victims, who unfortunately have not been able to rescue their bodies so that their families can give them a Christian burial; wounded who have not been able to be transferred and their state of health verified, people who lost everything. And at this point, I don’t know where the areas where they are taking the victims for the census, where they are giving them supplies and serving them with meals, refuge areas. All this is not clear.
-It is important to mention that the access of journalists and media to disaster areas is restricted and, in some cases, prohibited. This is evident in the tragedy of Las Tejerías.
The media are not enemies of information. They have to allow journalists and the media to verify for themselves what is being done and that they can transmit it to the country. Don’t let this become a political issue. This is a matter of great importance, because it is the moment of assistance, of humanitarian aid that must be there. To attend to the urgent, that is, to those who are suffering. We must count on everyone’s help.
I am very concerned about the situation, because there are public and private institutions that are organizing collections, and there should be a State entity that coordinates with them so that jointly, not the ruling party or its members or its ministers, but the Venezuelan society (coordinated by a state body) be the one that delivers to our fellow citizens in Las Tejerías, the aid that is being collected.
-And what was the response of the National Executive to the huge amount of donations from individuals and other states? Prohibit the passage of people who wanted to help. It is understood that there must be a governing body to coordinate the aid, but what is observed is improvisation.
The problem is that, furthermore, any event that occurs in Venezuela is a tragedy, because the country is in precarious conditions. I can safely say that in the Las Tejerías area there were already families who did not eat three times a day due to the economic crisis. Of course, an emergency like this multiplies the shortcomings of a country with a complex humanitarian crisis.
The best thing there can be is coordination of public bodies with the private sector, NGOs, citizens and anyone who wants to collaborate, but in a coordinated way. This unilateral protagonism of those who have authority over every other organism that are needed is not played politically. These are times to add and not to subtract.
Ángel Rangel Sánchez knows closely the human drama after a tragedy such as the one that occurred in Las Tejerías and El Castaño, since he was the National Director of Civil Protection when the Vargas landslide occurred. Although he currently lives in Spain for family and academic reasons, he follows everything that happens in Venezuela very closely, and he regrets not being able to be in the country, supporting what is necessary in this emergency that today saddens and mourns the homes of many Venezuelans.
…
Read More: La Patilla – Lack of truthful and transparent information aggravates emergency due to rains in Venezuela
…