Venezuela earthquake response shows losing USAID was no big deal

Don Surber    

"Oh and there’s one last difference between Haiti and Venezuela. This time our Secretary of State does NOT have a fake charity to launder foreign donations in the name of earthquake relief.

"On June 24, 2026, two earthquakes hit Venezuela back-to-back. They registered 7.2 and 7.5, numbers that are pretty high on the Richter scale. The military sent in the Marines (and other branches). The State Department worked with charities such as Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision and Catholic Relief Services to avoid the confusion that occurred in the successful response to the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti.

"Trump put Marco Rubio in charge. He initially pledged $100 million in support. That’s since been upped to $386 million.

"On July 2, the military’s Southern Command reported:

Marking the first visit by a U.S. Navy vessel to Venezuela in decades, Fort Lauderdale safely arrived pierside in La Guaira on the evening of June 28. The historic port call, executed at the direct request of the Venezuelan government, was preceded by U.S. Sailors and Marines delivering critically needed disaster relief supplies to the port via landing craft.

“Being directed at a moment’s notice to transit into Venezuela presented a vast number of unknowns, but the one absolute certainty was the unmatched professionalism and work ethic of the Fort Lauderdale team,” said Capt. Jiwan Mack, commanding officer of USS Fort Lauderdale. “We were able to safely arrive pierside and deliver immediate assistance to the Venezuelan people because of the incredible dedication of our crew.”

The presence of embarked Sailors and Marines is strictly humanitarian. As a highly capable and self-sustaining platform designed for extended expeditionary operations, Fort Lauderdale requires minimal local security, logistical support or port resources while pierside. This minimal footprint ensures that all local Venezuelan assets can remain entirely focused on domestic recovery efforts.

. . . " So ending USAID did not lead to catastrophe.  Instead, the disaster response proved that ending USAID had no effect on the world. Well, except for the grifters going penniless." . . .More...