Gobierno de Canarias confirms death of its delegate in Venezuela, Isabel Jara, after double earthquake

The Gobierno de Canarias confirmed on Friday the death of Isabel Jara, the autonomous government's delegate in Venezuela, who had been missing since the double earthquake of magnitudes 7.5 and 7.2 that struck the country. The announcement was made by government spokesman Alfonso Cabello at the close of an extraordinary Consejo de Gobierno convened in Tenerife to assess the situation in Venezuela.

According to elDiario.es, citing sources within the Canarian executive, Jara — director of the Oficina de Canarias in Venezuela — is among the fatal victims of the earthquakes. Cabello confirmed at a press conference that her body had been found, and extended the government's condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. "The only official confirmation is that of the Gobierno de Canarias delegate, and it is deeply painful," the spokesman said.

Earlier that Friday morning, the president of the Gobierno de Canarias, Fernando Clavijo, had reported that the building where the institutional representative lived, in La Guaira, had been reduced to rubble, and that efforts were under way to determine her condition. Clavijo said at the time that they had no direct news from the office's staff and that authorities were clearing the collapsed structure. According to El Progreso, Jara's apartment was on the top floor of the building.

The building in La Guaira

Jara's residence was located in the Macuto neighbourhood of La Guaira, the Venezuelan state worst affected by the earthquakes and declared a "disaster zone" by the country's authorities, according to Infobae. The coastal state has become one of the epicentres of the tragedy, with numerous buildings collapsed.

Cabello confirmed that further Canarian nationals are among the Spanish citizens still listed as missing, and assured that the regional government remains hopeful that the others can be located. The spokesman addressed a message of hope to families still searching for their loved ones.

Messages of condolence

Coalición Canaria MP Ana Oramas was among the first to react on social media, expressing her "enormous sadness" at the death of the director of the Oficina de Canarias in Venezuela. "We were all hoping for a miracle, but it was not to be," she wrote. Oramas noted that Jara had been her "great friend" and that together they had travelled across Venezuela "for more than 27 years", and mentioned her four children in her farewell message.

President Clavijo also posted a tribute on his social media accounts, remembering Jara as a "loyal colleague, a generous woman and an indispensable Canarian on the other side of the Atlantic", according to El Progreso, highlighting her "tireless work" on behalf of Canarians in Venezuela.

Three days of mourning

The Gobierno de Canarias declared three days of official mourning for the victims of the earthquakes, a declaration which, according to Cabello, was conveyed "unanimously by all Canarian public administrations", including cabildos, local councils and the parties represented in the Parlamento. At 13.00 a minute's silence was observed at the Presidencia headquarters in Tenerife.

The regional government is maintaining permanent contact with the Spanish Embassy in the country and with the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores to obtain official figures on missing Spanish nationals, which Clavijo put at more than fifty. In parallel, the Canarian government has reached out to the 22 Canarian organisations in Venezuela to assess their situation and arrange temporary shelter for those in need.

Victim tallies vary between sources and have continued to rise. According to Venezuelan authorities cited by Canarias7 and other outlets, the death toll stood at 235 with more than 4,300 injured at the time Jara's death was confirmed, while subsequent figures reported by other media raised the number of fatalities to several hundred.