The cheers that erupted in Caracas this morning were not for a politician or a footballer. They were for two small boys, Liam and Mateo, pulled from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment block after 36 hours trapped beneath concrete and steel. Britain, against a backdrop of strained public finances and international scepticism, has taken the lead in the rescue operation, dispatching a team of specialist urban search and rescue workers from the International Search and Rescue Group, based in Hampshire.
The mission, code-named Operation Esperanza, has seen British experts working shoulder to shoulder with Venezuelan firefighters, drilling through debris as temperatures soared above 30 degrees. For the families of the missing, every second has felt like a year. “They are our heroes,” said Maria Rodriguez, Mateo’s mother, her voice cracking with relief.
The rescue has offered a rare moment of unity in a country torn by political crisis and economic collapse. But questions remain over the safety of buildings in the city, many of which were constructed without proper regulation. For now, the focus is on the boys.
One rescuer, a former miner from Yorkshire, said: “You don’t think about politics. You think about getting that kid out.” The operation continues as rescue workers search for more survivors.
