For a country already facing serious humanitarian needs, the two powerful earthquakes that shook Venezuela on June 24, 2026, have made life even harder.

Millions of Venezuelans were already struggling to get enough food, medicine, fuel and basic services to survive before this disaster. Now, even more people there urgently need shelter, medical care, clean water, food and support.

I, a scholar of humanitarian assistance with more than 10 years of experience managing humanitarian aid in Latin America, am teaching a course on disaster field operations. The graduate students taking this class were already learning how recovery from earthquakes and other disasters in Latin America depends on having strong local partners, reliable supplies and support that reaches the people most affected.

Now, with these earthquakes, they will get to see how this kind of tragedy unfolds in real time.

Can Venezuelans living abroad reach loved ones?

With more than 50,000 people unaccounted for, the number of causalities may soar from initial reports of hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

And the number of people who have become displaced following the........

© The Conversation