Venezuelan quakes test Trump’s western hemisphere policy after USAID cuts

This week’s dual earthquakes in Venezuela are being framed as a test of a new era of American power in the western hemisphere. The Trump administration has scrambled to mount an emergency response to a country it now calls an ally after a US special forces raid in January removed Nicolás Maduro, sending three specialised urban search and rescue teams and pledging a $150m assistance fund.

The state department said the disaster assistance response team (DART) deployed to Venezuela includes more than 250 people, and the quakes have left at least 920 dead. The mission carries added political weight because the White House has gutted the US Agency for International Development and shifted disaster assistance to the state department, a move that laid off thousands of aid workers.

Earlier this year US forces captured Maduro and brought him to the US; his successor, Delcy Rodríguez, has been more amenable to Washington.

Venezuela

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