The Fallout of Massive Earthquakes for Venezuela — and the U.S.

From The New York Times, I'm Natalie. Kitroeff. This is The Daily. Last week, after two massive earthquakes. struck Venezuela, my colleague Carlos. Prieto started calling people there. Carlos is from Venezuela. He spent his.

childhood in the capital, Caracas. But. when he started to see pictures and. videos of the damage, he realized he. couldn't even recognize parts of his. hometown. So he asked people how it all. started. >> I was actually at my best friend's. house, and I was going back to my house. >> Natasha Villa was driving when the. ground started to move. >> I started feeling my car just sliding. from side to side. I thought that it was.

the feeling of when you're driving. >> [music]. >> on top of water. So you feel like the. car is just sliding. You could see people [music] screaming. and running out of the street. You could. see the light posts and the electrical. posts falling down in the street and the. people screaming while the electricity. sparkles were just going everywhere. >> She had no idea how extensive the damage. was. >> I didn't have signal on my phone at all. because the network had fallen.

completely. >> With power outages all over the country. and phone lines collapsed, >> there was no way to communicate with my. friends. >> much of Venezuela didn't know either. >> We had no idea what was happening. So, I. waited for a friend who had a car, and. we drove around [music] the city trying. to find signal. >> Carlos Yelembi is a comedian. He was. supposed to perform at a stand-up show. that night. >> So, yeah, once we found the signal, [music] uh well, we.

>> When he finally got access to the. internet, he couldn't believe what was. coming up on his phone. >> What was the first thing that you saw? >> The first thing I saw was like some uh. buildings collapse, and uh we have some. friends who live next to the first. building that fell off in Caracas. Like, hey, our friend is alive, but uh. probably a lot of people in the building. next to him are not. [music]. >> And then, he saw more. >> Then, as we checked the news, we saw, "Oh, okay, so that was not the only.

building that fell.". >> He saw building after building collapse. in Caracas, but nothing prepared him for. what had happened in La Guaira, a state. on the country's northern coast. >> And then, we saw La Guaira videos, and. it was too much. >> [music]. >> As more and more images trickled out, a. horrific picture of ruin began to.

emerge. La Guaira's normally a popular. vacation spot, but now entire blocks had. turned to rubble. Thousands and thousands of people were. looking for their loved ones. >> The first thing I thought was, "The city is lost.". >> Um [music] just today, I went over to. the Domingo Luciani Hospital when where.

I saw with my. own eyes. the level of devastation. [music]. I saw trucks, pickup trucks carrying. um patients directly from La Guaira. There was a. 4-year-old girl that had her pelvis. [music] exposed that was arriving at the. same time, and I was there. >> Mhm. >> There's no [music] way to describe it.

>> Today, we look at how Venezuelans united. after the earthquakes [music]. and talk to our colleague Anatoly. Kurmanaev from La Guaira about how the. aftermath of the tragedy has forced the. Trump administration to shift its plans. in Venezuela. [music]. It's Thursday, [music]. July 2nd.

So, Anatoly, you got to Venezuela on. Sunday, and you've been spending a lot. of time in the part of the country most. affected by these earthquakes, which is. La Guaira. So, just tell me what you've. seen. >> So, La Guaira is a gateway to Venezuela. It's this town outside of capital. Caracas, and I've driven there hundreds. of times.

>> This is Anatoly. This is Monday. afternoon, and I'm sitting in the back. of a passenger car. >> Early this week, I made this drive. again, and it was a very different drive. this time. >> Ooh, wow, the line. >> There was a lot of traffic. There was a. lot of people going down into the city. In front of me is a is a pickup truck. loaded up with mattresses, motorbikes, and cars, trucks carrying supplies, carrying water. >> Just passed a motorbike driver with just.

a small bag full of groceries. >> It was quite an unusual sight, but apart. from that, everything around you looked. very much the same, the same as always. >> We're entering La Guaira. >> And it wasn't till you get into the city. itself that you start to see widespread. destruction. >> Wow. Yeah, this is the first high-rise that's. badly damaged that's that I've seen. >> Blocks just entirely leveled. >> Wow, the walls are blown out. Gone, broken lifts, people's possessions.

