00:00Conversé con Tom Fletcher, el jefe de asuntos humanitarios de la ONU, sobre las acciones que ha emprendido el organismo
00:05para apoyar a Venezuela después de este doble terremoto.
00:31So, as you know, you're seeing the pictures. The situation is just devastating. And for us, the priority is pulling
00:38as many people from the rubble, saving as many lives as we can.
00:41We reckon we've got over 500 dead, I'm afraid, already and 50,000 missing. So this is a devastating, devastating
00:49pair of earthquakes that have hit communities across Venezuela.
00:53So we've mobilised now 35 search and rescue teams from around the world. Many of those teams are already on
00:59the ground, but we're talking there about 1,600 fully trained up rescuers, plus the dogs, over 100 dogs, the
01:07drones we use to find survivors.
01:10And they're out there giving support to, of course, the local responders who have been working nonstop around the clock
01:17to save as many lives as possible.
01:18These first works are on searching, of course, on the rescue of people that could be in all these buildings
01:25that went down.
01:28That's right. These are what we call urban search and rescue teams, and they have different classifications, but the ones
01:33going in first are our heaviest teams.
01:35And they're going in. It's been an amazing mobilisation of global support.
01:39You've got teams going in from Switzerland, the US, across Europe, Qatar, Jordan, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador.
01:45You're, you know, the world coming together, putting politics aside and sending their bravest people to save as many people
01:53as possible.
01:53How does the UN coordinate all these efforts? Because there's a lot of people, a lot of countries involved.
02:00It's very complex. And, you know, over half of these teams have been trained up and certified by our UN
02:08colleagues.
02:08But we also then have a coordination cell in Caracas, which we've established with the local authorities through our humanitarian
02:16coordinator and our team on the ground.
02:18Of course, that team whose own buildings have been devastated by these earthquakes.
02:23And then we have an analysis cell as well, which is processing all of the satellite imagery, working to bring
02:29in private sector support.
02:31We've, of course, surged our own staff overnight to make sure that we've got the best coordinators, communicators, the people
02:38who need to handle all the information and bring together this massive complex operation as swiftly and as effectively as
02:46possible.
02:47We're going to work around the clock. We're going to move mountains to save as many lives as possible.
02:52What are the biggest challenges right now on the ground?
02:56The scale of the devastation and working in an active earthquake zone, the potential, of course, for aftershocks, the need
03:05to support survivors will become even more important with food and medicine and shelter.
03:10So many of our teams have medics, of course, as core parts of those teams.
03:15But the big job initially is getting under the rubble, moving that very, very precarious rubble and finding the survivors.
03:22Tom, how can people get in touch with the UN and help?
03:26I mean, helping, doing or going to the rescue teams to help them if they have, of course, the knowledge
03:31to do it.
03:32But also people that want to send some things that maybe people there could be needing right now.
03:39Well, thank you. And I mean, the outbreak of solidarity and support for the people of Venezuela has been extraordinary.
03:46And it's right that we do more than just send condolences and thoughts.
03:49We've got to give practical support.
03:51You can get behind those search and rescue teams and support their work, highlight their work.
03:56If you want to help the communities that are affected by the earthquake, go to crisisrelief.un.org, crisisrelief.un
04:05.org.
04:06And we will take you then to the different ways that you can support.
04:09That's the best way to help urgently where it's needed.
04:14Thank you.
04:21Thank you.
04:22Thank you.
04:23Gracias.
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