The interim “president” of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez issued several statements on Wednesday thanking the government of the United States for offering aid following a devastating earthquake in her country — a dramatic reversal from her previous stance of actively discouraging starving Venezuelans from accepting American aid.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Venezuela late on Wednesday about 104 miles from the national capital, Caracas, crippling entire neighborhood blocks of buildings and substantially damaging the capital’s main airport. Local outlets reported at least ten collapsed buildings in the capital and fears of many people trapped under rubble, as well as dangerous situations involving electrical wires.
Earthquakes of this scale are uncommon, but not unprecedented, in the country, but this earthquake is expected to cause outsized damage given the dilapidated state of the country after over 20 years of socialism. Rodríguez’s chavista government, previously under imprisoned dictator Nicolás Maduro and his mentor Hugo Chávez, invested almost nothing in strengthening the infrastructure of the country, leaving the vast majority of its residents in abject poverty and without access to basic services such as health care, electricity, and access to food.
As of Thursday morning, Rodríguez issued an update confirming at least 164 deaths following the earthquake and 970 people injured. That toll is expected to rise dramatically as Venezuela does not have significant search and rescue resources, due to over two decades of socialist mismanagement, and many people are believed to be trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Left with minimal resources, Rodríguez appealed on Thursday to what little remains of the Venezuelan private sector to offer construction vehicles to help clear rubble, announcing she had spoken to local commercial unions seeking resources to help rescue trapped people.
On social media, Rodríguez announced that she had spoken to various heads of state on Thursday, including leaders from Italy, Qatar, India, Turkey, and Guyana, among others. Rodríguez went out of her way to especially thank leaders in the United States, announcing she had spoken to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and secured American search and rescue aid.
“I have held a phone call with the secretary of State of the United States of America, Marco Rubio, who expressed his solidarity and support to the Venezuelan people in these difficult moments for our country,” Rodríguez announced. “We thank him for this expression of solidarity towards Venezuela in such a complex stage, marked by the impact of the natural catastrophe that has affected various regions of the national territory.”
Rodríguez also published a message in English thanking President Trump personally.
“We thank U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration, who have been in constant contact with Venezuelan authorities, offering support and solidarity to the people of Venezuela in the face of this tragedy that has plunged us into mourning,” she wrote. “Venezuela will never forget the helping hand extended to our people during these difficult times.”
Venezuela’s socialist state propaganda network, VTV, separately published a Spanish-language message thanking the Trump administration — apparently meant to ensure that Venezuelans at home see the message.
Rodríguez’s statements are shocking in the context of her aggressive anti-Americanism while serving as vice president and oil minister under Maduro. In 2019, when President Trump sent then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Colombia with truckloads of food and medical aid for Venezuelans, Rodríguez appeared on state television and ordered Venezuelans to starve rather than accept American aid.
“Something that should alarm us as a people is that the humanitarian aid comes contaminated and poisoned,” she said, offering no evidence for her outlandish claim. “It is carcinogenic. Several scientific studies have proven that the… United States is looking to poison our people with chemicals. We could call them biological weapons.”
No evidence of any cancer diagnoses associated with the consumption of American humanitarian aid have been documented since she made those comments seven years ago.
Despite the antagonistic history between Rodríguez and the first Trump administration, President Trump was among the first world leaders to address the earthquake in Caracas and offer support.
“The two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths,” Trump said in a statement published on his website, Truth Social. “The U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help! I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly. We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good!!!”
Secretary Rubio announced on Thursday morning that search and rescue teams from Los Angeles, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia, were already deployed to Venezuela, using military support to land in the country as the Caracas Maiquetía Airport was heavily damaged.
“America stands with the Venezuelan people during this difficult time and at the direction of President Trump, the State Department is immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela,” Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday night.
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