The fallout from Venezuela’s powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodriguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires on Friday.

A day after Rodriguez angrily defended the competence of her government’s relief effort at her first news conference since the June 24 disaster, her main rival, exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, issued her own appeal.

Machado on Friday argued that the government’s quake response exposed its critical weaknesses and that she should return to Venezuela to help “the transition process, especially after the tragedy”.

“My presence stabilises the situation; it is part of the organising forces that the country needs at a time when the total absence of the state has become evident,” Machado said, referring to widespread criticism of the government’s earthquake response as slow and disorganised.

“The country needs figures it can trust.” She spoke to reporters from Panama.

The quakes have killed more than 2,295 people and injured over 11,000 others, according to the government, which has not updated the tallies since Wednesday.