Daniel Lopes, whose parents are from Madeira, saw his family's supermarket, a decades-long business in Venezuela, destroyed by an earthquake. The three-story building with a basement was irreparably damaged, with losses estimated at one million dollars.
Lopes believes that the ground's fragility, worsened by years of wastewater infiltration, contributed to the destruction by making the structures vulnerable to the tremor. Despite the significant loss, he refuses to give up and vows to rebuild the establishment.
The businessman also criticized the authorities' response, stating that entrepreneurs and the Portuguese community have been the primary providers of immediate aid to earthquake-affected populations, lamenting the state's absence in critical zones.
