With candles lit, bells ringing and a silence that extended for seconds in dozens of cities, Venezuela stopped this Friday, July 24, to remember the victims of the double earthquake that shook the country exactly a month ago.
At 6:04 in the afternoon, the precise time when the earth shook on June 24, families, neighbors and entire communities—inside and outside the national territory— They observed a minute of silence in response to a call that emerged on social networks, but that thousands of Venezuelans made their own.
The citizen call asked to light a candle in each home and keep silent as a sign of solidarity with the bereaved.
“A call to accompany the mourners, honor memory and sow hope,” stated the text, which also requested that church bells ring throughout the national territory during that minute.
In compliance with that call, several Eucharists were celebrated this Friday afternoon, all specifically dedicated to commemorating the month of the earthquakes. One was held from Plaza Francia de Altamira, in Chacao, where attendees joined the minute of silence.
The Eucharist was organized by the Mayor’s Office of Chacao and included the participation of the Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Ángel Sauce Choir.
In parallel, from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), the rector of that house of studies, Víctor Rago, He stressed that accompanying the recovery and reconstruction after the earthquakes is a humanitarian task that the institution cannot avoid. That is why attendees also observed a minute of silence.
In addition, Delcy Rodríguez, president in charge of Venezuela, led the official events to remember the victims, which coincided with the celebration of the 243rd anniversary of the birth of Simón Bolívar and the 203rd anniversary of the Naval Battle of the Lake.
During the solemn ceremony, the president expressly requested a “touch of silence” in honor of the victims of the earthquakes, a gesture that replicated, minutes later, the instruction to stop “together” in the face of a tragedy that, he said, left the Venezuelan family in mourning.
In addition, In different parts of the country, some people read letters addressed to the affected citizens in La Guairathe most devastated state, and those who lost their lives in the tragedy, in a collective exercise of mourning that sought, beyond the protocol acts, to support the families who are still going through the recovery process.
One month after the seismic event that changed the lives of thousands of Venezuelans, the memory shared between prayers, candles and silence became the most widespread gesture in a country who, according to the call itself, chose to “accompany those who remained.”
