Venezuela Earthquakes: Nations Suspending Ties Offer Aid
L'essentiel
- Following powerful earthquakes in Venezuela, several nations including Argentina, Ecuador, and El Salvador, which had previously suspended diplomatic relations, have offered rescue teams and humanitarian aid.
- The disaster has claimed at least 235 lives and injured over 1,500.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, causing widespread damage and casualties. This comes after several Latin American countries had suspended relations with Venezuela following its 2024 presidential election.
Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and other governments that suspended relations with Venezuela offer rescue teams and humanitarian aid
3 -MIN READ3 -MIN
Listen
Igor Patrickin Rio de Janeiro
Published: 6:52am, 26 Jun 2026Updated: 9:56am, 26 Jun 2026
Venezuela received offers of rescue teams and humanitarian aid from across the Americas on Thursday, including from right-wing governments that had broken off diplomatic relations with Caracas less than two years ago, after two earthquakes killed at least 188 people.
The quakes, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and 39 seconds apart, struck the north of the country on Wednesday evening and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez declared a nationwide state of emergency and named the coastal state of La Guaira a disaster zone. By Thursday evening, the death toll had risen to at least 235, with more than 1,500 injured, and many trapped under rubble.
Those international relations had been cut in the aftermath of Venezuela’s July 2024 presidential election, whose official result, which handed Nicolas Maduro a third term, was rejected by much of Latin America.
Caracas withdrew its diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay in a single day. Paraguay broke off relations weeks later after President Santiago Pena backed the Venezuelan opposition, and Ecuador and El Salvador already had no ties with Caracas.
Several of those governments offered help within hours of the disaster.
Questions ouvertes
- What is the full extent of the damage?
- How will aid be distributed?
- Will diplomatic relations be restored?
