Five days after the earthquakes that shook Venezuela, the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen while criticism of the management of the Venezuelan Government increases. In Spain, the Executive is holding a key Council of Ministers to extend anti-crisis measures and resume the budget debate. Furthermore, the PSOE maintains the closing of ranks with Pedro Sánchez after the Federal Committee, while the judicial derivatives of the Plus Ultra case that affect former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero continue.
Venezuela worsens its crisis five days after the earthquakes
Five days have passed since the earthquakes and both the Venezuelan Government of the Rodríguez family and the protector of both, which is what Donald Trump’s Executive exercises, continue to show a collapse in decision-making that is difficult to explain. Added to the evident lack of means to carry out rescue tasks and care for tens of thousands of affected people is official information that continues to arrive in dribs and drabs.
The latest balance sheet offered by the Venezuelan authorities raises 1,450 deathsamong them 17 Spanish citizens. However, testimonies from journalists on the ground and international rescue teams suggest that the real figure could be considerably higher.
La Guaira, epicenter of the tragedy
In La Guairathe area hardest hit by the earthquake, emergency teams recover around twenty corpses every hour. The usual morgues and the eight temporary facilities set up by the Government are already completely saturated. Meanwhile, numerous bodies remain in the streets waiting to be identified, covered only with a sheet and, in some cases, with lime to try to stop their decomposition.
The reports from the area describe a devastating atmosphere. There are plenty of volunteers from different parts of the country, but there is a lack of heavy machinery capable of removing large blocks of rubble and accessing people who could still be alive.
Tens of thousands missing
The number of missing people continues to hover around 50,000 people. Among them are 150 Spaniardsof which twelve have been located under the rubble, although they have not yet been able to be rescued due to lack of resources.
The desperation of the survivors increases as the hours pass. In some neighborhoods, affected residents have rioted to demand that the rescue machinery act first in their buildings before other equally devastated properties.
Council of Ministers and new attempt to reactivate the Budgets
This Monday there is a Extraordinary Council of Ministers because tomorrow, June 30, several of the anti-crisis measures approved by the Government expire. To keep them in force, they must be approved today and subsequently validated by a Congress where the Executive has already confirmed that it lacks a stable parliamentary majority.
Despite this scenario, the Government is once again focusing on the General State Budgets. The economic vice president, Carlos Bodypresents the macroeconomic picture that will serve as the basis for future public accounts.
With growth forecasts revised downwards, the document is expected to reflect a certain slowdown in the Spanish economy caused by international uncertainty. The political objective of the Executive would be to reach 2027 having presented budgets, although in the end they did not achieve sufficient support in Parliament.
The PSOE closes ranks while the Plus Ultra case continues
Internal unity behind the Federal Committee
Saturday’s Federal Committee passed without surprises. He closing ranks with Pedro Sánchez It was practically total and the ministers closest to the president responded immediately to the criticisms made by Emiliano García-Page and the mayor of Palencia, Miriam Andrés.
The new argument used by Sánchez and later repeated by Óscar López consists of pointing out that those who now criticize the party’s leadership are the same leaders who in 2016 facilitated a Popular Party Government with their abstention.
New judicial appointments of the Zapatero case
At eleven in the morning she is summoned to the investigation commission of the SEPI in the Senate the secretary of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Gertrudeinvestigated in the Plus Ultra case. The judge attributes an essential operational role to him within the alleged plot, considering that it was the channel through which the former president transmitted instructions.
Everything indicates that he will not answer the senators’ questions, although he must remain present during the session and his reaction to the interventions will be closely monitored.
In the last few hours it has also been known that Zapatero advised Leire Díez in preparation for his press conference. According to the documentation included in the investigation, he prepared a four-page document that he sent to Santos Cerdán with proposals to structure the appearance of the person known as the “plumber.” Later, the former president himself told Gertrudis that Leire’s intervention had seemed right to him.
Meanwhile, the public appearance promised by Zapatero remains pending. More than a month has passed since the search of his office and twelve days since his statement at the National Court, without him yet having offered public explanations about the jewelry valued at 1.3 million euros found in the safe in his office, the opening of which was initially rejected by his secretary.
