MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Venezuela shifts to clearing rubble and recovering bodies as rescue teams depart]]> Managing the rubble is emerging as one of the main challenges Venezuela entered a new stage in its response to the June 24 twin earthquake, focused on clearing rubble and recovering bodies, after the departure of nearly all international rescue teams. In the streets of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, dozens of machines arrived in recent hours to speed up those tasks, which now fall mainly to Venezuelan volunteers, firefighters, civil defense and residents. The official toll stands at 2,954 dead and more than 16,500 injured.

]]> Sun, 05 Jul 2026 23:55:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentina sends fresh rescue brigades to Venezuela as most foreign teams begin to withdraw]]> The Argentine contingent's departure comes as most foreign teams begin to leave Venezuela A new contingent of Argentine rescue workers left for Venezuela on Sunday to relieve the search-and-rescue teams deployed after the June 24 twin earthquake, which according to the official toll has left 2,954 dead and more than 16,500 injured. The dispatch coincides with the start of the withdrawal of most international missions, at the point when operations are shifting away from rescuing survivors toward the recovery phase.

]]> Sun, 05 Jul 2026 20:51:00 GMT <![CDATA[Six months after Maduro's capture, Rodríguez's interim mandate expires after the quake]]> Maduro's capture led to a reconfiguration of power headed by Rodríguez and her brother Jorge Six months after the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by the United States, Venezuela faces an institutional crossroads: the 180-day interim mandate of acting President Delcy Rodríguez —granted after Maduro's removal in January— was set to expire on Friday, with no clarity on what would come next. The uncertainty is compounded by the June 24 twin earthquake, which left more than 2,500 dead according to the official toll and has become the government's biggest test of competence.

]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 23:29:00 GMT <![CDATA[A multinational rescue frees Hernán, trapped eight days under Venezuela's quake rubble]]> Gil, who worked as a guard in the underground parking garage of a shopping mall, survived by sheltering under the desk of his booth when the building collapsed A 43-year-old Venezuelan security guard, Hernán Gil, was rescued alive on Thursday after eight days trapped under the rubble of a building that collapsed in Catia La Mar, in La Guaira state, during the twin earthquake that struck the country on June 24. The Costa Rican Red Cross, which took part in the operation, confirmed the rescue, considered one of the most complex and prolonged of the disaster, which has left at least 2,295 dead and more than 11,000 injured, according to the official toll.

]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela's quake toll passes 2,295 a week on, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for]]> Search efforts continued in the coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest hit, where most of the victims are concentrated A week after the twin earthquake that struck north-central Venezuela, the official toll rose to at least 2,295 dead and 11,267 injured, according to National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, who has been the main voice for the figures since the disaster. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the country, Gianluca Rampolla, warned that the number "will keep growing" as rescue and debris-removal work advances.

]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:51:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chilean rescuers allege military harassment in Venezuela's quake zone]]> According to Lermanda's account to Venezuelan and Chilean media, soldiers have repeatedly demanded identity documents from his 46 rescuers, on suspicion of espionage The leader of the Topos Chile rescue group, Francisco Lermanda, alleged that his teams deployed in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira have been harassed by soldiers during search operations in the area hardest hit by the June 24 twin earthquake, which according to the official toll has left at least 1,943 dead. The Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the accusations.

]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 22:08:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela's María Corina Machado accuses the government of blocking her return after the earthquake]]> Machado left Venezuela in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and has repeatedly called for the support of US President Donald Trump to achieve a change of government Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday accused the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez of closing the country's airspace to prevent her return, as Venezuela copes with the emergency caused by the June 24 twin earthquake, which has left more than 1,700 dead and some 5,000 injured. "They want to block my return to Venezuela," Machado said in a video posted on social media, in which she said she was in Panama.

]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:41:00 GMT <![CDATA[Mexican rescuers in Venezuela call it one of the largest tragedies they have faced]]> The Mexican detachment numbers some 280 soldiers, plus close to 300 members of the Red Cross, firefighters and civil protection, deployed as part of the DN-III civilian-assistance plan Rescuers from the Mexican Army's Emergency Response Battalion (BAE), considered among the most experienced in the world in natural disasters, say the earthquake that devastated north-central Venezuela is "one of the largest tragedies" they have attended, above all because of the scale of the damage. The team is working in the coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, where the official toll exceeded 1,700 dead on Monday.

]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:35:00 GMT <![CDATA[Why Venezuela's earthquake was so deadly: shallow, powerful and just seconds apart]]> The satellite images that have gradually emerged confirm a trail of collapsed buildings along the coast, the most densely populated and hardest-hit area The combination of two powerful, very shallow earthquakes just 39 seconds apart explains much of the devastation left by Wednesday's earthquake in north-central Venezuela, where the latest official toll exceeds 1,450 dead and 3,150 injured. The satellite images that have gradually emerged confirm a trail of collapsed buildings along the coast, the most densely populated and hardest-hit area.

]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:51:00 GMT <![CDATA[Collapsed hospitals and morgues raise health fears in Venezuela's earthquake zone]]> Authorities have restricted access to La Guaira to ease the entry of heavy machinery and specialized teams The emergency caused by the twin earthquake that struck north-central Venezuela on Wednesday is beginning to turn into a health risk, given the bodies that remain under the rubble and the collapse of hospitals and morgues in the worst-hit areas, particularly the coastal state of La Guaira. Authorities this weekend raised the toll to at least 1,450 dead and some 3,150 injured, a figure they warned would keep rising.

]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:31:00 GMT