just hanging out. >> And it's the seeming apparent randomness. of it, right? That one block could be. completely unscathed. Even even the. glass and the paint is still there and. then the next, you know, a few meters. down the road is just completely leveled. buildings. >> I'm standing on top of a collapsed. building. >> And when you approached a destroyed. building, the first thing that hits you. is is the smell. The smell of rots, of. the putrefication. Um it was just very clear smell of.

decayed flesh. >> Wow. >> Dozens of people around me are digging. through in various parts. hoping to find someone. >> You know, I have been a foreign. correspondent for many years and I've. covered a lot of unrest. I have been. around death, but I have never covered a. natural disaster of this scale and I. have never really. thought about how death smells. >> Mhm. >> And this was very much it. Like this was. very clear to me that this is what. death smells like.

>> Sitting on the side of a. collapsed. large residential building. >> There were people. digging through pretty much every. collapsed building. >> A few relatives standing on the side of. a road. >> They're very resigned. >> The off quake happened a few days before. I arrived, so the chances of finding. someone alive have faded a lot by the. time I was there. >> It's a lone excavator. digging through the rubble. It feels a bit chaotic.

Like. taking out. a glass of sand from a beach. >> What do we know about the numbers, Anatoly, of of the dead and of the. missing? Where does that stand right. now? >> So, [snorts] the official death toll is. around 2,000 people by now, and. yesterday the government suggested that. it could rise to about 10,000. >> Wow. >> There are no reliable.

estimates of missing, but some, you. know, the crowd-sourcing platforms put. the number at about 50,000. We we should. not say that too seriously. There's. There's There's a lot of caveats here, you know, but I think it is not unlikely. that the number of deaths will end up. being in five digits. >> Okay. So, really heavy, just a horrific scene. What is your understanding of how this. happened? Of of what led to the scale of.

destruction and of death? >> So, first [snorts] of all, Natalie, these were very powerful earthquakes. I'm sure they had to be powerful that. would have caused destruction in in many. places around the world, if not most. This was twin earthquakes, a very. unusual set of circumstances, and they. also occurred during a public holiday. >> Mhm. >> This was a like an unusually very busy. time for the area that ended up. suffering the most.

>> [snorts]. >> So, widespread destruction and death was. perhaps unavoidable. But, there are. growing questions being asked whether. decisions made by the government have. contributed to the destruction. Many of. the destroyed buildings or many of. buildings that appear to have caused the. most death have been social housing, which [snorts] has been very rapidly. built in the last. 15-20 years to meet political. objectives. They were basically built. around election time to garner votes, and there's growing indications that.

corners were cut in building those. buildings. >> This was under Nicolás Maduro, the. previous president of Venezuela. >> This was under Nicolas Maduro, but this. was primarily under his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, who won numerous elections. by gaining the support of Venezuela's. poor, of the Venezuela's majority. And. his flagship project was something. called Gran Misión Vivienda, the the. grand housing project, which involved.

the constructions of thousands of. buildings, thousands of social housing. blocks around the country, uh which were. then given out to Venezuela's poor. And [snorts]. many of these buildings have collapsed. >> Hm. Okay, so there are questions over. whether that strategy led by Chávez. continued under Maduro may have created. the conditions for this level of. destruction. >> Yeah, [snorts] I mean, you know, Venezuela has a history of heavy seismic.

activity. This is an earthquake-prone. zone. This is not a secret. And. statistical models have predicted a. strong earthquake here for some years. This is a country that should have been. prepared. And to be fair, many buildings. have withstood uh the earthquake very. well. Entire neighborhoods have sort of. came out of this pretty much unscathed. So, there are construction engineering. reasons coming from the decisions taken. by Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro. But. there were also decisions taken by the.

country's current leader, Delcy. Rodríguez, that have contributed to the. in effect of this response. >> Like what? What do you mean by that? >> So, before Delcy Rodríguez became the. leader of the government, she has been a. long-term official of this regime. She. has really risen in the ranks of the. government under Nicolas Maduro, who. made her his economic troubleshooter, giving her responsibility for the. country's oil industry with the job.

