Venezuelan Rodriguez defended the response to earthquake relief efforts after receiving several days of criticism.

Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday rejected the related accusations. In recent days, the government's relief efforts have been widely criticized for being slow, with accusations that the government's response to the disasters caused by two earthquakes was inadequate, which have already led to the deaths of over 2,000 people. On June 24, the country was hit by 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, prompting various groups of people - including survivors, families of the deceased, volunteer medical personnel, and foreign rescue teams - to rush to the disaster area. The most severely affected region in the northern state of La Guaira has gathered a large number of rescue forces. Many people engaged in search and rescue in the rubble, as well as international aid organizations, have all stated that the government's relief efforts have been slow and ineffective. Distribution of emergency supplies such as food, medicine, etc. has been delayed, and throughout the ongoing search and rescue efforts, large-scale clearing machinery has been consistently lacking. "Although we are aware of the risk of earthquakes in our country, the severity of this natural disaster far exceeds what we imagined." Rodriguez held her first press conference after taking office, stating: "We did not delay for a day, two days, or three days; we immediately launched rescue operations after the disaster occurred."