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When a pair of massive earthquakes struck Venezuela last month, it was clear from the outset that the destruction would be severe and that the country’s path to recovery would be difficult.
Authorities have confirmed the deaths of more than 5,000 people, along with 17,000 injured.
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A recent report from the World Bank found that an estimated 18,000 remain homeless, while the US space agency NASA has stated that more than 58,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged.
More than a month after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes struck the South American country, rescue workers continue to search for the missing, and questions remain about where the substantial funds needed to rebuild will come from.
What is the state of Venezuela’s efforts to recover from the earthquakes, what obstacles remain ahead, and what role could the international community play? We take a look at those questions in this brief explainer.
What is the state of rescue efforts?
Following a major earthquake, the window for rescuing survivors is relatively brief. Aid groups often speak of a 72-hour period for finding those missing or buried under the rubble.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on July 8 that 6,462 people had been rescued.
More than one month after the earthquakes, recovery efforts have largely shifted to finding the bodies of friends and loved ones so they can be properly laid to rest.
“They’ve pulled out so many deceased. And with each one, we’ve mourned them as if they were ours,” Laura Barrios, who is searching for the bodies of missing family members in the coastal region of La Guaira, told the news service BBC.
But as time passes, some are giving up hope of finding the remains of the missing.
“I feel helpless. We’ve gone in with picks and shovels, with machinery, but nothing. Because we really had our hopes of finding the remains to at least pay tribute to that body that was once with us,” Barrios said.
While the Venezuelan government has not released an official tally of those missing, the UN estimated that the figure could be as high as 51,000.
How much could recovery cost?
A recent report by the World Bank estimated the physical damage from the earthquakes at nearly $20bn, a substantial sum for a country that was already struggling economically before disaster struck.
The full cost of recovery is likely to be far higher, especially if reconstruction includes efforts to improve building standards. The report estimated that the price of “building back better”, as well as measures such as debris clearance, could bring the cost of physical recovery to $50bn.
An earlier preliminary estimate by the UN had placed the cost of recovery at $37bn.
If Venezuela is unable to carry out the reconstruction process quickly, this could have serious repercussions for its longer-term economic wellbeing. The World Bank estimated that, without greater levels of public and private investment, gross domestic product could remain below pre-quake levels until 2036.
The country’s labour supply is also expected to drop by 1 percent this year, and the UN humanitarian relief agency has said that 1.3 million people will require assistance over the following six months.
Where could those funds come from?
Following the earthquakes on June 24, countries and international institutions pledged to assist Venezuela in its path to recovery.
The United States, which has exerted substantial influence over the Venezuelan government after abducting former President Nicolas Maduro in a military attack on the country in January, said it would commit $300m in financial assistance in response to the earthquakes.
Earlier this month, Interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced that Venezuela had secured $346m in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help address humanitarian needs.
Organisations such as the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean have also said that they are working to channel funds for recovery, including from the private sector.
According to figures shared by the UN, the European Commission has donated $36.5m to recovery efforts, along with $17m from the UN’s own Central Emergency Response Fund and $9m from Germany.
But funding for the UN’s humanitarian response plan remains far below the $931m that is needed for 2026 alone. According to the international body, just 39 percent of that figure has been met, with a funding shortfall of about $566m.
What role might the US play?
The role of the US in Venezuela’s recovery has been under particular scrutiny, given the strong influence that the administration of President Donald Trump has wielded over the country since abducting Maduro in January.
Rodriguez, Maduro’s replacement and former vice president, has since overseen a series of changes that have drawn Caracas closer to longtime US priorities under the threat of possible further military action.
Some experts have also warned that remaining US economic sanctions, which contributed to the country’s deteriorating economic situation for years prior to the earthquake, could hinder efforts to direct funds and assistance to Venezuela.
The Trump administration announced after the earthquakes that it would ease some sanctions to facilitate the flow of assistance, but some US lawmakers have called on the government to do more.
“The people of Venezuela deserve a full humanitarian response after the devastating June 24 earthquakes,” Democratic Congressman Chuy Garcia said in a social media post earlier this month, calling on the Trump administration to “lift Venezuelan sanctions and restore access to frozen assets to support relief and recovery”.
What are other obstacles for the recovery process?
Civil society organisations have warned that ongoing issues in Venezuela, from widespread poverty and sanctions to government controls on information and hostility towards humanitarian groups, could hinder recovery efforts. Advocates have called for the physical recovery process to be accompanied by political reforms to roll back the infrastructure of state repression.
“The earthquakes did not create Venezuela’s crisis, but instead they exposed it,” Beatriz Borges, director of the Centre of Justice and Peace (Cepaz), said during a hearing on the aftermath of the earthquakes before a US Congress Human Rights Commission, according to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a rights advocacy group.
“Venezuela’s civil society represents one of the country’s greatest democratic assets, a unique civic and social infrastructure built on trust, local knowledge, coordination, and community presence,” she said.
