South america

Yossi Pinto, head of the IDF's delegation to Venezuela, told the Post that Israeli experts developed a nationwide system to assess damaged buildings and guide the country's long-term reconstruction.

This comes as Europe is getting hit by what one DEA officer called “a tsunami of cocaine,” and follows an operation in which a French Navy sniper shot the engine of a high-speed smuggling vessel.

Since arriving, the delegation has worked alongside local forces on the ground to locate and rescue survivors and provide humanitarian aid where possible.

Their task is the management of a shelter for victims of the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes. The dozen or so staff have designed a digital system to register residents, most of whom have suffered loss.

"In the end, we believe the days have already passed and that what we will find now is death," said Major Jorge Montanero, leader of the EQ11 team from Guayaquil, located on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

As Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru move right, analysts say voters are punishing insecurity and failed governments, while Brazil remains the region’s decisive test.

The delegation comprises 16 rescue personnel, along with other professionals from the Magen - Disaster & Emergency Management Company, Israel's Ready for Rescue non-profit, and SmartAID.

The imagery reveals extensive damage across several areas of the city, including the collapse of high-rise residential buildings in the Playa Grande neighborhood.

Israel's Foreign and Health ministries are preparing official delegations and aid, while non-governmental organizations, including IsraAID and KKL-JNF, are also sending aid.

The USGS, using predictive modeling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands. Some 200 people are currently feared trapped under rubble.