The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, has issued a serious warning this Sunday to "those who dare to plan social unrest" amid the shock of the double earthquake that has shaken the country and has already left more than 3,300 dead.
During a joint graduation ceremony for new officers from the Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela (UMBV), Rodríguez lashed out at those who, according to her, are trying to take advantage of the tragedy to generate chaos. "I don't understand how at this time of pain for Venezuela, of national mourning, there are those who dare to be miserable, who dare to plan social unrest. There will be no social unrest here. What there is here is deep social solidarity from our people," she snapped.
The leader insisted that there should be no room for destabilizing maneuvers or conspiracies in the country, "neither internal nor external, wherever they come from," emphasizing that the priority must be a solidarity response to the catastrophe.
Rodríguez framed the current situation in a historical perspective and pointed out that the tragedy "tested us to see where goodness, love, and mercy are, but it has also touched us to see hatred and misery." Along these lines, she recalled that "just as in 1812 when the unpatriotic tried to use the earthquake to go against the young nascent Republic of 1811, today they are trying to attack Venezuelan institutionalism."
The president took advantage of her speech to respond to criticism about the military deployment in the most affected areas. She recalled the question a journalist recently asked her about who had ordered the mobilization of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) in La Guaira, the area most hit by the earthquakes. "I gave the order as commander-in-chief of our Bolivarian National Armed Force!" she firmly stressed.
"I gave the order and I take responsibility for our Bolivarian National Armed Force which is there in the territory, it is there embracing the families who hope to recover their loved ones from under the rubble of silence," she added, defending the presence of the military as direct support to the victims.
In the most emotional part of his speech, Rodríguez recalled that "under the rubble there is still a mother crying for a son". "Beneath the rubble there is still a son crying for a mother, a brother, a grandmother, an uncle, a friend," he stressed, underlining the human drama that is still being experienced in the areas devastated by the earthquakes.