[snorts] of helping him stay in power. And. she has orchestrated. this great shift from the socialist. principles that have powered the ruling. movement since its foundation towards. this laissez-faire hands-off. economic approach. >> More of an open market. >> More of an open market and this is what. it looks like in practice. Under Hugo. Chávez, the state had.

lavished citizens with goods and. services in return for political. loyalties. There was free food, free. housing, subsidized travel, and all. sorts of social benefits for any aspect. of your life you can imagine, for. education, for your house pets, for the. elderly, for university students, et. cetera, et cetera. And this this was a. time of. economic plans in the country where oil. prices were high, oil exports were. earning the country billions and.

billions of dollars, and Hugo Chávez. could afford that. Then the oil prices. collapsed in 2014, American sanctions. start strangling the country's economy, and this becomes no longer sustainable. >> Mhm. >> And Delcy, as Nicolás Maduro's economic. chief, makes the decision to retreat the state. from people's lives. So, the Venezuelan. state gradually stops. providing basic services that uh they. have for for many decades. Um.

the people are left on their own to fend. for themselves. You know, in Russia we. have a saying uh. the survival of a drowning is the. business of a drowning and and this is. what what Delcy instituted. >> [snorts]. >> Um. so, >> have the best sayings in Russia. >> Uh and in return, the government gave. them some breathing space to do that. So, so it's uh it stopped harassing. businesses, by and large it stopped the. expropriations, it loosened currency. control, it just made it easier for. people to go about their daily lives,

right? It's unleashed in a way market. forces of supply and demand to try to. fill in the gaps left by the retreating. state. And and it did not, you know, create this massive bananas, it did not. create a Dubai out of Caracas, but it. did make people's lives significantly. easier, you know? But there was a cost. to that. There was a in a way a hidden. cost because the retreat [snorts] of the. state meant that the state no longer was. in charge of providing basic services. like like telecommunications.

or even electricity in some cases, the. state shrank, the state hollowed out. It. was everyone was for themselves. And. that was fine at the times of relative. stability because people's. entrepreneurship, private initiatives. could help people get by. But when a. natural disaster strikes and it requires. a mass coordinated state response, the shortcomings of her policies became. very much apparent. >> You're saying that under Chavez and then.

Maduro, obviously it was by no means. perfect, but all of the resources were. under the control of the government. And. so if the government needed to move. quickly to respond to something like a. disaster, you'd imagine it could. And. then the move under Delcy to a more open. market system, it kind of splits these state functions. up and they retreat from providing the. services that you need when something. like this happens. >> It's exactly what happened. And there's.

also a second reason. Maduro, especially. in his last years in power as he became. increasingly unpopular, he became. increasingly paranoid. He was worried. about coups, he was worried about. rebellions, anything that could topple. him from power. And he became very. distrustful of his own government, people who could organize and and push. him out from power. So. he started atomizing Venezuelan state. and by this I mean he. splits it into little fiefdoms. controlled by different officials, you.

know, who enrich themselves and none of. them are able to communicate with each. other or organize with other and this. makes it very difficult to organize a. coup. But it also in circumstances like. now makes it very difficult for all. these different institutions, the. police, the military, the civil. protection services, the health care. system, etc. to. get together to coordinate and do. something together. This is precisely. what is needed during an earthquake and. instead we just have all these small.

groups of people running around. aimlessly because there is nothing that. ties them together. >> Okay, so basically both of these things, the economic shift and the political. paranoia of Maduro lead to a very. disorganized state. And then we get this other massive shift. as we all know when the United States. goes in under Trump and extracts Maduro. earlier this year. Talk about that and how it affected what.

we're seeing now. >> This made things even more complicated. because now it's not Delcy who. ultimately made decisions in Venezuela. It is Washington. There is this Trump. administration. So it adds a novel layer. of decision-making, a novel layer of. bureaucracy and complicates the chain of. commands and this is not what you want. during a disaster response. >> Just explain what you mean when you say. that it's the Trump administration. making decisions. >> So Natalie, the strange thing about this.

is is basically exactly what it sounds. like, you know, this is one of these. rare things. This is not a metaphor. The. US has direct control over Venezuela's. public revenues. The US has massive influence over. Venezuela's political systems, over its. economic decisions. So, it is literally. Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, and. his team that make everyday decisions. how Venezuela is run and what happens in. Venezuela, what stances it takes.

