Caracas, Aug. 24, 2026 (Lusa) - The UN has called on Portugal and Portuguese nationals living in Venezuela to provide means of livelihood to help Venezuelans recover from the twin earthquakes on 24 June, which affected thousands of people.
«Portugal and the Portuguese people can be of great help with something that is very important: livelihoods. Through companies that can employ people who have lost their jobs or their homes. As for other areas, for example, organisations working in education or the social sector can lend a hand to help those who have lost everything,» the UN's acting resident coordinator in Venezuela told Lusa.
Álvaro Rodríguez, who is also the UN's humanitarian coordinator, further explained that the organisation's presence in the country has grown significantly, particularly since the double earthquake on 24 June.
«There are two very important aspects to our work. The first focusses on medium- and long-term issues, where we seek to guide the government, the private sector and communities towards the Sustainable Development Goals – the targets that the United Nations regards as an extremely necessary framework for cooperation,» he said.
There is also the humanitarian aspect, which has expanded considerably in recent weeks, centred «on addressing all the needs that have arisen as a result of the earthquakes», such as «food, healthcare, shelter, education, sanitation and drinking water».
«These two aspects of our collaboration with the government and with the people of Venezuela constitute the bulk of our focus in the country,» he emphasised.
Álvaro Rodríguez noted that in the wake of the earthquakes, people tend to assume the situation will gradually improve, stressing the need to help people.
«People who have experienced the consequences of the twin earthquakes, who have lost family members, who are dealing with mental health challenges and whose children have been unable to continue attending school, continue to face significant difficulties for years on end. Our aim is to try to reintegrate them into everyday life,» he said.
On the other hand, we must «build back better», he argued.
«The idea is to create better conditions than those that existed on the day before the earthquake – which was, for example, fragile housing. The idea is to build back better so that, should another earthquake occur, people can survive in decent conditions,» he said.
In Venezuela for just over a week, Álvaro Rodríguez explained that he had been present during the earthquake in Turkey on 6 February 2023, in which 50,000 people died, and that for this reason, he had an idea that he would find buildings completely flattened and people still searching for the remaining members of their families.
«It's very difficult. It's very hard to see that and think that these people have to start their lives over again, after having suffered so much,» he said.
The UN coordinator also explained that images broadcast abroad by television cameras help convey the scale of the disaster but not the human dimension of the tragedy.
«They help, but when you speak to many people, especially in the refugee camps, you realise that what they went through that day – and what they are going through now – will stay with them [in their memory] forever, including those who are left alone, the people who have lost their entire families and who ask why they are still alive. That is very difficult. It only becomes apparent through conversation, and there is a great deal of trauma, because the suffering is terrible,» he said.
Álvaro Rodríguez also expressed concern that the disaster in Venezuela might cease to be international news, even though it remains a part of people's daily lives.
«Unfortunately, we live in a constantly changing world where many tragedies occur. There have already been earthquakes in other countries, so we must make every effort to ensure it is not forgotten. However, within the country, it will always be remembered,» he said, emphasising that the public and private sectors, workers, the UN, donors and embassies «will always remember».
«It may no longer be featured in the international press, but here the work will continue,» he said.
On the subject of funding, he explained that «securing all the resources needed for a systematic response to a disaster is always challenging».
«In the case of Venezuela, the government and people of the United States have contributed greatly. We therefore have an excellent opportunity to achieve what we have set out to do over the next six months and to meet specific objectives for the country's reconstruction. As well as supporting the earthquake victims, the US is contributing to humanitarian programmes in the rest of the country, because, due to excessive rainfall, there are also problems in other regions,» he said, adding that Washington has already provided «a very generous sum amounting to around $200 million» The double earthquake on 24 August caused severe damage to infrastructure, injuries and fatalities in seven Venezuelan states: Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo, Lara, Yaracuy and La Guaira, the latter being the worst affected.
According to the latest updated figures released by the authorities, 6,438 people died, and hospitals treated 86,358 people following the earthquakes.
Among the dead are at least 138 Portuguese nationals and people of Portuguese descent.
FPG/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
