Powerful earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela, including the capital Caracas and the La Guaira region, on the afternoon of June 24. According to reports, successive earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and magnitude 7.5 occurred within 39 seconds of each other. Due to the shallow depth of the quakes’ origin along the San Sebastián fault system, numerous buildings and hospitals collapsed, and millions of people were left without electricity and communications.

As of July 5 reports, nearly 3,000 people have been confirmed dead, over 16,000 injured, and tens of thousands more are still being sought in the rubble of collapsed buildings. More than 16,000 people have been left homeless, and 850 buildings collapsed, of which 190 were completely destroyed.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the entire Filipino revolutionary movement extended their condolences and revolutionary solidarity to the people of Venezuela.

At the same time, the CPP condemned the US for taking advantage of the tragedy to deploy troops in Venezuela. On the night of June 25, US troops landed in Caracas to directly interfere in the operations of civilian agencies in the country. The US Southern Command simultaneously dispatched warships USS Fort Lauderdale and USS Billings to the waters surrounding Venezuela, along with massive transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules. These same units were the ones that attacked Caracas on January 3 and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

According to the CPP, the US is exploiting the disaster and “humanitarian reasons” as a pretext to intervene in Venezuela, especially given its long history of imposing brutal sanctions that have damaged the country’s economy and development. These sanctions, along with other coercive measures by the US, are being used to force the Venezuelan government to comply with Trump’s dictates.