Did The Us Send Help To Venezuela After Deadly Earthquakes What We Know

Speaking to the press during his trip to the Gulf, Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised, “We have a whole-of-government response. It'll be big; it'll be fast; and it'll be effective,” according to NPR.

The US effort includes a commitment to allocate $150 million to faith-based aid groups like Samaritan's Purse and Catholic Relief Services, as well as two United Nations agencies- the World Food Program and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The US is also deploying a Disaster Assistant Response Team and two search and rescue teams from Virginia and California to help locate survivors.

The Virginia team includes 80 people and 6 dogs, while the California team includes 70 people and 6 dogs. The Pentagon has also been tapped to help get US government staff and critical supplies into the country, as some airport infrastructure in Venezuela has been damaged, according to NPR.

Experts say the US response to the Venezuela earthquakes is very different from how the Trump administration responded to the earthquake in Myanmar in March 2025, which killed more than 3,500 people.

According to NPR, the US sent $9 million in aid and three officials to assess the damage in Myanmar, but it did not send search and rescue teams. China, meanwhile, sent $137 million in aid.

Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and former head of USAID's disaster response during the Obama administration, said, “This clearly reflects some lessons that [the administration] learned after the failure to deploy a search and rescue team to Myanmar.”

He added, “There was definitely a period last year when they had lost the capability to deploy a search and rescue team in the DOGE destruction of USAID. It was very visible and very embarrassing,” as per NPR.

According to NPR, the State Department has since hired back some former USAID humanitarian response staff and restored contracts with organizations that provide disaster assistance, including search and rescue teams.

The Trump administration has also said it is focusing its aid on countries that are important to US geopolitical interests. The administration is also invested in Venezuela following the toppling of its authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.

The damage in Venezuela is “very, very severe,” according to Cesar Jimenez, a Venezuelan national managing the response for aid group Project Hope in the country.

After visiting two healthcare facilities in La Guaira, near the epicenter of the second earthquake, Jimenez said, “They're totally collapsed. We saw people laying in the ground with no beds, being assessed by health staff. We saw like 200 people in one tiny healthcare facility seeking help,” as per NPR.

Khushi Arora is a Content Producer at Hindustan Times, where she writes for the US Desk, covering everything happening in the United States, while maintaining quality and delivering impactful stories across all beats. She previously worked at Zee News for over a year where she explored multiple beats including News Desk, Education and Lifestyle. With a background in English Literature, Khushi blends sharp research with thoughtful storytelling, shaping stories that go beyond headlines and bring clarity and credibility to every piece she writes. Beyond the newsroom, she enjoys reading, watching cinema and loves having long conversations about books, films and everything in between.Read More