Venezuela quake response dispute intensifies as acting President Delcy Rodríguez nears end of mandate and Maria Corina Machado calls for return

Venezuela’s twin earthquakes have killed at least 2,295 people and injured more than 11,000 others, according to the Venezuelan government, and the recovery effort has become a flashpoint for political blame as Acting President Delcy Rodríguez heads into the end of her interim mandate on Friday. Public frustration has grown over the pace and organization of rescue work, with critics accusing authorities of leaving civilians to handle much of the immediate response.

Rodríguez defended the government’s disaster response on Thursday at her first news conference since the June 24 earthquakes, pushing back against complaints that the state reacted too slowly and that many rescue tasks fell to local residents rather than official teams. The clash over the humanitarian response is now taking on a wider political dimension because the acting presidency is scheduled to end during the period when many communities remain in crisis.

As Rodríguez sought to blunt the criticism, Machado, an exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate, issued an appeal centered on the transition and on who she said could help stabilize the situation. In her remarks, Machado argued that the quake response exposed serious weaknesses and that her return to Venezuela would help the country manage the next stage after the tragedy.

Machado said her presence could “stabilise the situation,” framing it as part of the “organising forces” Venezuela needs, particularly at a moment when, according to her, there has been a “total absence of the state.” She linked the disaster response to the broader political question of how the country moves from emergency conditions to a new governing arrangement as the interim period ends.

The timing is particularly sensitive because Rodríguez’s acting authority is set to expire Friday, leaving an unresolved public dispute over governance when relief operations and rebuilding are still under strain. Reports indicate that government tallies have not been updated since Wednesday, underscoring both the scale of the emergency and the difficulty of coordinating accurate information during the aftermath.

While the earthquakes have produced a direct humanitarian emergency, the political contest over responsibility for rescue and aid is likely to shape public trust and institutional credibility in the days immediately following Rodríguez’s mandate expiration. Both the government’s defense and Machado’s call for her return highlight how the disaster has become intertwined with the country’s dispute over legitimacy and control over the transition process.