>> That is just so wild, that setup. Totally unimaginable, even, you know, 6 months ago. >> Yeah, it was Natalie, it was. definitely something I could not have. imagined. You know, yesterday I was in. La Guaira, and for part of the day I was. in the airports, in the country's. airport, which has been damaged. There's. no commercial traffic, but there's a lot. of aid supplies coming in there. And. this is also where US military set up. its base. So, it was this really bizarre.

scene that I witnessed of a senior. Venezuelan security official, a man. called Gran Ca Arteaga, who has been US. nemesis, you know, he's a man accused of. gross human rights violation, torture, killing of political opponents, and he. has been sought by US governments for. many years. And here he was, standing. [snorts] and calmly looking on US. military helicopters taking on and off. from an airport a few hundred yards in.

front of him. And it was it was just so. surreal to see US military power, which. has been, you know, the nemesis of of Venezuelan government. for for decades for decades, just having. complete free reign on Venezuelan. airfield in front of him. >> Okay, you're getting at this right now, but how does this new government. structure in Venezuela and the. partnership with the US affect the. response to these quakes?

>> So, when the quakes [snorts] hit, the. government was caught completely. flat-footed. It is unclear what's. happening. And for the first 24 hours, which are the crucial hours, the hours. where you most likely to find survivors, there's no organized response, or very. little of organized response. We've seen very little heavy machinery. on the streets. We've seen very little, you know, organized groups of. civil servants. You know, there's sort. of very [music] sporadic statements from.

the government. And you know, people. feel [music] completely abandoned. People feel on their own. And they have. no choice but to [music]. take matters into their own hands. >> [music]. >> We'll be right back.

>> The first 24 hours of zero the. earthquake that we started sending food. directly to La Guaira. There were practically no rescue. missions. There were no military on the street. There were no police officers. There was. no help. There were so many places where the. people were screaming from inside of the.

rubble. But there was absolutely nothing that. they could do because there was no. machinery. I know of a friend that she spent those. 48 hours looking at the rubble where her. father was buried. And there was no one. there to help. >> [music]. >> Everyone that our producer Carlos talked. to, they couldn't sit still as all this was. happening. >> I went to the store and bought. >> So they started either sending food or.

supplies down the stretch of highway to. La Guaira, or going there themselves to. help [music] in any way they could. >> Every day we wake up and went down to. give it to the people that were working. on the fall beam. >> Often, they were the first people that. survivors had seen. >> I'm curious if there has been a moment. where you've noticed that maybe you are. the first person that someone there has. seen come for help. >> Many.

>> Many. >> Many times. >> Um. So many families have suffered. So many people have had many days. without talking to their families. So many people have lost everything. And. um. They were just happy to be alive. To save maybe one of their kids. >> What have they told you? When they see you?

>> It's amazing to maybe talk with some. someone for less than 5 minutes. And. when you're going to say goodbye, you. say goodbye with a hug. Like. it just feels so. grateful. >> A lot of people from. abroad uh uh started messaging me asking. me to reach their families. Like the the. mom of one of our friends in Argentina.

was missing. He started like asking, "Hey, if you know any info about my mom, please let us know.". >> Carlos, [music] the comedian, got. multiple calls from people begging him. to help locate their loved ones. Two. friends had the [music] same plea. Could. he help them find their mothers who'd. gone missing in La Guaira? >> So, we went on two motorcycles. >> So, Carlos and a few friends got on. their motorcycles and headed toward the. worst of the earthquake. [music]. >> To try to find two moms. So,

we. tried to reach for the first mom, but. when we actually reached the building. and the building was completely. collapsed. >> Do you think that. she didn't make it? >> Yeah, I would say so. I would say it's the. the most probable case. And. like the person.

