Members of an Israeli disaster relief mission deployed to earthquake-stricken Venezuela met overnight with the country's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, in a rare high-level encounter that could signal a thaw in relations between the two countries after years of diplomatic hostility.
The meeting included Home Front Command representatives, who attended in IDF uniforms.
IDF Home Front Command engineers inspect buildings damaged in Venezuela’s earthquake
(Video: IDF)
Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 following Israel's military offensive in Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead. Under former president Nicolás Maduro, the South American country became one of Israel's most outspoken critics and maintained close ties with Iran.
Rodríguez, who served as Maduro's vice president, assumed power after U.S. authorities arrested Maduro in an operation and transferred him to the United States.
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Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez meets members of the Israeli aid delegation, including uniformed IDF Home Front Command officers, after the deadly earthquake
The Israeli delegation is scheduled to leave Venezuela on Sunday, but Rodríguez asked its members to extend their stay, according to Israeli officials.
During the meeting, the delegation presented a long-term national reconstruction plan for areas of Caracas and its surroundings devastated by the earthquake. Prepared in cooperation with Venezuela's Infrastructure Ministry, the plan includes assessing nearly 1,300 buildings to determine whether they should be repaired or demolished, removing unstable structures, clearing debris and preparing cleared sites for reconstruction.
Members of Israel’s aid delegation assess earthquake damage in Venezuela as part of rescue and reconstruction efforts
(Photo: IDF)
The meeting followed remarks by Rodríguez several days earlier in which she singled out Israel's contribution despite the arrival of aid teams from numerous countries.
"I would like to report that yesterday we received a highly professional and skilled team from Israel," Rodríguez said. "They arrived through contacts established by the Jewish community in Venezuela. I want to thank Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen for all the coordination that made it possible to establish contact with the Israeli government and bring them here."
Members of Israel’s aid delegation assess earthquake damage in Venezuela as part of rescue and reconstruction efforts
(Photo: IDF)
The deployment of the Israeli mission has already led to a rare diplomatic contact between the two countries. Before the delegation departed, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil held a telephone conversation with Yoad Magen, Israel's ambassador-designate to Mexico, who also oversees Venezuelan affairs at the Foreign Ministry. Israeli officials said it was the first such conversation between senior officials from the two countries in years.
The Israeli delegation arrived in Venezuela earlier this week. It is led by Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, chief of staff of the Home Front Command, and includes 28 members, among them eight military engineers and Foreign Ministry representatives. Additional specialists from the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Management Authority are expected to join the effort. The team is working alongside Venezuelan authorities based on needs identified on the ground.
The earthquake, which struck last month, is considered Venezuela's deadliest natural disaster in more than a century.
IDF Home Front Command engineers inspect buildings damaged in Venezuela’s earthquake
(Photo: REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
Two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck 40 seconds apart at a relatively shallow depth, causing widespread destruction in Caracas and particularly in the neighboring state of La Guaira.
The official death toll has reached 2,295, though authorities expect it to rise. Unofficial estimates put the number of missing at more than 38,000.
Rescuers say the chances of finding additional survivors have diminished sharply, although a 43-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira on Tuesday, eight days after the disaster.