Major disasters have a way of bringing people together. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks ushered in months of unity and bonhomie among New Yorkers. The 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, which killed approximately 5,000 people, did much the same, with Mexican civilians teaming up to launch their own rescue operations as the federal and city governments were floundering.
That’s not entirely the case in Venezuela. On the one hand, the twin earthquakes that rocked the Venezuelan coastal state of La Guaira and parts of the capital Caracas have inspired remarkable teamwork, which this South American country hasn’t seen since the devastating mudslides of 1999, when at least 10,000 people were killed. Still, Venezuela remains in political turmoil, with the country’s interim authorities struggling to cater to Washington’s wishes on a daily basis and its politics remaining the most fractious in Latin America.
In an ideal world, everybody would let go of political agendas during a tragedy of this scale and focus on saving as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the disaster response has been politicized by pretty much everyone. President Donald Trump, Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, arguably the three most important people in Venezuelan politics today, are hoping to use the natural disaster still roiling the country to bolster their own reputations and positions.
To Trump’s credit, the White House’s response to the earthquake was immediate. The Trump administration quickly authorized a $150 million package of aid, dispatched search and rescue teams to assist Venezuelan authorities, and ordered the U.S. military to provide air-lifting capabilities to assist with the evacuation of the injured. A U.S. team was also dispatched to Simón Bolívar International Airport, which serves Caracas, to repair runways and ensure aircraft carrying supplies could land.
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