Venezuela has received offers of rescue teams and humanitarian aid from across the Americas, including from right-wing governments that had broken off diplomatic relations with Caracas less than two years ago, in the wake of this week’s deadly twin earthquakes.
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 4,300 injured, while many were believed to be trapped under rubble of toppled buildings.
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.
Several of those governments offered help within hours of the disaster.
