U.S. military deploying additional resources to Venezuela as earthquakes death toll mounts

Source: The Hill

06/27/26 10:03 PM ET


The U.S. military is sending additional resources to Venezuela, as the death toll continues to mount and tens of thousands of people are still believed to be missing following a pair of devastating earthquakes.

U.S. South Command (Southcom) announced on Saturday that a specialized rapid response unit was on its way to Venezuela to assist the local government and aviation authorities with resuming air traffic and airport operations in affected areas.

“The Department of War is going to have play a logistical – big logistical role here, because they have the ability to land in challenging places,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, noting that the airport in the capital of Caracas was damaged. “One of the runways is cracked,” he added. “And so – but the Department of War has the capability to land in situations like that, so we’ll need that.”

A C-17 aircraft is also transporting two search and rescue teams based out of Miami-Dade County, Fla. to join ongoing efforts to locate and recover survivors, according to the command. Additional teams from Fairfax County, Va. and Los Angeles are already on the ground.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5944203-u-s-military-deploying-additional-resources-to-venezuela-as-earthquakes-death-toll-mounts/