MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean rescuers allege military harassment in Venezuela's quake zone

According to Lermanda's account to Venezuelan and Chilean media, soldiers have repeatedly demanded identity documents from his 46 rescuers, on suspicion of espionage

The leader of the Topos Chile rescue group, Francisco Lermanda, alleged that his teams deployed in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira have been harassed by soldiers during search operations in the area hardest hit by the June 24 twin earthquake, which according to the official toll has left at least 1,943 dead. The Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the accusations.

According to Lermanda's account to Venezuelan and Chilean media, soldiers have repeatedly demanded identity documents from his 46 rescuers, on suspicion of espionage, and at times have prevented them from re-entering the work area after stepping out, for example, to charge their phones. He described an episode in which a soldier entered the area where his personnel were digging tunnels through the rubble to ask for documentation from specialists already identified on previous days. According to his account, when one of the rescuers protested, a soldier replied that they had “orders to check them periodically” because they could be “spies” for the United States or Chile.

Lermanda also said that, while his team was trying to rescue a 14-year-old with crush syndrome —a condition requiring urgent medical assessment before extraction— a soldier took a phone they were using for a video call with a doctor, deeming it possible espionage. The rescuer called on the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the armed forces to abandon what he described as a “paranoid” attitude, referring, he said, to one officer's fear that the emergency might be used to promote a coup. Even so, he avoided giving a “political color” to his remarks and stressed that the country is “battered” by the scale of the disaster.

Chile's government, led by José Antonio Kast, distanced itself from the accusations. Interior Minister Máximo Pavez said it was not for the government to comment, since Topos Chile is not part of the official delegation sent to the country, which corresponds to the USAR Bomberos de Chile team. ”Any other initiative that individuals or organizations carry out independently (...) is not part of the government's action,“ Pavez said, adding that the official team is working ”properly” alongside the Venezuelan authorities.

The accusations come as rescue operations continue in La Guaira, declared a disaster zone and militarized by the authorities to coordinate the operation. Dozens of foreign brigades, from some 24 countries, are working against the clock in the area alongside Venezuelan teams, a week after the two magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes. The number of missing is the subject of conflicting accounts: the UN estimates they could exceed 50,000, while the Venezuelan government uses lower figures.