Grian Serrano, a 46-year-old Venezuelan merchant, now finds himself without a home, displaced from La Guaira after two powerful earthquakes destroyed his apartment building. Bruised and battered, Serrano clawed through the rubble of his collapsed eight-story building in Caraballeda, rescuing his 8-year-old son and 69-year-old mother from beneath twisted steel and debris. He called their survival "a miracle from God," but the broader reality for the region’s native working class is one of profound loss and systemic vulnerability.
The recent earthquakes claimed over 1,700 lives and injured more than 5,000 people, according to government figures. Hundreds of structures crumbled or suffered severe damage, primarily in La Guaira, with significant destruction also reported across Caracas and the states of Carabobo, Miranda, Aragua, and Yaracuy. This devastation forces a critical examination of the state's role in protecting its own citizens.
Serrano, now speaking from his brother’s home in Caracas, has lost everything. He vows never to return to La Guaira, stating, "That’s twice now. Sometimes I think if there’s a third time, it’s going to win the battle." His personal dispossession mirrors the wider cultural and economic displacement facing the region's long-standing communities.
A History of Neglect
La Guaira, known as Vargas until 2019, is Venezuela’s second-smallest state, yet it holds immense strategic importance. Located just 30 kilometers north of Caracas, it hosts the nation’s primary international airport and its second-largest seaport. Its approximately 440,000 residents are largely low-income, their livelihoods tied directly to tourism, commerce, and the operations of the airport and seaport. These are the native people whose economic stability and cultural continuity are repeatedly jeopardized.
The terror of the recent quakes brought back vivid memories for Serrano. He recalled the Dec. 15, 1999, "Vargas Tragedy," when floods and landslides swept through the region. That disaster, 26 years ago, killed 782 people, left another 2,000 missing, and affected about 250,000 residents, according to Ángel Rangel, who directed rescue operations for Venezuela’s Civil Protection agency. The repeated calamities suggest a deeper institutional failure to safeguard the native population.
Institutional Failures Exposed
Rangel, a disaster specialist, pointed to the fundamental flaw in La Guaira's urban planning. He explained that many collapsed buildings were constructed on terrain formed over centuries by sediment from surrounding mountains. "That type of terrain is particularly risky for construction," Rangel warned, emphasizing the necessity for "strict adherence to seismic-resistant engineering standards" adopted after the powerful 1967 Caracas earthquake, 59 years ago. This critical standard, designed to protect lives, appears to have been systematically overlooked.
Many of the buildings that failed in La Guaira were erected in the 1970s. It remains unclear whether these structures ever met the post-1967 seismic-resistant engineering standards. This lack of clarity points to a profound dereliction of duty by the political class and regulatory bodies, leaving the native working class vulnerable to predictable catastrophe. The state's failure to enforce its own safety protocols has directly contributed to the current devastation and the forced displacement of its people.