{"id":1111,"date":"2026-07-17T13:20:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/venezuela-earthquakes-create-opening-for-militarys-return-to-public-life\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:20:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:20:51","slug":"venezuela-earthquakes-create-opening-for-militarys-return-to-public-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/venezuela-earthquakes-create-opening-for-militarys-return-to-public-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela earthquakes create opening for military\u2019s return to public life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three weeks after Venezuela was struck by twin earthquakes on June 24, the scale of the devastation is still growing. The death toll is<\/a> approaching 5,000 people, with 18,000 homeless and 21,000 more in shelters.<\/p>\n

The worst-hit state is La Guaira on the Caribbean coast \u2013 an area that had already been the site of one of Venezuela\u2019s worst natural disasters. In December 1999, the state, then called Vargas, saw several days of torrential rain which flushed mud and rock down the slopes of the \u00c1vila mountains.<\/p>\n

Hillside houses were swept away, entire neighbourhoods were buried under landslides, and buildings collapsed near the shore. Tens of thousands of people were thought to have<\/a> perished, though the precise number is still unknown.<\/p>\n

As I recounted in my 2003 book, Venezuela: The Crossroads of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez<\/a>, the armed forces were central to that disaster response. As part of Plan Bol\u00edvar 2000<\/a>, a programme that deployed around 70,000 troops across Venezuela<\/a> for civic tasks such as infrastructure and road building, the military was sent to Vargas in large numbers. Soldiers pulled many survivors from the mud and rubble in the first days. <\/p>\n

But as the relief effort dragged on, it soured into a dispute over who was in charge. In one incident, the then-governor of Vargas, Alfredo Laya, ordered a unit of paratroopers to deliver food and water to stranded families. The officers replied that they had no such orders and, following an argument, Laya was arrested<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other incidents, military and civilian leaders disagreed over where to evacuate affected families and whether to house them in military or civilian facilities. Pablo Medina, an ally of Venezuela\u2019s president at the time, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, accused the army of acting \u201cas if an atomic bomb had been dropped\u201d, instead of responding to a natural disaster. <\/p>\n

That episode was an early indication of how embedded in Venezuelan public life the military would become<\/a> in the following years.<\/p>\n

First under Ch\u00e1vez and later his successor Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, who was removed from power by a January 2026 US military operation, the Venezuelan armed forces expanded well beyond the barracks. Military figures took senior posts across government ministries and state companies, gaining a direct stake in the running of the country.<\/p>\n

Twenty-seven years on, after the same coast was struck by earthquakes, the military\u2019s role in the disaster response has again been surrounded by controversy.<\/p>\n

As in 1999, the armed forces are deeply involved in the operation. Visiting La Guaira in late June 2026, human rights NGO Provea reported<\/a> that the government appeared to be prioritising military and police control of the territory over basic relief. <\/p>\n

Provea criticised<\/a> the \u201cexcessive military presence\u201d near camps for affected people, and flagged the presence of intelligence and counter-espionage bodies with no legal role in disaster management. It warned that saturating the zone with armed agents was slowing aid delivery and could constitute a mechanism of social control.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan government has told a different story. It claims the militarisation of the disaster zone is necessary to allow<\/a> relief to move in and reach the affected families.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s interim president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez \u2013 who spent much of the first two weeks after the earthquakes battling criticism that<\/a> the state\u2019s response had been too slow \u2013 said her government wanted to stop what she called<\/a> media \u201clabs\u201d from spinning negative narratives.<\/p>\n

As the relief effort turned into reconstruction, Rodr\u00edguez launched a rebuilding plan called Venezuela Renace<\/em><\/a> (Venezuela Reborn). The government says that, under this plan, nearly 5,000 buildings across La Guaira and the capital, Caracas, have been inspected. The plan has also provided economic support<\/a> to help the worst-affected families. <\/p>\n

The rebuilding is being run through a mix of civilian and military bodies. On the coast, however, the works are coordinated by a single military figure<\/a>, Major General Juan Ernesto Sulbar\u00e1n Quintero, with army engineers taking on the rebuilding in several La Guaira neighbourhoods. More than 30,000 security personnel<\/a> are still deployed in the worst-affected states.<\/p>\n

The next phase<\/h2>\n

The military\u2019s prominence in the recovery effort raises questions about what comes next. It also offers a glimpse into the future of civil-military relations in post-Maduro Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Before the earthquakes, there were signs that Rodr\u00edguez was keen to reduce the visibility of the Venezuelan armed forces in politics, while bringing them more tightly under her control.<\/p>\n

She replaced<\/a> the long-serving defence minister, General Padrino L\u00f3pez, with a more discreet and loyal insider called Gustavo Gonz\u00e1lez L\u00f3pez. <\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez also appointed a new general staff, regional commanders and heads for each of the five individual branches of the armed forces \u2013 the army, navy, air force, national guard and Bolivarian Militia. <\/p>\n

At the same time, she has returned<\/a> several government ministries from military to civilian hands, while relaunching welfare programmes aimed at troops. These changes suggested a move towards a less overt political role for the Venezuelan armed forces. <\/p>\n

But despite this rebalancing, the military remains influential in Venezuela. The Rodr\u00edguez government still leans heavily<\/a> on it for political support, as well as to contain the opposition and help secure oil and mining areas for private investors \u2013 a strategic US interest in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

In some contexts, humanitarian response and civic action can provide a legitimate internal mission for a professional military \u2013 provided it is bound by clear prerogatives away from governance. <\/p>\n

Given the military\u2019s history in Venezuela, however, the recent disaster is more likely to reinforce its broad role in decision-making and influence over how the country is run.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Pablo Uchoa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three weeks after Venezuela was struck by twin earthquakes on June 24, the scale of the devastation is still growing. The death toll is approaching 5,000 people, with 18,000 homeless and 21,000 more in shelters. The worst-hit state is La Guaira on the Caribbean coast \u2013 an area that had already been the site of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}