Geopolitics/News
UNHCR Evaluates Earthquake Impact in La Guaira and Highlights Reconstruction Challenge
During the agency's first official visit to Venezuela, Barham Salih surveyed damage from the June earthquakes and discussed voluntary return frameworks with authorities in Caracas.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih concluded a two-day official visit to Venezuela, where he conducted a field evaluation of the damage caused by the June 24 earthquakes and held high-level discussions regarding reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.
Touring the coastal state of La Guaira on Saturday, October 3—the jurisdiction hardest hit by the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 seismic events—the international official stated that there is a clear determination to rebuild, while noting that the road ahead remains extensive and the scale of devastation constitutes a daunting challenge. During the inspection, he met with local leadership, including Governor José Alejandro Terán, to examine urgent community shelter needs.
According to consulted sources, the twin earthquakes resulted in more than 6,500 fatalities and left nearly 18,000 individuals without shelter. In his statements, Salih indicated that over 12,000 homes were destroyed, whereas earlier emergency updates from the agency recorded 25,240 damaged residential structures out of 60,785 properties evaluated through late August.
The mission began on Friday, October 2, in Caracas, where Salih met with interim President Delcy Rodríguez and Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia, alongside Vice Minister Oliver Blanco and Deputy Minister Joaquín Pérez, joined by agency delegates. The talks focused on earthquake relief operations, exploring an updated cooperation framework, and reviewing conditions surrounding voluntary return initiatives. Regionally, interagency monitoring platforms tracked approximately 6.98 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees across Latin America and the Caribbean through August 2026.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is the global multilateral body mandated to safeguard displaced populations, actively providing shelter response and emergency aid in Venezuela. Barham Salih directs the organization following his tenure as President of Iraq from 2018 to 2022. Delcy Rodríguez serves as interim President of Venezuela, overseeing the administrative response to the natural disaster and engagement with United Nations agencies.
