Barbados team treats 2 700 Venezuelans after earthquakes

Barbados’ emergency medical team has treated more than 2 700 people and carried out 74 surgeries in Venezuela since becoming operational in July, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said, following two earthquakes that killed more than 6 500 people.

Briefing reporters shortly after returning from an official visit to the South American nation, Mottley described the human toll as staggering while highlighting the role of local specialists, defence personnel and volunteers on the ground.

Reflecting on the devastation she witnessed first-hand, the prime minister spoke about the emotional and physical burden carried by thousands of affected families across the country.

The scale of the tragedy was difficult to comprehend, particularly for communities that had lost their homes, livelihoods and sense of security in an instant, she said.

“Tragic to see the level of loss,” Prime Minister Mottley said. “I don’t think any of us can even appreciate what it means not to have clarity as to how many lives, how many families have been affected either through loss of life or complete loss of everything else, shelter and all of your possessions, having to live in camps.”

The relief effort follows earlier regional operations by Barbados, including emergency aid sent to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa. The deployment combines the operational capacity of the Barbados Defence Force with the clinical expertise of staff from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and independent medical volunteers.

To address challenges on the ground, the Barbadian contingent incorporated local expertise as Venezuelan nationals volunteered to help overcome language barriers and support patient care in affected areas.

“I’m proud that Barbados was able to play a part and make a difference,” she remarked, outlining the mechanism of the deployment. “It’s a combination of what we do through the defense force and the medical hospital and then volunteers from the medical fraternity, public, private, etc. who go in and who are able to help. In the case of Venezuela, because of the nature of the circumstances, we had more people from Venezuela also agreed to be volunteers, largely because of the language differences and also because they recognise that we’re really making a difference.”

Working from a specialised field hospital since the third week of July, the medics have managed a heavy clinical workload under difficult conditions, she said.

“Our people down there have been able to see, since the third week of July when they were operational, over 2 700 patients. They’ve done over 74 surgeries, of which five were oral surgeries and the rest were either minor or major surgeries, and to be able to see the way in which we have therefore been able to make a difference in the lives of people.”

She urged the public to look beyond Venezuela’s size, saying even large countries needed outside help when disasters overwhelmed local capacity.

“We see Venezuela, we see a big country, but we don’t realize that in every big country also there are other challenges and issues and pockets, and that Barbados, apart from what we did with the [Regional Security System] and CARICOM and other aspects of the recovery, we were able to make a huge difference with this field hospital which will remain there, I believe, until early October.”

The prime minister singled out several leaders and specialists involved in the effort, including Barbados Defence Force commanders and medical professionals led by Senior Minister Dr William Duguid, a dentist who spent a week performing specialised dental procedures for residents.

Beyond emergency humanitarian relief, the visit also advanced bilateral relations between Bridgetown and Caracas. Building on preliminary talks held in Barbados in late April with President Delcy Rodríguez, Mottley confirmed that discussions continued during her trip and resulted in the signing of a new joint declaration.

A delegation from Venezuela is scheduled to arrive in Barbados by mid-September to formalise regional cooperation agreements. The talks will focus on food security, tourism development, international transport links and joint energy initiatives intended to strengthen both economies.

Mottley reflected on the fragility of human life when faced with natural disasters as she called on Barbadians to maintain empathy for people dealing with the aftermath of the two earthquakes.  

“I really feel proud, but at the same time I have to reflect on how fragile life is,” Mottley said. “And the extent to which something that they never contemplated—two massive back-to-back earthquakes—could literally take the lives of thousands of people and displace the livelihoods, possessions, and shelter of tens of thousands more.”

(RR)