Rescue workers dealing with the aftermath of the earthquakes. File photo.
In response to false allegations labeling housing developments built by the Great Housing Mission Venezuela (GMVV) as poor quality, Minister of Transportation Francisco Garcés—who holds a doctorate in structural and earthquake-resistant engineering—clarified that these buildings sustained minimal damage compared to other structures following the double seismic event on June 24.
He made these remarks during an interview with journalist Julio Riobó, noting that according to a preliminary assessment presented on July 2, the impact of the double earthquakes varied between the nation’s capital and La Guaira state. Consequently, he urged the technical community to evaluate construction practices without political bias or hasty conclusions.
The minister of transportation provided clear figures regarding the performance of GMVV buildings, specifying that while a total of eight buildings collapsed in Caracas, none belonged to the GMVV; meanwhile, approximately 189 structures collapsed in La Guaira.
Breaking down the performance of the housing developments conceived and built by the government, Garcés highlighted that zero collapses were reported among “Housing Mission” buildings in the capital city despite there being 100 such buildings in Caracas.
Regarding the La Guaira region, he noted that fewer than 10 buildings from this program were affected, representing less than 5% of the total housing losses in that state. Garcés characterized the criticisms leveled against state-built housing developments—based on the failures of a small subset—as a grave error and a skewed perspective. He also argued for the need to analyze why that small percentage collapsed, just as private structures did, noting that evaluating such performance is standard practice in engineering.
In his view, the next step for the scientific community is to examine construction practices in the metropolitan area to pinpoint the exact variables that affected each structure.
Return Venezuela’s Stolen Wealth for Full Quake Recovery (Statement)
Featured image:
(Diario VEA) by Carlos Batatin
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/CB/
Cameron Baillie is an award-winning journalist, editor, and researcher. He won and was shortlisted for awards across Britain and Ireland. He is Editor-in-Chief of New Sociological Perspectives graduate journal and Commissioning Editor at The Student Intifada newsletter. He spent the first half of 2025 living, working, and writing in Ecuador. He does news translation and proofreading work with The Orinoco Tribune.
