Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-30 · by Regina Garcia Cano And Garance Burke The Associated Press
Scientists had warned the government not to build along Venezuela’s coastal strip of La Guaira.
asserted
Scientists → warn → Guaira
The area’s seaside Caribbean communities, not far from Caracas, were near a major fault line and a mountain range that had unleashed repeated, destructive natural disasters.
asserted
that → unleash → disasters
The soil was poor, a type of silt that would only amplify shaking in an earthquake.
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that → amplify → earthquake
Ignoring the advice, the government threw up exactly the wrong kind of buildings for that location: tall concrete apartment complexes.
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government → ignore → location
It was all a recipe for destruction, according to an Associated Press investigation that relied on interviews with dozens of engineers, seismologists and former government officials.
“
uncertain
that → accord → engineers
They were defying nature” when government officials decided to build there, said Carlos Valdés, head of the seismology department at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
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Valdés → defy → Mexico
The quakes killed more than 6,500 people and left over 17,000 homeless.
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quakes → kill → 17,000
The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez has done little to quell the rage of those who survived the quakes in the three months since that June evening — and she has failed to address why so many buildings collapsed and so many died.
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many → act → evening
The answer, in fact, can be traced back to 2010 and decisions made after mudslides and heavy rain displaced more than 100,000 people across the country, experts and former government officials told the AP.
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experts → trace → AP
That’s when the Venezuelan government raced to ease a humanitarian crisis by constructing scores of apartments on the strip of land flanked by crystalline waters of the Caribbean Sea to the north and lush mountains to the south.
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government → ’ → south
An area prone to natural disasters and earthquakes
When Venezuela was rocked by the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, at least 14 apartment towers in La Guaira fell nearly at the same time, pancaking one floor on top of another, trapping hundreds inside.
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towers → rock → hundreds
Fires broke out as gas tanks exploded.
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tanks → break → ?
People screamed for help.
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People → scream → help
Few survived.
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Few → survive → ?
Bodies were recovered from what used to be bedrooms, stairs, hallways and kitchens.
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what → recover → ?
Many were found hugging.
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Many → find → ?
A deadly 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit the area in 1967, prompting among other actions the design of quake-resistant construction guidelines and the creation of the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research, a counterpart of the U.S. Geological Survey.
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earthquake → hit → Survey
Similar to June’s earthquakes, it destroyed buildings in La Guaira’s parish of Caraballeda and Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
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it → destroy → Caraballeda
But no disaster had devastated La Guaira like the floods and mudslides that killed tens of thousands of people in 1999.
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that → devastate → 1999
After the tragedy, President Hugo Chávez’s government chose engineer and then-science minister Carlos Genatios to helm a reconstruction plan.
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government → choose → plan
His team worked with local and international experts to develop a hazard-mitigation program for the state, which included land-use restrictions along the coastal strip primarily to reduce the dangers associated with rains and, to a somewhat lesser extent, earthquakes, Genatios told AP in an interview.
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Genatios → work → interview
“There are areas, tracts of land, that should not have been used because they are prone to flooding during major surges; in such places, one should place very lightweight structures, parks, sports courts or similar facilities that do not cause major damage and, above all, do not result in fatalities,” Genatios said.
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Genatios → be → fatalities
Genatios said scientists warned officials that the area’s history of mudslides and floods would enhance the risks posed by earthquakes.
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history → say → earthquakes
That’s because any buildings would be constructed on the loose, rocky soil that had been deposited there over centuries by floods and mudslides.
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that → ’ → floods
The area was also near the major San Sebastian Fault line that runs off the coast and right underneath La Guaira state.
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that → run → state
The government disregarded the dangers.
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government → disregard → dangers
In 2011, at Chávez’s direction, it kicked off a massive push to expand public housing to assist people who had been displaced by torrential rains that led to deadly floods and mudslides in late 2010.
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that → kick → 2010
The government had relocated the displaced — many among them supporters of Chávez’s self-described socialist movement — to public schools, government buildings, military facilities and even the presidential palace.
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many → relocate → schools
The government lacked enough land to build its projects, which led to expropriations and to Chávez himself encouraging Venezuelans to help the state compile a list of abandoned lots.
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state → lack → lots
As buildings went up, trade and watchdog organizations raised concerns about the projects’ compliance with construction standards, including seismic-resistant design requirements, and the quality of materials used such as cement and steel.
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organizations → go → cement
The rise of apartment complexes
Housing towers reminiscent of East Germany’s prefab communist era high-rises were built in Caraballeda as part of the Great Housing Mission Venezuela program.
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towers → build → program
Each tower became known as an “O-P-P,” a shortened version of “O-P-P-P-E,” the Spanish acronym of the office Chávez tasked with carrying out the program. All but four of the 43 towers erected in the state of La Guaira were in Caraballeda.
A state-owned newsletter published a photo of one of the towers with the caption that proclaimed it “proudly stands as a symbol of revolutionary justice.”
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it → know → justice
People assigned apartments in Caraballeda were delighted when they finally received the keys.
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they → assign → keys
Many had lived with relatives or in shelters after being displaced by the 2010 torrential rains.
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Many → live → rains
Adults and children finally had bedrooms of their own.
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Adults → have → own
Bathrooms came with doors.
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Bathrooms → come → doors
However, they noticed problems right after moving in: Potable water service was essentially nonexistent; elevators stopped working; and trash chutes were breeding grounds for rats and cockroaches.
And they were unaware of the risks during an earthquake.
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they → notice → earthquake
Apartment complexes that were between 10 and 20 floors could end up swaying at the exact same rate as the seismic waves, in a phenomenon known as resonance.
uncertain
that → end → resonance
The syncing results in the building swaying farther and longer, putting additional pressure on columns and increasing the likelihood of damages and collapse, experts said.
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experts → result → damages
It is unknown whether government contractors followed Venezuela’s building codes.
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contractors → follow → codes
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
