Search-and-rescue crews in Venezuela pulled 33 people alive from collapsed buildings over the weekend after twin earthquakes devastated the country’s northern coast, but officials and aid workers warned Sunday that time was rapidly running out for nearly 50,000 still feared missing.

The death toll stood at 1,430 as of late Saturday, according to The Associated Press. More than 3,000 have been injured and roughly the same number are living in shelters, according to Venezuelan authorities.

The worst devastation is concentrated in coastal La Guaira state, where entire apartment blocks, hotels and public housing buildings pancaked after magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck in quick succession Wednesday. Hundreds of aftershocks have continued to rattle damaged neighborhoods, complicating rescue work and keeping survivors outside in the heat.

Among the 33 rescued were an infant removed alive from rubble by U.S. rescuers, an 11-year-old boy found by a Colombian team after a scanner detected him about 10 feet below the surface, and another 11-year-old rescued by Mexican crews in Caraballeda.

AMERICAN RESCUE TEAMS PULL INFANT ALIVE FROM RUBBLE IN VENEZUELA DAYS AFTER DEVASTATING TWIN EARTHQUAKES

«In these hours each life is hope for Venezuela,» Acting President Delcy Rodríguez wrote on X after one of the rescues.

Swiss rescue-team leader Sebastian Eugster told Reuters that the odds of finding survivors drop sharply after roughly 72 hours under rubble. That mark passed Saturday evening.

«There exists a window of roughly three days, 72 hours, where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive,» Eugster said.

The missing toll remains highly uncertain. The government has spoken of hundreds missing or trapped, while some estimated just under 50,000 people as missing Sunday, down from 55,000 a day earlier. The AP reported that families had listed 68,900 people missing Saturday, underscoring the chaos in accounting for the dead, the displaced and those cut off by communications failures.

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With the desperation of the survival window closing as the days and hours wear on, Starlink has provided communication services for the humanitarian crisis.

«Starlink Mobile is providing free connectivity to @MovistarVe customers in the La Guaira region, and we are working to provide free service for @DigitelAyuda and @movilnet_ve customers as quickly as possible,» Starlink posted Sunday to X.

«Families, communities and businesses with compatible LTE smartphones can now stay connected through SMS even if terrestrial networks are not available and customer phones will automatically connect to Starlink Mobile. Coverage will work best with a clear view of the sky.»

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Pope Leo on Sunday expressed solidarity with survivors and victims’ families holding out hope.

«I wish to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes that caused numerous victims and injuries,» the pontiff said in Spanish before worshippers gathered for Sunday’s Angelus prayer in Rome.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

En su intervención final en las cuatro sesiones del segundo Consistorio, celebrado en el Aula de las Audiencias Generales —donde fueron desplegadas veinte mesas circulares en las que se sentaron 178 cardenales asistentes—, el Papa relanzó los temas principales discutidos: no violencia, pobreza, multilateralismo, jóvenes, familia, bien común “y la guerra, que no es solo un conflicto entre Estados, sino que nace de una cultura de la potencia que usa economía, tecnología y religión”.

León XIV anunció que el tercer Consistorio tendrá lugar el año próximo. El primero se celebró en enero pasado.

En la última de las cuatro sesiones hubo un momento de diálogo libre de los purpurados con el Papa. León XIV también les pidió que le hicieran llegar sus reflexiones por escrito para abordar los temas elegidos.

“Este Consistorio ha sido un momento precioso y no debe quedar como un encuentro aislado”, dijo el Papa.

Durante las sesiones, los cardenales y el propio pontífice expresaron su solidaridad con el pueblo de Venezuela, castigado por un muy violento terremoto. “Aseguramos nuestras oraciones por las víctimas, por sus familias y por los que sufren”, dijo. “Confiemos al Señor también a todos los que están empeñados en el socorro y pedimos que no venga a menos la solidaridad de la comunidad internacional hacia esta querida nación”.

El Papa concluyó las sesiones con “un llamado profético a la paz del mundo»: “La violencia no tendrá la última palabra”.

“Dios desea la paz para cada nación y para cada pueblo. No debemos resignarnos a la violencia, que no tendrá la última palabra. Dios continúa abriendo en la historia caminos de reconciliación y paz”.

León XIV dijo que ha sido motivo de consuelo y esperanza ver cómo los purpurados, “venidos de Iglesias, culturas y situaciones tan diversas”, han logrado escucharse recíprocamente y buscar juntos lo que mejor sirve al Evangelio. Señaló que la mirada de los cardenales ha contemplado el mundo “tocando los sufrimientos de las guerras, la violencia, la pobreza y tantas injusticias que marcan la vida de los pueblos”.

“Dentro de estos dramas, han reconocido ustedes un sufrimiento aún más profundo: la soledad, las crisis de las relaciones, la pérdida de la esperanza, la dificultad de reconocerse recíprocamente como hermano y hermana. Es una mirada que no quita los ojos de las heridas del mundo, sino que busca las raíces, reconociendo, con frecuencia escondida dentro de ellas, una renovada demanda de sentido, de autenticidad, de espiritualidad y de comunidad. Muchos buscan hoy esperanzas y relaciones verdaderas”.

El pontífice dijo que “el perdón rompe la espiral de la venganza. Esta es la fuerza del Crucificado resucitado, una fuerza que no destruye al enemigo, sino que hace posible reencontrar a un hermano».

En esta perspectiva, el pontífice relanzó el pedido avanzado por diversos grupos de proseguir profundizando el tema de la legítima defensa para intervenir en la naturaleza de los conflictos contemporáneos.

