MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 22:08 UTC
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.
