Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said that bodies from the La Guaira disaster could be identified using fingerprint impressions [1].

The dispute over identification methods highlights a critical gap in Venezuela's forensic capabilities during a mass-casualty crisis. If the government relies on flawed methods, families may not receive accurate information about their missing relatives.

Rodríguez said the use of fingerprints is a way to accelerate the identification process for victims of the disaster in La Guaira [1]. This method is intended to provide quick answers to the public as rescue operations continue [1].

However, forensic specialists said that identifying bodies through fingerprints is impossible when the remains are in a state of decomposition [1]. According to these experts, the process of decay destroys the ridges of the skin, making traditional fingerprinting an unreliable or non-viable tool for identification [1].

Beyond the physical limitations of the bodies, experts said there are systemic failures within the Venezuelan state [1]. They said the country lacks the necessary DNA laboratories to perform more accurate genetic testing [1]. Furthermore, the specialists said the government lacks the budget required to implement proper identification protocols for a disaster of this scale [1].

While the administration continues to promote the fingerprint method, the contradiction between government claims and scientific reality persists, leaving a void in the forensic response to the La Guaira tragedy [1].

“Specialists say that identifying bodies through fingerprints is impossible when the remains are in a state of decomposition.”

The friction between the Venezuelan government's claims and forensic science suggests a prioritization of perceived speed over accuracy. By relying on fingerprinting despite decomposition, the administration may be attempting to project efficiency to the public while ignoring the reality that the country's forensic infrastructure is too underfunded to support DNA-based identification.