“Esta reflexión merece ser ulteriormente desarrollada con el necesario rigor teológico y pastoral”, agregó. “De un corazón reconciliado pueden nacer palabras desarmadas, relaciones nuevas y una paz capaz de alcanzar también a los pueblos”.

Es evidente que las heridas humanas y el crecimiento de las situaciones de guerra están hoy en el centro de las preocupaciones de la Iglesia. Sobre todo, el Papa evidencia cómo las más profundas se encuentran entre los jóvenes, “en el sufrimiento que a veces lleva a la desesperación de quitarse la vida”.

León XIV insistió en “la defensa inviolable de cada persona”. Destacó “la insistencia de la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia para que sea cada vez más patrimonio vivo de nuestras comunidades».

En la parte final de su intervención en el Consistorio, el Papa confió “una vez más” a los cardenales el camino de actuación del Sínodo. Pidió actuar en la conciencia de que “la sinodalidad no es un sistema de reuniones, ni un método de trabajo”. “Es un estilo espiritual. Nace del encuentro, crece en la escucha y madura en el discernimiento».

“La verdadera demanda no es cuántas conversaciones sabremos organizar, sino cuáles serán las cualidades evangélicas que tendrán nuestros encuentros”, advirtió.

León XIV dijo que los participantes de los Consistorios (que serán anuales, N. de la R.) “están poco a poco redescubriendo su significado más auténtico. No un parlamento, no un congreso en el que prevalecen opiniones o intereses, sino una experiencia de comunión al servicio de la misión”.

“Es un estilo que estamos llamados a promover en toda la Iglesia, porque cada bautizado, según su propia vocación y responsabilidad, participe en la construcción de la civilización del amor al servicio del bien común”, concluyó el pontífice.

A top Agriculture Department watchdog warned Congress on Thursday that fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has allowed individuals linked to terrorist groups, foreign adversaries and transnational criminal organizations to access and abuse food stamps.

The hearing marked the latest push by the Trump administration and House Republicans to crack down on these financial crimes and address the alleged waste, fraud and abuse in the bloated federal SNAP program.

«SNAP fraud is a reprehensible crime that squanders the compassion of American taxpayers who fund the program and robs from those low-income Americans who qualify for SNAP benefits to feed themselves and their families,» USDA Inspector General John Walk told the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.

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«Proceeds of SNAP fraud have gone to individuals linked to terrorist groups, foreign adversary nations and transnational criminal organizations,» Walk testified.

Republicans argued that broader access to state eligibility data could uncover billions more in improper payments and organized criminal activity, while Democrats warned the effort could be used to justify cuts to food assistance for eligible Americans.

Walk, during Thursday’s hearing, seemed to further feed into Republicans’ concerns as he described increasingly sophisticated schemes targeting the roughly $100 billion federal food assistance program. He said organized criminals are stealing benefits from vulnerable Americans through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card skimming, trafficking operations and identity fraud.

The inspector general said the crimes leave many legitimate vulnerable recipients without money to buy food.

He recounted speaking this week with a New York father of five whose SNAP benefits were stolen after criminals skimmed his EBT card.

«I have heard many stories from victims like these working moms and dads,» Walk said. «They’re why SNAP fraud matters.»

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A SNAP EBT information sign is displayed at a gas station in Riverwoods, Ill., on Nov. 1, 2025. (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)

Walk also highlighted a Southern California investigation in which SNAP benefits were allegedly exchanged for cash and crack cocaine.

According to his testimony, gang members then used proceeds from the fraud to purchase firearms.

«I’ll just repeat that,» Walk said. «SNAP dollars, federal tax dollars, used to buy drugs and guns.»

Walk’s testimony underscored the focus of Thursday’s hearing, where House Republicans argued that gaps in oversight and data sharing have allowed billions of taxpayer dollars to be lost to fraud and abuse within the nation’s food stamp program.

The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., claimed that Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials identified roughly $3 billion in potential fraud and waste using data submitted by participating states. Some examples included benefits allegedly being sent to 186,000 deceased individuals, 442,000 applicants with fraudulent Social Security numbers and hundreds of thousands of duplicate recipients in the system.

He also criticized 21 states for declining to provide requested SNAP data to the USDA, arguing the lack of participation prevents federal officials from identifying additional fraud.

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Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., criticized 21 states for declining to provide requested SNAP data to the Agriculture Department. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

«If food stamp recipients’ data stays in state-specific databases, individuals may apply for and receive benefits from multiple states,» Burchett said.

Walk said investigators face the same challenge, arguing that limited access to state recipient data makes it difficult to detect fraud before taxpayer dollars are spent.

«We cannot pay and chase our way to stopping SNAP fraud,» he said. «We need to guard the front door.»

The inspector general also warned that criminals can install EBT card skimming devices in as little as seven seconds, allowing thieves to clone benefit cards and drain accounts as soon as monthly benefits are deposited.

While Republicans focused on fraud prevention and tighter oversight, Democrats argued the hearing risked portraying administrative errors as intentional fraud and defended SNAP’s role in feeding vulnerable Americans.

Food Research and Action Center Director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy Gina Plata-Nino said organized theft of EBT benefits poses a serious problem but cautioned lawmakers against confusing payment errors with fraud.

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«Program integrity and food access are not competing goals,» Plata-Nino testified.

The hearing comes as the Trump administration has prioritized rooting out fraud across federal benefit programs, with Burchett arguing additional state cooperation could uncover even more abuse within SNAP.