Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez said that after the powerful double earthquake that struck on June 24, the government faced not only a natural disaster, but also a deliberate information attack. According to her, so-called “media labs” were involved—both inside the country and abroad—to sow panic and hinder rescue efforts. Rodríguez acknowledged that the scale of the earthquake exceeded all forecasts, but stressed that alongside the tragedy there was a planned destabilization campaign.
As a specific example, the head of state cited a false call to “everyone go down to La Guaira,” which was widely circulated on social media. This disinformation, according to an investigation, was intended to create traffic jams and chaos on the roads, obstructing evacuation and the search for survivors. At the same time, Rodríguez separately emphasized that she understands those citizens who genuinely went to that area to look for relatives—their actions were driven by compassion, unlike the commissioned campaign. The authorities said they have already identified the technical and geographic sources of these attacks, but for now are not disclosing any specific names or countries from which they were carried out.
Full version: Gobierno nacional denuncia activación de “laboratorios mediáticos” para generar caos tras el doblete sísmico