The Rescue and Salvage Brigade of the Ministry of Interior (MININT) of Cuba returned to the Island on Sunday night after several weeks of operations in Venezuela, where it provided support to the victims of the devastating earthquakes on June 24.
According to information from MININT on their social media, specialists were received by Army Corps Generals Álvaro López Miera and Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, ministers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Interior, respectively.
The contingent was made up of 18 specialists from various branches of the armed institution, who worked for several weeks in the state of La Guaira alongside medical personnel from Cuba and other countries.
The mission took place in the context of one of the most destructive natural disasters in recent Venezuelan history: a double earthquake with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, occurring just 39 seconds apart. La Guaira was declared a Disaster Zone, and the official figures as of July 23 recorded 5,398 fatalities, while the UN estimates up to 50,000 missing persons.
The rescuers specifically operated in Caraballeda, where they worked on the recovery of bodies buried under rubble and in securing collapsed structures.
One of the members described the magnitude of what they experienced: "A situation that is extremely catastrophic, a disaster that we have never seen in Cuba, an experience that we bring back to Cuba, to share with the firefighters and rescuers who remain in our teams."
One day before their departure, on Saturday, the specialists were honored in Caracas with the April 16 Medal and the Venezuela-Cuba Friendship Award, in an event organized by the Cuban Embassy in Venezuela and the National Working Group.
This distinction was added to the honors bestowed by the Venezuelan government, led by interim president Delcy Rodríguez, to the Cuban rescuers on July 4, when they received the medal "Heroes and Heroines of Venezuela" in a ceremony with 478 specialists from 12 nations.
At the same time as the rescue efforts, a team of eight Cuban forensic doctors – the only international team specialized in corpse identification operating alongside Venezuelan authorities – identified between 50 and 60 bodies daily in La Guaira during the first days of July.
The return of the brigade took place on a date charged with symbolism for the Cuban regime: July 26, National Rebellion Day, which the MININT took advantage of to frame the mission as an expression of "humanistic commitment and solidarity" with the Venezuelan people.
The mission, however, had a painful dimension that the regime did not highlight in its statement: while rescuers were receiving accolades, at least 20 Cubans remained missing and eight had been confirmed dead, including a family of six found in Playa Grande. The MINREX took days to officially acknowledge the situation of its own citizens affected by the earthquakes.
The brigade was the first of the contingents sent by Cuba: an initial group of 13 specialists with three trained dogs - Tito, Eva, and Choco - arrived in Venezuela on June 28, followed by a second group of rescuers, surgeons, and forensics with over seven tons of specialized equipment.
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