Read our editorial on the US imperialist war of aggression against Venezuela here.
The official death toll following the 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude earthquakes which devastated Venezuela’s Caracas and La Guaira regions in late June has surpassed 5,000 people as of July 18, including many of the 146 Venezuelans deported by the US to the oppressed nation one day before the quakes. Thousands are reported injured according to the Venezuelan government, with 50,000 missing per UN estimates.
The group of 146 Venezuelans, including women and children, had been deported from the United States in ICE’s terror campaign, arriving in Venezuela only hours before the earthquakes struck. The deportees had been confined in a guarded facility in La Guaira after arriving from Miami. The building collapsed in the earthquakes that same night. Monopoly media accounts from survivors vary, saying that between 12 to 40 of the group staying at the facility have been rescued, while most are feared dead beneath the rubble.
Survivors report that deportees rescued one another while official search efforts were slow or absent. Families say authorities blocked them from searching for loved ones, provided little information, and failed to identify many recovered bodies because identity documents had been confiscated by ICE before deportation. The US Department of Homeland Security denied any responsibility, stating that once deportees arrived in Venezuela they were no longer under US custody.
Years of US and EU sanctions weakened Venezuela’s infrastructure, healthcare system, and economy long before the US invasion of the country and its kidnapping of president Nicolás Maduro in January. Since the US invasion, the interim Venezuelan government of Delcy Rodríguez has deepened its capitulation to US imperialism, surrendering control over Venezuelan oil revenues, of which the US has stolen billions of dollars, and expanding access for US oil monopolies.
Across the affected regions, residents have been forced to dig through rubble with their bare hands while heavy rescue equipment failed to arrive.
US imperialism has expanded its military presence around Venezuela to secure its plunder of Venezuela’s oil industry since the earthquakes, while claiming the increased imperialist troop presence is to aid in relief. Democracy Now reports the deployments include drones and combat helicopters.
According to the New York Times, the US imperialists have only released as aid $200 million of the $8 billion in seized Venezuelan oil revenue, held in a US Treasury Department account, an insignificant amount compared to enormous reconstruction costs now facing the country.
Image: The aftermath of the 2026 Venezuela earthquakes. Credit: The Organization for World Peace.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
