Venezuela: Three months after the two earthquakes, a human rights-centred response remains absent

On 24 June 2026, two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude struck northern Venezuela, causing one of the country’s most serious disasters in recent decades. According to official figures, 6,509 people were killed and 60,785 affected homes were assessed, of which 11,001 were classified as high risk.

“Three months after these events, there remains a debt to those affected that must be addressed by placing their human rights and dignity at the centre of the recovery,” said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director.

The earthquakes struck a population already facing a complex humanitarian emergency, serious difficulties in accessing economic and social rights, including the rights to health, food, housing and work, as well as a policy of systematic and widespread repression that has pushed at least 25% of Venezuela’s population to flee the country since 2015 in search of international protection.

Amnesty International interviewed 21 people directly affected in Caracas and La Guaira between 23 July and 14 August 2026. Those interviewed said that the Venezuelan authorities’ response was delayed and poorly coordinated. Family members and neighbours removed rubble with their bare hands or improvised tools while requesting heavy machinery, specialized personnel and search dogs. They also reported that, although there was a large deployment of police, military and intelligence personnel, their activities focused on surveillance and territorial control rather than directly participating in rescue operations or efforts to locate missing people.

Lack of information and conflicting figures

Public information provided by the Venezuelan authorities has been marked by opacity and a lack of transparency. To date, no official figures on missing people have been published, on the grounds that the authorities wish to avoid speculation. The only official estimate was provided by the governor of La Guaira state, who put the number at 1,579 missing people. In the absence of official data, independent citizen initiatives have recorded more than 41,000 reports of missing people. Despite these valuable efforts, errors and duplicate names have been identified in these records, making official figures essential.

There are also significant discrepancies in the recorded number of deaths. The governor of La Guaira state said the death toll was estimated at 7,265 people, while the national government’s most recent update, on 24 August, reported a total of 6,509 deaths resulting from the disaster.

In addition, the available data are not disaggregated by sex, age, location or other essential characteristics, making it impossible to identify the differentiated impacts of the earthquakes and design appropriate responses for children, older people, women, people with disabilities and other groups that may require specific protection and assistance measures.

Families forced to search on their own

During interviews conducted by Amnesty International, people reported very limited institutional support and a lack of information about the mechanisms available to them to find out the whereabouts of their relatives or what measures the authorities had taken.

Families have undertaken searches on their own, visiting public institutions, morgues, hospitals and collapsed buildings; putting up posters with photographs of their loved ones in strategic places such as hospitals and temporary shelters; sharing information on social media; and, together with civil society organizations, creating databases and digital platforms in an attempt to locate those who remain missing.

The uncertainty of not knowing whether their loved ones are alive, whether their bodies have been recovered, or whether they will be able to bury them according to their customs and beliefs has caused profound anguish.

Handling of bodies and remains of people who died

Thousands of people who died have still not been identified and continue to be processed in improvised morgues, without clear protocols and without their families and loved ones knowing which authorities they should approach to search for and recover their bodies and/or remains.

People interviewed who had searched for relatives at Los Silos, an area within the port of La Guaira designated as a temporary morgue, described unclear procedures and the absence of centralized information on search, recovery and identification efforts, as well as on the tools available when genetic testing or other identification methods are required.

Some said they had to review numerous photographs of bodies on a digital tablet, many of them unrecognizable, and that in some cases they attempted to identify bodies and remains directly inside bags. These accounts raise serious concerns about the dignity of the procedures and the support provided to families.

One woman who was waiting for the results of a DNA test said:

“They told me I had to keep waiting because there are so many dead, and that I should remember the Vargas tragedy [the 1999 mudslides], where there are still families looking for missing people. Imagine how I feel.”

Other people said they visited Los Silos and various institutions several times a week in the hope of obtaining information.

The lack of psychological support during these processes was also highlighted. Some people said they had received the cremated remains of relatives, which caused them to question whether the identification had been carried out correctly.

Material losses and lack of durable solutions

According to official figures, as of 5 July, 17,345 people had lost their homes. Some stayed with relatives or people close to them, others went to temporary shelters established by the government, while others chose to remain near their homes in tents they set up themselves.

The authorities implemented a damage assessment system using red labels (entry restricted), yellow labels (limited use) and green labels (fully habitable) on the façades of homes. People interviewed who had been affected said they had been included in official censuses and registered, among other mechanisms, through the Sistema Patria, an official digital platform used to administer and distribute social programmes. However, they did not have sufficient clarity about the purpose and scope of the process, the criteria used for allocating housing, or the timelines for providing permanent housing solutions.

The lack of certainty about whether housing solutions are temporary or permanent is compounded by the loss of sources of income. Those interviewed said the destruction of workplaces and the decline in tourism had limited the recovery capacity of many families.

Discretionary access for civil society organizations to temporary shelters

The state response included the establishment of camps and temporary shelters in schools, sports facilities and other public spaces, but the operation of these facilities has not been standardized, leaving people in uncertainty because there are no specific protocols governing how they operate and no clear information about when they will close.

Civil society organizations also told Amnesty International that there was no single mechanism for gaining access to shelters to provide humanitarian assistance. Authorization varied depending on the shelter and each organization’s relationship with the authorities, delaying assistance in some locations. They also reported a l