The United Nations launched an appeal for roughly $300 million to assist 1.3 million people in urgent need following twin earthquakes that killed 3,889 Venezuelans 16 days ago, marking a dramatic shift in the South American nation's relationship with international relief organizations that were recently targets of government repression.
Mobile kitchens, clinics, and field hospitals now occupy public spaces throughout La Guaira state, where the June 24 earthquakes collapsed 190 buildings and damaged 856 others. The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez estimates about 18,000 people lost their homes. They're living in schools, on sidewalks, in parks and plazas.
Health Crisis Emerges
Doctors treating displaced populations reported Thursday an increase in skin conditions and diarrheal diseases, as well as surging requests for medications for chronic illnesses including diabetes and high blood pressure. The emerging diseases stem from crowded living spaces and poor water and sanitation conditions, which in many communities predate the earthquakes.
U.N. relief chief Tom Fletcher told The Associated Press during his visit to Venezuela that people are showing up at displacement sites two weeks after the disaster not just with fractures but with longer-term health needs. "It's vital that we're there for them," Fletcher said.
Irma Echarri, 67, arrived at a mobile unit across from a church hoping doctors could replace her eyedrops and pain reliever. She also wanted treatment for nose pain that developed after the earthquakes. "It hurts a lot," Echarri said while waiting to be seen. "It hurts because it hurts." Her home wasn't damaged, but many neighbors now live in temporary shelters or outdoors.
Economic Toll Mounts
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimated direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure around $37 billion. That figure doesn't account for lost productivity or the economic impact on workers like Zulbey Reyes, 41, who lost her job as a nanny when the earthquakes struck. She sought treatment at a clinic run by Venezuela-based organization Paluz in partnership with the International Rescue Committee for chest pain she feared was cardiac. "But it's a nerve that became inflamed after the screams that day," Reyes said after diagnosis and receiving medication.
Armando Denegri, representative in Venezuela of the Pan-American Health Organization, told reporters Thursday that "50% of the health professionals in La Guaira were directly affected" by the earthquakes. "Some disappeared, some died, others were severely affected by the crisis, impacting their families," Denegri said without providing further details.
Government Reversal on NGOs
The widespread presence of nongovernmental organizations in the country and the freedom with which the government is allowing them to operate contrasts sharply with the repression and persecution they faced in recent years. While Rodríguez served as vice president to former President Nicolás Maduro, organizations were repeatedly accused of anti-government activities and the U.N. local human rights office was expelled.
Fletcher, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AP the United States has provided most of the earthquake-response aid so far. Much of the assistance on the ground is being delivered by local groups that have partnered with global humanitarian organizations.
"When you have a crisis of this magnitude, people put the politics to one side and are able to focus on saving as many lives as possible, and that's what I'm seeing so far in this response," Fletcher said.
Victims of the powerful earthquakes, as well as people spared by the destruction, have flooded relief services offered by nongovernmental organizations in the hardest-hit areas.
Why This Matters:
The $37 billion in direct physical damage represents a staggering economic burden for Venezuela, a nation already struggling with institutional instability and economic mismanagement. The displacement of 18,000 people and the loss of half the healthcare workforce in La Guaira demonstrate how natural disasters expose and exacerbate the consequences of inadequate infrastructure investment and governance failures. The government's sudden reversal on NGO access, after years of expelling international organizations, reveals the limits of state capacity in crisis response. American taxpayers are now shouldering most of the relief costs through U.S. aid contributions. The emerging public health crisis from poor sanitation shows how government services collapsed under pressure, leaving private relief organizations and international partners to fill the gap. The economic impact extends beyond infrastructure to individual livelihoods, with workers like Reyes losing employment and productivity grinding to a halt in affected areas.