Warships, Helicopters, Transport Planes: US Military Shifts Assets To Quake-Ravaged Venezuela

Venezuela’s massive twin-earthquake disaster, which unfolded on Wednesday evening, has left dozens of apartment towers and other structures in ruins. The death toll has climbed to about 235, with at least 4,300 people injured. On one independent monitoring platform, the number of missing topped 50,000 overnight.

The sheer scale of the disaster across several districts of Caracas has prompted an international response, with the U.S. Southern Command deploying military assets to the quake-ravaged country. The disaster also marks a major test for acting President Delcy Rodríguez in a post-Maduro world.

SOUTHCOM is deploying the USS Fort Lauderdale, USS Billings, C-17 and C-130 transport aircraft, reconnaissance platforms, helicopters, and other mobility assets to assist U.S. personnel, search-and-rescue teams, and interagency partners as they assess damage, locate survivors, and deliver emergency aid.

SOUTHCOM noted that it will “work closely with interim Venezuelan authorities to plan, coordinate, and direct the U.S. military’s unparalleled logistical and operational capabilities in support of rapid relief operations across the affected areas.”

The open-source intelligence X account, TheIntelFrog, reports that US airlift operations have begun.

Boots on the ground.

In a post-socialist, post-Maduro world, Rodríguez faces a once-in-a-generation natural disaster crisis that will likely shape the future of her administration after January’s Delta Force operation to remove Nicolás Maduro from power. An effective and powerful response will certaintly help and increase popularity.

For Rodríguez, “the emergency is simultaneously a risk and an opportunity,” Venezuelan political analyst Benigno Alarcón said in a report quoted by Bloomberg. If the response is rapid and transparent, “the interim government can recover performance legitimacy. If it is opaque, militarized, exclusionary, or corrupt, the social cost, international pressure, and the probability of fractures will increase.”