Manitoba Venezuelans scramble to reach family after earthquakes

Venezuelans in Manitoba are devastated after the country was hit with back-to-back earthquakes Wednesday and are preparing to send support.

“The community right now is in a shocked state,” said Carlos Barrios Cabu, co-founder of Club Venezuela of Manitoba. “Everybody’s crying.”

The 71-year-old came to Canada in 1989 and still has family and friends back home, including the state of La Guaira, which was hit the hardest after 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that hit less than a minute apart.

At least 920 people were killed and thousands have been injured. The death toll continues to climb as rescuers search through rubble.

The earthquakes are the strongest to hit the country in more than a century, and the International Organization for Migration estimated nearly seven million citizens are affected.

While most of his family has left the country, his two brothers, nephew and his daughter’s mother remain in Venezuela.

“The first thing I did was communicate with them, I tried to get in contact with so many people,” he said.

Barrios Cabu said he was immediately able to get in touch with his brothers and nephew in Maracaibo, but he didn’t know if the mother of his daughter in La Guaira made it out until Friday.

“Everything she had went to the ground, but she made it out safe,” he said.

Barrios Cabu said he received confirmation she’s OK from his brother but hasn’t been able to speak to her himself.

His nephew is putting together a rescue group in Maracaibo to drive 100 kilometres to La Guaira to help.

The earthquake is the latest concern for the country, said Barrios Cabu, noting the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. In January.

“This is another stone inside the shoes,” he said.

Maduro’s dictatorship and the country’s destabilization from his capture have left Venezuela in a very precarious situation, and they don’t have the resources to deal with a disaster of this magnitude, he said.

He praised Ottawa’s announcement of humanitarian aid to the country and is in the planning stages for a fundraising event in the city.

“I already have bands and musicians who have offered to play, I already have not just members of the Venezuelan community but the whole Latin community in Winnipeg ready for when and how we’re going to do this,” he said.

Rogelio Olivares, 66, said he plans to help in whatever way he can.

“Right now, everybody is in shock,” he said.

Olivares, who came to Canada in 2006, said he contacted family in Caracas immediately after the earthquakes and all were OK. Others weren’t so lucky; a friend’s sister and children all died in La Guaira.

He continues to be in contact with family and friends in Venezuela.

“Everybody’s coming to help, little by little, we can do it,” he said.

tiago.resko@freepress.mb.ca