Venezuelan earthquakes test Trump’s new western hemisphere policy after gutting of USAID

Earthquakes in Venezuela Prompt Large-Scale US Disaster Response

Dual earthquakes struck Venezuela this week, prompting a major US disaster assistance operation to the country. The response comes after the Trump administration shifted foreign aid structures, including reductions at the US Agency for International Development and the transfer of disaster functions to the State Department.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the effort as a “big, fast, effective” and “whole-of-government” response. The State Department deployed three urban search and rescue teams and established a $150 million assistance fund. The disaster assistance response team sent to Venezuela includes more than 250 personnel, according to a department statement.

The operation follows a January US special forces action that captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to the United States to face federal narco-terrorism and related charges. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has maintained cooperative relations with Washington.

President Trump stated on Friday that the United States had sent personnel to assist after the earthquakes, which caused numerous deaths in Caracas. He noted improved bilateral ties since the January operation and referenced increased oil production and economic activity in Venezuela.

The earthquakes have resulted in at least 920 confirmed deaths. This marks the largest sudden-onset disaster response undertaken by the current administration. Former USAID counsellor Susan Reichle, who participated in the 2010 Haiti earthquake response, stated that the scale exceeds prior events handled under the administration. She noted that the first 72 hours after an earthquake are critical for survivor recovery and that the declaration of a disaster and activation of the response team occurred promptly.

Reichle also reported that the US foreign assistance office in Colombia was reduced from 144 staff members to 14 following the USAID changes, with corresponding reductions in partnerships with local organizations.

Acting President Rodríguez stated on Saturday that multiple individuals had been rescued alive from collapsed structures. Health experts have separately noted that the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization delayed notification of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by up to 10 days, affecting early response coordination in that instance.

International affairs fellow Sam Vigersky at the Council on Foreign Relations, who previously led US disaster response teams, analyzed key indicators including the dispatch of the disaster assistance response team and urban search and rescue units. His review found that the State Department’s actions aligned with the pace of prior US responses to the 2023 Turkey earthquake and the 2021 Haiti earthquake. Vigersky described the $150 million commitment within the first 24 hours as the largest initial pledge he had recorded for a sudden-onset disaster.

Vigersky observed that the response occurs within an existing bilateral relationship with Venezuela’s interim government and that stability in the country aligns with US interests. The administration has framed foreign assistance as requiring mutual benefits rather than unilateral transfers and has reduced certain bilateral aid mechanisms.

The current operation follows earlier US responses to events such as Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, though the Venezuelan earthquakes exceed those in scale.