By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein on July 4, 2026
I’m not saying anything new when I say that January 3, 2026, marked a turning point in Venezuela’s history. The problem stems from the different interpretations that have been made of that event. And now, almost six months later, another shocking event is impacting the lives of Venezuelans. In both cases, death has visited the homes of dozens of citizens.
One of the most notable differences is that before January 3, responsibility for governing the country lay with Venezuela’s constitutional government, while the United States devoted all its economic, military, financial, scientific, political, and diplomatic resources to destroying the Venezuelan state in order to seize its wealth.
But now, with January 3 having come to pass and an irregular protectorate established in the country—according to Charles Rousseau’s definition in his book *Public International Law*, which states that this status “implies a division of powers between the two states concerned”—that situation has changed. To that extent, following the earthquake on June 24, the Venezuelan government immediately set out to act—to the best of its ability—to confront nature’s terrible force.
But the other side has failed to fulfill its role. First and foremost, it was unable to prevent the entire population from flooding chaotically and haphazardly into La Guaira, driven by a noble sentiment characteristic of the Venezuelan people. On the contrary, its media outlets and networks—both in Venezuela and abroad—fanned the flames of that chaos. Acting swiftly and in an orderly manner, the government took immediate measures: it established a unified registration and control center at the Poliedro de Caracas to organize volunteers and humanitarian aid vehicles; it militarized La Guaira state to facilitate rescue operations; and it cleared the roads to facilitate the arrival of aid.
In this way, it demonstrated an operational capacity on the ground that the so-called “protective” superpower lacks. Thus, conditions were created to unleash the natural and intrinsic solidarity of the Venezuelan people, which has multiplied as never before—and as it always has.
Contrary to what the media vultures have been claiming, there is no shortage of supplies in the hospitals, which were immediately stocked from the reserves set aside for such contingencies. Dr. Mauro Herrera, a cardiologist and head of the hemodynamics unit at the José M. Vargas Hospital in Caracas, told me that “we are working very hard, and fortunately we have no supply issues, which is the most important thing.” In this context, all public health centers were mobilized to care for the affected population nationwide, with special emphasis on the states with the highest incidence. Likewise, an agreement was signed between the government and the Association of Private Clinics in the Capital Region for the triage, evaluation, and hospitalization of earthquake victims, to be carried out by these private institutions while the government covers the costs of treatment.
The United States has done none of this because it lacks the capacity. While institutions are working behind the scenes, the “chicks” in Washington are fostering and spreading chaos through influencers and TikTokers who try to go to La Guaira to take selfies—like the official from a Dutch private company who is heard saying “take my picture” while handing out ONE bottle of water. It is the national government that has the capacity to control and manage the situation—an important fact not only for addressing and resolving this emergency but also to keep in mind for the future struggles that will arise once the conditions are ripe to shake off the protectorate.
The force of nature manifested itself this time as an unprecedented event—two nearly simultaneous earthquakes that have struck the country hard and put its territorial defense system to the test through the joint action of the armed forces, the police, the militia, and grassroots popular, communal, and social organizations across the Regions and Zones of Integral Defense, which have mobilized to respond to the disaster.
It has become clear that the United States, the so-called “protector,” came only to steal Venezuela’s resources. Its president has made this clear: “They’re making more money than they’ve ever made; they’ve never made the money they’re making now. Aside from the earthquake, people are happily dancing in the streets.” One could not ask for more from a pedophile, brothel owner, and child murderer.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates the damage at $6.7 billion, although the institution notes that the total cost of a catastrophe is typically calculated at between 1.5 and 3 times the value of direct damages.
As of today, July 1, official figures indicate that the death toll stands at 2,295, with 11,267 injured so far. Another 12,841 people have been displaced. It was also reported that 855 buildings have sustained damage, of which 189 have completely collapsed and 666 have suffered partial collapse or severe structural damage.
Trump has pledged $300 million for Venezuela. That amount, in addition to the $500 million provided since January, represents only 10% of what has been stolen since the beginning of the year—an amount ranging from $4,000 million to $22,000 million in Venezuelan assets withheld or seized abroad, depending on the accounting method used, including funds blocked by sanctions.
It has also been reported that Trump sent 900 military personnel, but only 300 of them are rescue workers. Likewise, two warships arrived in Venezuela: the USS Fort Lauderdale and the USS Billings, equipped with significant firepower but lacking any capacity to address natural disasters of the kind that have affected Venezuela. No one has seen the U.S. rescue workers; their only public appearance was to hinder the efforts of those who are actually working, which forced Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello to intervene directly. In reality, the United States’ interventionist action is linked to its effort to seize and control Simón Bolívar Airport and the port of La Guaira.
At the same time, they have established the presence of the 82nd Airborne Division, which, together with the 101st Division, constitutes the United States’ main interventionist force worldwide. Their track record shows that they have carried out military operations in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama, and Haiti, as well as in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo, among other countries—none of which received humanitarian aid, but rather bullets and shrapnel. Its only experience in disaster management in its 109 years of existence was in Florida during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; in other words, this is the first time it has formally left U.S. territory for a mission other than an invasion of another country, which, given its track record, is suspicious, to say the least.
Israeli “recovery team” arrives in Venezuela as thousands of Palestinians lay buried in rubble from their bombs.
On the other hand, it has come to light that an Israeli “rescue team” has arrived in Venezuela; it should be immediately expelled from the country if the government had the authority to do so. No one can assume that those who turned Gaza into a city of rubble with the force of their bombs—and who have murdered more than 30,000 Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iranian children—have any interest in saving Venezuelan children or helping to rebuild the country. Those damned Zionist murderers should not be welcomed in Venezuela because they come bearing no good.
On another front—as is natural to the human condition—while a large segment of the population is dedicated to building, others set out to destroy the work of the majority. A network of mass deception media (as President Putin defined them), like scavengers feeding on decay, shamelessly lie about the disaster in Venezuela solely to boost advertising sales.
It is notorious how the Spanish fascist newspaper ABC—a propagandist for Franco’s dictatorship and an extreme sycophant of Hitler himself—pretends to point out reason and truth. Meanwhile, the “liberal” New York Times turns yellow to spread disinformation. It is accustomed to that. No matter the government’s political orientation: on September 2, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, they ran the headline “Criticism of Bush Over His Response to the Storm,” and on March 12, 2012: “Critics Argue That the Disaster in Japan Was Inevitable.” These know-it-alls, who set themselves above humanity and whose sole concern is to make money off human suffering, are part of the modern media trash and the pernicious scourge that seeks to contaminate people’s minds in order to later dominate them.
The truth lies in the facts. We Venezuelans keep in mind the words of our Liberator following the earthquake of March 26, 1812, which destroyed all of La Guaira and much of what was then Caracas. That day, after surveying the rubble in the city center, Bolívar said: “If nature opposes us, we will fight against it and make it obey us,” even if—as some claim—in this case, nature’s actions were driven by the U.S. military’s High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), whose objective is to provoke droughts, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes as a new weapon of mass destruction to be used by U.S. interventionist policy around the world.
Sergio Rodriguez Gelfenstein, has a Ph,D in Political Studies, is an author of 12 books and has served as the Director of International Relations for Venezuela and has served as Venezueala’s Ambassador to Nicaragua.
Source: Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein blog spot, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English