Caracas and La Guaira, Venezuela —
Venezuelans are grappling with a stark question: after years of economic and political strife and now devastating twin earthquakes, can their country recover, or are the cracks just too deep?
Rescue teams and neighbors are still searching for survivors as the scale of the disaster comes into sharper focus — more than 1,400 are dead and thousands more remain missing.
“Some very tough days are coming,” said Caracas resident Neida Pernilla. Her apartment in the Venezuelan capital was destroyed in Wednesday’s 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that came within seconds of each other. But she says she is among the more fortunate — she and her relatives survived.
“I think we have to learn from everything we’re going through. That life is fleeting — just a moment. We have to thank God, the Virgin Mary, whatever we have faith in, for the fact that we’re alive, and we need to be more human, more cooperative, more humble.”
