Venezuelans left to fend for themselves after quakes as rescuers leave

The smell of death lingers in the sweltering heat along Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, where displaced families sleep on bunk beds in converted school classrooms and newly dug graves line a nearby cemetery.

Three weeks after twin earthquakes rocked the densely populated state of La Guaira, the frantic search for survivors has given way to a grim reality: burying the dead, caring for thousands left homeless and rebuilding shattered communities.

At La Esperanza cemetery, rows of freshly painted white crosses stretch across a dusty hillside beneath the blazing sun. Inside every buried coffin, sealed within a body bag, lies one of more than 300 quake victims whose identity remains unknown.