like she kind of knows it. Like she kind of knows it that it's a. long shot. So, yeah. But when we reach these places like the. people told us, "Hey, nobody's coming. here.". And. we see that there is nobody. around. Like most civilians helping in those. places are the civilians that live in.

those places. >> So, [music] Anatoly, in the last few. days our colleague daily producer Carlos. Prieto has been talking to people who. are doing just what you said, actively. jumping in as volunteers with no. experience, just mounting their own.

pretty incredible rescue efforts. Just talk to me high-level about that. civilian effort. What is the scale and. scope of it? >> Natalie, it's nothing short of. remarkable and. simply overwhelming. We cannot call it a. silver lining given the scale of a human. tragedy, but to see every single men and. women you meet contributing something, jumping in has literally brought like. tears to my eyes, you know, it's the.

the universality of this effort, the. rich, the poor, just all cooking food, delivering supplies, donating, you know, opening up their houses, providing. transport, digging through the rubble. It's been remarkable. And you know, Natalie, like. we have been foreign correspondents for. many years. We have covered a lot of. authoritarian governments and and the. rulebook of all these autocrats is to. atomize society. >> Totally. >> To divide the society, to turn it into.

this isolated pockets that are unable to. stand together, unable of to do any. collective action, including changing. the government, right? This is how Putin. works. This is how Maduro works. And. this is a government that has been in. power for almost 20 years and it has. systematically undermined people's. ability to make their voice count. And. the way people here have responded, the. way they have come together. to do something meaningful has been just. absolutely overwhelming.

>> You're saying basically that strategy. didn't work because here people are. gathering in this way. >> The strategy didn't work and you know, obviously it's a testament to the will. of its own people. But at the end of the day, these are. just regular people facing a massive. catastrophe and they are putting. band-aids at a massive problem that will. not be solved without. organized state involvement. >> And once that organized state. involvement comes, I assume it does.

start to materialize at some point, what. did it look like? >> Well, it is beginning to materialize, Natalie. You know, the financial aid is. flowing in supplies are flowing in. There's growing number of international. volunteers, servicemen who are helping. out. There's there's talk of. multilateral organizations providing. loans, providing financing. And by this. stage, Natalie, we are no longer really. talking about search and rescue, by and. large. We're talking longer-term.

reconstruction. >> And what about the partnership, this now. very close collaboration with the United. States? Did that help? >> It did. It absolutely did. I think it's. would be fair to say that for all the. questions that exist about US-Venezuelan. relationship today, questions that have. to do with morality, national. sovereignty, international law, it is. very clear that without US involvement, the situation on the ground would have. been even worse. >> [snorts]. >> It has flown in a lot of supplies. It's.

logistical muscles, the use of. transport, helicopters, etc., has been. very important. Today, there are already. 900 American soldiers on the ground in. Venezuela and helping the recovery. efforts. The US has already committed. 300 million dollars of aid to Venezuela. US is pushing to reintegrate Venezuela. into international organizations that. can provide long-term lending. So, there's absolutely questions about.

whether the US could do more, but in. absolute terms, its response has been. significant. >> And that significant response, I'd. imagine, has the Trump administration. deepening its connection to the current. government, right? >> Absolutely. My my reporting shows that. after the earthquake, the US has. communicated to Delcy Rodriguez that. they are all in, that they have made a. bet on her, they have made a bet on this. alliance, and they are going to lean. into it. US officials have lavished.

praise on Delcy and, you know, her. response repeatedly in public. statements. Just yesterday, the US. government said in a statement that. Venezuelan government has agreed to all. of their requests that they had after. the earthquake, which is [snorts] very. interesting because it implies that the. decisions are made by the US government. and it's Venezuela and so we just. approve the decisions that have already. been taken. One of the. perhaps unexpected consequences of this. earthquake is this alliance has become a.

