Venezuela’s Rodríguez defends quake response as mandate expires

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez mounted a combative defense of her government's earthquake response on Thursday, dismissing widespread criticism as "narratives manufactured in propaganda laboratories" even as her 180-day mandate as interim leader expired on Friday with no clear plan for what comes next.latimes+1

The twin magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck the northern state of La Guaira on June 24, killing more than 2,295 people according to official figures, with a nongovernmental database listing more than 38,000 still missing. The United Nations has called an estimate of 50,000 missing people "terrifyingly plausible".pbs+1

A Testy First Defense

In her first news conference on the disaster — eight days after the quakes struck — Rodríguez insisted rescue operations remained active. "We have not closed the search-and-rescue phase," she said. "We are still in that stage because, according to our overall assessment, there are still active sites where we believe there may be survivors, even if there is only one".latimes

Her claims contradicted widespread accounts from residents who say they were left to dig for loved ones without official help or heavy machinery for the first 48 hours. "We did not wait one day, two days or three days. We activated immediately," Rodríguez said.latimes

U.S. Support and Political Fault Lines

The Trump administration has committed more than $300 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuela and deployed over 300 U.S. personnel, including search-and-rescue teams and military staff. The State Department has described "total compliance" from the Venezuelan government in coordinating relief.scrippsnews+2

Yet the crisis has exposed tensions in Washington. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently in Panama, has repeatedly pledged to return to Venezuela to help with recovery efforts. The Trump administration has dismissed her attempts as "grotesque political opportunism," with one official calling them "extra needless drama" that complicates U.S. policy. Machado has accused Rodríguez's government of closing Venezuelan airspace to block her return.axios+3

An Uncertain Political Future

The expiration of Rodríguez's 180-day interim mandate on Friday adds a constitutional dimension to the political turbulence. According to the Associated Press, there was no immediate comment from authorities on what they would do in response. The National Assembly, controlled by Rodríguez's party, can trigger a snap election if it declares the presidential post permanently vacant, but no timeline for democratic elections has been announced.apnews+1

The Trump administration has said elections would take place only once Venezuela and its economy are stabilized — a position that predated the earthquake but now appears even more open-ended given the U.N.'s estimate of $6.7 billion in physical damage.latimes+1