{"id":3732,"date":"2026-07-04T04:06:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=3732"},"modified":"2026-07-04T04:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:06:42","slug":"fallout-from-venezuelas-earthquakes-turns-political-as-opposition-leader-machado-seeks-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=3732","title":{"rendered":"Fallout from Venezuela’s earthquakes turns political as opposition leader Machado seeks return"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) \u2014 The fallout from Venezuela’s powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires Friday.<\/p>\n

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A day after Rodr\u00edguez angrily defended the competence of her government’s relief effort at her first news conference since the June 24 disaster, her main rival, exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, issued her own appeal.<\/p>\n

Machado on Friday argued that the government’s quake response exposed its critical weaknesses and that she should return to Venezuela to help “the transition process, especially after the tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

“My presence stabilizes the situation; it is part of the organizing forces that the country needs at a time when the total absence of the state has become evident,” Machado said, referring to widespread criticism of the government\u2019s earthquake response as slow and disorganized. \u201cThe country needs figures it can trust.\u201d She spoke to reporters from Panama.<\/p>\n

The quakes have killed 2,645 people and injured over 12,500 others, according tallies released Friday by the government. Machado’s opposition movement has set up an online database to locate the missing \u2014 a list of 36,000 people as of Friday. The party has mobilized volunteers to collect donations in Venezuela and solicited aid from the country’s vast diaspora.<\/p>\n

Machado was barred from running in a 2024 presidential election in which President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro claimed victory. Vote tallies that the opposition collected from voting machines used in the election showed that the candidate Machado endorsed, Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, beat Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin.<\/p>\n

The US praises Rodr\u00edguez, blocks Machado<\/p>\n

When the earthquakes hit, Machado saw an opening to return home for the first time after fleeing in December to accept a Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. Ever since the United States captured Maduro in a brazen military operation in January, Machado has been seeking a comeback and calling for a democratic transition.<\/p>\n

But the Trump administration has thrown its support behind Rodr\u00edguez since Maduro’s ouster, praising her business-friendly reforms of the country\u2019s lucrative oil sector.<\/p>\n

Two senior U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose private diplomatic discussions, told The Associated Press that the Trump administration has grown frustrated with Machado and dissuaded her from returning to Venezuela in the aftermath of the earthquakes.<\/p>\n

One official said that Machado had sought assistance from Washington for ferrying her to Venezuela from the Caribbean island of Cura\u00e7ao and also from Panama.<\/p>\n

The second official said the U.S. suspected she wanted to return to lead protests against Rodr\u00edguez and push for political change at a time when the focus should be on quake recovery. This official added that the Trump administration could not prevent Machado’s return but was not in a position to facilitate it.<\/p>\n

Earthquake fallout becomes political<\/p>\n

Upon learning of Machado\u2019s plans, Rodr\u00edguez shut down commercial air traffic into Caracas, the U.S. official said. Those canceled flights were set to bring hundreds of relief workers to assist with earthquake recovery efforts, the official said.<\/p>\n

Seemingly concerned that anger over the earthquake response could jeopardize her leadership, Rodr\u00edguez on Thursday blamed any criticism of the government on what she called \u201cnarratives manufactured in propaganda laboratories.”<\/p>\n

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She claimed that rescue crews deployed immediately with adequate equipment to disaster zones \u2014 contrary to complaints by residents that they were left alone to search for their loved ones without official teams or heavy machinery for the first 48 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose propaganda operations, driven by partisan political interests, are despicable,\u201d she said. \u201cWe did not wait one day, two days or three days. We activated immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez went on to say that thousands of civil and military rescue workers as well as 11 international field hospitals had been deployed to quake-affected areas, adding that the government had approved the creation of a fund to receive donations for reconstruction.<\/p>\n

On Friday, state-run media broadcast her visiting Hern\u00e1n Alberto Gil Flores, a 43-year-old security guard pried from a collapsed basement after surviving nearly eight days under the rubble, in his hospital bed. His dramatic rescue Thursday served as a rare bright spot in the days since the earthquakes.<\/p>\n

Unclear what happens when mandate expires<\/p>\n

Under Venezuela\u2019s constitution, temporary absences are to be filled by the vice president \u2014 which was Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s former role under Maduro \u2014 for up to 90 days, after which they can be extended by the national assembly for an additional 90 days.<\/p>\n

On Friday, that 180-day interim period expired. There was no immediate comment from authorities on what, if anything, they would do in response to the expiration of Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s mandate.<\/p>\n

The National Assembly, controlled by Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s party, can trigger a snap election if lawmakers declare the post permanently vacant.<\/p>\n

A humanitarian crisis brews<\/p>\n

International organizations and governments, including the U.S., have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency relief aid to stave off a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe in Venezuela. With infrastructure and sewer systems damaged, aid workers are scrambling to prevent the spread of disease through contaminated water.<\/p>\n

But nine days after the quakes, the scale of human suffering is still coming into focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that there are still dead bodies under the collapsed buildings, and it’s difficult to give a number on this, but several thousands for sure,\u201d said Andreas Spaett, the Venezuela country coordinator for international aid group Doctors Without Borders. \u201cI do believe this is one of the major natural catastrophes in the history of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) \u2014 The fallout from Venezuela’s powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFallout from Venezuela's earthquakes turns political as opposition leader Machado seeks return - South Florida Moving Guides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=3732\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fallout from Venezuela's earthquakes turns political as opposition leader Machado seeks return - 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