lot deeper in the last few days. >> And what are the implications of that? >> This matters because the US is working. with a government that they themselves. have labeled as illegitimate. They have. labeled it as sponsors of what they call. narco-terrorism, a government that has. stolen elections. And until the. earthquake, the US plan as articulated. repeatedly by Senator Marco Rubio. involved three stages. First, the recovery of Venezuelan.

economy, stabilization of its political system, and transition, which means political. transitions basically enabling free. elections. And after the earthquake, Rubio himself admits that the. catastrophe complicates this plan, makes. it more difficult. This is something. that they didn't plan for, this is. something they could not have planned. for. And in practical terms, the. considerations makes it harder to. imagine. free elections in any foreseeable. future. Makes it difficult to imagine. Venezuela is really recovering their. democracy and recovering their political.

voice. >> Okay, so I have to ask, what is the. Venezuelan opposition saying about this. post-earthquake. phase where maybe elections are being. kicked even further down the road? >> So the earthquakes have put the forces. opposed to the government of Diosdado. Cabello Rodriguez in a very difficult. position. They're in a lose-lose. situation because on the one hand, if. they stand aside, they are basically. watching the US deepening their alliance.

with their sworn enemies and pushing the. can of elections down the road. At the. same time, if they use the earthquake as. an opportunity to reinsert themselves. into Venezuela's political lives. They. face accusations of opportunism, politization of disaster, and of. basically staging political stunts. And [snorts]. this dilemma is particularly acute for. the leader of Venezuela opposition, Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize. laureate.

She remains the most popular politicians. in the country. She's a person who would. undoubtedly win elections. if they were held tomorrow. But she's in. exile. She left Venezuela last year to. receive a prize, and she has been unable. to come back since. So, she is now. watching from outside the country as the. US makes their bet with Delcy Rodriguez. And frankly, you know, as a Venezuelan. person, she's watching with tremendous. suffering of her citizens, and naturally. she wants to be involved. She wants to.

help. And she has been trying to come. back. She does not have a valid. passport. Her Venezuelan passport has. expired. So, she needs US help to get. into the country. And she has been. making increasingly forceful public. pleas to aid her return. Um and. >> to the US, "Help me get back in there. I. want to help.". >> That's exactly what she's been saying. Uh and her pleas to the US have. massively backfired because the US. administrations, they see her as a.

destruction. They have moved from. privately expressing annoyance or her. pleas to now publicly saying that her. campaign to return to the country is a. political stunt because they say, "We. remain focused on reconstruction. We. remain focused on aids." And the US. government for now has bought into the. arguments of Venezuelan government that. allowing the opposition back into the. country would just stoke social. tensions, could create violence, could. create unrest, and this is not something. that US government wants to see in.

Venezuela right now. >> So, the long and short of it is that. this tragedy obviously has very high. political stakes on all sides. The. opposition wants to use this as an. opportunity to assert itself. For Delcy. Rodriguez, this is a chance to solidify. its ties with the US even more and to. presumably try to show that she's a. competent leader in the worst of times. But also for the United States, this.

feels like an important moment. I mean, President Trump has touted what he's. done in Venezuela as this huge win. He's. based a lot of his foreign policy on. what he sees as his success there. And here is this event that maybe. putting that idea to the test. >> Winston Churchill once said, "Never let. a good crisis go to waste." And there's. so much at stake for everyone involved. For Delcy Rodriguez, either this crisis.

ends up tumbling her government or she. ends up establishing her legitimacy, ends up establishing herself as the. powerful ruler of Venezuela. For the. opposition, either they reinsert. themselves into Venezuelan political. life and use the discontent with. government response to take power or. they fade into obscurity in exile. And. for the Trump administration, this is a. crucial test of the narrative that the. Venezuelan operation has been an. unfettered success, that this has been.

the biggest foreign policy achievement. of Trump's second term. He has. repeatedly said that Venezuela has now. become a very happy country, but. Venezuelans are dancing on the street. And the reality is that today. Venezuelans are not dancing on the. streets. Many of them are living on the. streets, right? The images that are. coming out of the country clash. massively with the way that he has. painted this relationship, right? So, he. now has to take action to create what he.

