Venezuela Earthquakes Test U.S.-Backed Government as 1999 Disaster Haunts La Guaira
Updated
Updated · NPR · Jun 29
Venezuela Earthquakes Test U.S.-Backed Government as 1999 Disaster Haunts La Guaira
3 articles · Updated · NPR · Jun 29
Summary
La Guaira state took the heaviest damage from Venezuela's deadly earthquakes, turning the disaster into the first major crisis for the U.S.-backed acting government.
The shock is especially acute because La Guaira was also the center of the 1999 catastrophe that became Hugo Chávez's first major political test.
That parallel raises pressure on the current leadership to manage relief, reconstruction and public confidence while confronting a disaster in one of the country's most symbolically charged regions.