{"id":513141,"date":"2026-07-03T09:39:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T13:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/venezuela-marks-six-months-without-nicolas-maduro-devastated-by-earthquakes\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T09:39:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T13:39:04","slug":"venezuela-marks-six-months-without-nicolas-maduro-devastated-by-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/international\/venezuela-marks-six-months-without-nicolas-maduro-devastated-by-earthquakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela marks six months without Nicol\u00e1s Maduro devastated by earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Caracas<\/strong>.- Six months after the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, Venezuela <\/strong>is dealing with the devastating consequences of the earthquakes that caused at least 2,595 deaths and have put the process of institutional reforms and the path toward eventual elections on hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capture of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, <\/strong>during a United States military attack in Caracas and three surrounding regions on January 3rd had opened a new and promising chapter for a country trapped in a prolonged political, economic, and social crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might be interested in: <\/strong>http:\/\/Venezuela calls it “imperial madness” that DR authorizes the US to use airports<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now that same Venezuela is going through a national emergency that has brought mourning to thousands of families and is struggling to heal the more than 12,000 injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oil-producing country, with infrastructure deteriorated after years of corruption, lack of maintenance, and questionable management, now also faces the colossal challenge of repairing physical damages equivalent to 6.7 billion dollars, about 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP), according to preliminary estimates by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Venezuelan government estimates that more than 12,800 people were left homeless due to compromising damage and the collapse of numerous buildings, the vast majority in the coastal state of La Guaira, in the north of the country and adjacent to Caracas, which was the hardest hit by the earthquakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a catastrophe that tests not only the Government of the acting president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who assumed office after Maduro’s capture, but also her new “friend and partner,” the United States, and the plan established by the Donald Trump Administration for Venezuela, especially the second of the three phases: recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Washington, its plan “remains intact”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stabilization, recovery…<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the six months prior and under the scrutiny of the White House, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez promoted the opening of sectors such as oil, mining, and electricity to private and foreign investment, progressively dismantled Maduro’s cabinet, and renewed the military high command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chavista leader also promoted an amnesty and hundreds of releases of political prisoners and announced a process of reform of the criminal justice system and another for the restructuring of the Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The week before the earthquakes, the U.S. had taken a step focused on the third and final stage of its plan: the transition, with the sending to Caracas of opposition member Dinorah Figuera to begin talks with Chavismo, leaving aside Nobel Peace Prize winner Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, who has insisted that she has “the responsibility to lead” a negotiation with the Rodr\u00edguez government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conversations between the president of the Parliament and brother of the head of state, Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, and Figuera were added to the institutional renewal process, since, according to this opposition member, one of the main objectives is to form a “vigorous, credible and transparent” National Electoral Council (CNE), currently controlled by Chavismo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interim period<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Figuera had anticipated that they had to “deliver the product of a job in December 2026,” which today looks blurry, as all attention is focused on the tragedy, which also coincides with the expiration of the interim period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Constitution, the temporary absence of the head of state shall be filled by the executive vice president for 90 days, extendable for another 90, for a total of 180 days, in the event that Parliament so decides, which in the end did not discuss it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, this July 4th marks those 180 days, so now the Parliament, controlled by Chavismo, should decide whether or not there is an absolute absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an absolute vacancy is declared, a “universal, direct, and secret election must be held within the following thirty consecutive days,” and in the meantime, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez would remain at the head of the Executive branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, on the same day of Maduro’s capture, the Supreme Court had declared that the Chavista’s absence occurred in an “exceptional, atypical situation of force majeure not literally provided for in the Constitution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, he ordered that Rodr\u00edguez assume the interim Presidency, without this implying “deciding on the merits regarding the definitive legal qualification of the presidential vacancy (temporary or absolute) nor substituting the powers of other State bodies to carry out said qualification” subsequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The emergency has also accelerated a process of opening Venezuela to the world that had already begun with economic reforms for the arrival of foreign investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent days, Caracas has reached out to countries adverse to the Chavista government, such as El Salvador, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Argentina, Guyana, and Israel, which have supported Venezuela in the tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monumental international solidarity has translated into the sending of humanitarian aid and rescue teams and health personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump Administration asserts that it “remains committed to supporting those affected and working alongside partners to help families reunite, provide assistance, and bring hope where it is needed most.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, he insists that their response “continues to grow, with hundreds of people, humanitarian assistance, and specialized capabilities that are supporting rescue and relief efforts.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening after the double earthquake is also seen in the greater number of foreign media outlets that are now in the country and which previously found it difficult to enter due to visa procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is that, if there was no certainty about the country’s political future before, there is even less now, as the agenda is currently prioritized on attending to the victims and seeking solutions for the thousands of families left homeless due to one of the greatest catastrophes in Venezuela’s history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caracas.- Six months after the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, Venezuela is dealing with the devastating consequences of the earthquakes that caused at least 2,595 deaths and have put the process of institutional reforms and the path toward eventual elections on hold. The capture of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a United States […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":513142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[40391,110],"class_list":["post-513141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","tag-earthquake","tag-venezuela"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-29ut","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/6a4765e42626a0-16857700.webp","dum_api":{"author_name":"EFE","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1200px-EFE_logo.svg-96x96.png","categories_name":["International"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/6a4765e42626a0-16857700.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}