has been talking about, right? He now. has to take ownership in a way for the. situation in Venezuela. And what will. happen in Venezuela in the next few. months and years to a great extent will. depend on the decisions that he will. make in the coming weeks. >> What about for Venezuelans? I have to. think that the stakes for them are much. more urgent, life or death. Like the. question is whether they can feel safe. living in this country, under this.

system, given the response to this tragedy. >> This tragedy has. released a great amount of pain and. suffering, but it has also made. Venezuelans rediscover their voice and. given them. bravery to speak out. In La Guaira, you. see residents coming together to express. their anger at government officials, to. chase them out, to boo them. Um, there's.

a sense of confidence and at the same. time. a sense of. anger and rage. And it's anger at. being abandoned by the government at. this moment of great needs and at the. corruption and incompetence that we see. in all around them. But it's a trigger for the pain that. they have experienced for the last 20. years living under this government, right? This is sort of like a cathartic.

moment in a way, right? But everything. has been bubbling up inside Venezuelan. people for so many years that they have. been afraid to say because of. repression, because of lack of. independent media. This is all now. coming out. So, perhaps the greatest. paradox of what we see in Venezuela. right now is that while the material. conditions for elections and democracy. are moving further away, people in power. have more and more reasons to just kick.

the can down the road. The desire for. democracy, the desire for political. voice has risen dramatically. People. really want it. People are no longer. willing to wait for it. And I also think. what we see now is. Venezuelans [music]. rediscovering that they are not alone, that they're part of a larger community. And I think, you know, this earthquake. will have big consequences for. Venezuelan society, for Venezuelan.

people as a whole, because they have. seen. the power. of their collective action and. >> [music]. >> what they can do together despite all. the challenges. >> Well, Anatoly, thank you so much. >> Thanks, as always. [music]. >> [music]. [music].

>> So, when you think about that mom, the first. mom that you couldn't find, were you. were you afraid that you also might not. find this other mom? >> Oh, of course. But, as we reached the place, we went to the bus stop that is closest. to the house where she was seen. And we. have no signal, we have no way of. knowing and like the actual street.

because it goes up like to the slums. So, we asked somebody at this bus stop. like, "Hey, where is this street?" And. they told us, "Oh, it's right here. Who. are you looking for?" And we say her. name and [laughter]. the man we asked tells us, "Well, yes, I'm her brother.". >> Oh, wow. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah. It was uh yeah, uh like too work. Like yes, of course I'm her brother. Do. you want to come and visit her? And we. were like, yes, please. We have to send. a video to.

our friend. And he took us to the home and she was. there. >> And she's okay? >> She's okay, yeah. She's she's okay.

There was just like no way to. communicating, but yeah. She's okay. >> We'll be right back. [music].

Here's what else you need to know today. >> [music]. >> On Wednesday, a team at the University. of Minnesota announced that it had taken. a major step toward achieving something. that scientists have long dreamed of, discovering how chemicals can be turned. into [music] life. The researchers blended together dozens. of ingredients and synthesized simple. cells that can feed, [music] grow, and. reproduce, passing along their genetic. material to future generations.

While those cells may not [music]. technically be fully alive, they have. most of the basic components necessary. for [music] life. Scientists hope that synthetic cells may. someday be engineered to do things that. natural cells [music] can't, like making. new kinds of medicine or drawing large. amounts of carbon dioxide from the. [music] atmosphere. The biologist leading the team called. her creation Spud cell because of its. potato-like appearance. [music].

Today's episode was produced by Carlos. Prieto, Lindsay Garrison, Anna Foley, [music] Chris Benderev, and Eric Krupke. It was edited by Michael Benoit and. Chris Hacksel and contains music by. Marion Lozano, Elisheba [music] Ittup, Dan Powell, Rowan Nemi, and Pat McCusker. Our theme music [music] is by Wonderly. This episode was engineered by Chris. Wood.

>> [music]. >> That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie. Kitroeff. See you tomorrow. [music].