Two Cuban brothers, Vanessa Martínez and Dayan Martínez, originally from the Melena del Sur municipality in the Mayabeque province, have been missing in Venezuela following the earthquakes on June 24 that devastated La Guaira state.
Through his profile on Facebook, journalist Daniel Benítez explained that both brothers "were last seen in this building, and now family members urgently request that anyone with information about them get in touch."
The minors lived with their father in the Coral Beach building, located in the Los Corales area of La Guaira, one of the regions most affected by the structural collapse.
The children's father was a Cuban doctor who completed a mission in Venezuela and decided to stay in the country, taking the girl with him. Vanessa's mother lives in Cuba, he emphasized
Family members request that anyone with information about the minors contact the numbers shared on social media.
The case of the two brothers is set against a tragedy of historical proportions. The two earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, occurred just 39 seconds apart, with their epicenter in the state of Yaracuy, and were classified by the United States Geological Survey as the most powerful recorded in Venezuela since 1900.
In La Guaira, more than 100 buildings collapsed, including Coral Beach itself, where rescuers managed to pull a woman and her father alive from the rubble.
Vanessa and Dayan are not the only Cubans whose whereabouts are unknown. According to monitoring by the grassroots platform Encuéntralos and social media tracking, at least 29 Cubans are reported missing in Venezuela, with most concentrated in La Guaira, particularly in the areas of Caraballeda, Catia La Mar, and Los Corales.
Among them is a family of at least six members who went missing in the Oasis and Resjurel buildings, as well as a psychologist, a boxing coach, a physical therapist, and a cycling instructor, all Cuban residents of the coastal area.
The official toll of the disaster stands at 920 dead and more than 3,360 injured, according to Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly.
The true magnitude of the tragedy could be much greater: the UN is handling unofficial figures of up to 50,000 missing across the country, while the International Organization for Migration estimates that 6.76 million people have been affected.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, described the situation as "truly horrifying devastation."
The Ministry of Public Health of Cuba confirmed that all members of the Cuban medical mission in Venezuela are safe and have resumed their assistance activities, although many Cubans who chose to remain in the country due to personal connections, such as the father of the two brothers, are still unaccounted for.
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