It’s been exactly two weeks since two major earthquakes struck Venezuela, leaving portions of the country devastated. The death toll is over 3,600 as of Wednesday afternoon, with tens of thousands of people still missing. Here’s a new video of some of the damage.
“Qué difícil es ver este rincón del Caribe así. Tantas veces caminé por estas calles, documentando la belleza de sus atardeceres y la magia de su gente, que ver el rastro que dejó el terremoto del pasado 24 de junio me rompe el corazón.
Es un dolor inmenso verlo devastado, pero… pic.twitter.com/FdHFqlRW3R
— Cristian Crespo F. 🇨🇺 (@cristiancrespoj) July 8, 2026
International response has been huge. As I’ve written many times, Nayib Bukele and El Salvador were on the ground almost immediately with machinery, supplies, and rescue teams, saving lives. Right now, a team from Israel is in Venezuela working on plans to help with rebuilding.
Of course, the biggest response has been from the United States and rightfully so. As Donald Trump likes to jokingly say, he runs Venezuela now, and that means taking the good and the bad as it comes. The State Department actually released a fact sheet on Wednesday afternoon, with the latest on our humanitarian efforts on the ground. We’ve offered $386 million funneled through trustworthy charitable organizations “providing emergency medical care, food assistance, water and sanitation, shelter, protection, and logistics.”
The State Department, Airlink, and Amazon announced on Wednesday that they are teaming up to fly supplies in weekly for the foreseeable future at no cost to these organizations. The Department of War has many much-needed boots on the ground and has “mobilized to ensure American ships, American aircraft, and American resolve have been present when it matters most.” Our military has helped restore and is now overseeing some operations at Simón Bolívar International Airport. All of this will continue for as long as necessary.
But as I wrote on Monday, this is more than just a humanitarian crisis — it’s also becoming a political one. It has exposed the regime rot still in place, which isn’t surprising. The “interim government” leaders consist of two anti-American siblings whose father was a Marxist guerrilla fighter and one of the most wanted cartel leaders in the U.S.
Removing Nicolás Maduro didn’t change that; it simply put the fear of God Trump in them, so they’re largely doing what his administration pressures them to do with some asterisks attached.
Related: The Venezuelan Earthquakes Exposed Something, and It Wasn’t Just Shoddy Infrastructure
Most people understand this, even those in Venezuela who are ready for change after nearly 30 years of Chavismo, but as I said on Monday, they’re growing impatient. Trump’s constant praise of Delcy Rodríguez, pragmatic or not, is tedious. Over 500 political prisoners remain detained, despite promises in January that they would all be released. Paramilitary groups still harass the opposition and foreigners. In the days following the earthquake, the State Department updated its Level 3 travel warning for Venezuela, suggesting that those of us here in the U.S. reconsider travel to the country due to the “risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, and poor health infrastructure and natural disaster.”
Before the earthquakes, people were marching weekly, demanding freedom for those political prisoners, elections sooner rather than later, and actual jobs so they could earn a living. Constitutionally, Delcy’s tenure was up after 180 days, which came and went over this past weekend, and elections must be held within 30 days if we’re following the rules here.
Watching Delcy and her regime buddies delay aid and rescue efforts in the direct aftermath of the earthquake, which most certainly cost many lives, and deny opposition leader María Corina Machado re-entry into the country to help with the efforts has been the last straw for many. As I mentioned on Monday, Machado is the most beloved figure in that country and among its diaspora. It is difficult to put into words just how much they believe in her. If the country actually held free and fair elections in 2024, she or her surrogate, Edmundo González, would be president right now.
But there is something else going on that is incredibly suspicious, and I hate even giving this situation any oxygen, but I also fear people will buy into it if someone doesn’t speak out. I am not sure what to call it aside from some sort of obviously coordinated campaign against Machado by people, many of whom would be considered MAGA influencers or Trump-aligned independent voices.
It seemed to start with Javier Negre. He’s a so-called conservative journalist from Spain who has built his own digital platforms and currently operates as a correspondent out of the White House. He’s well-connected, but he also has a controversial background that haunts his reputation. He sat down for an interview with Delcy just before the earthquakes, and afterward, he — seemingly out of the blue — started accusing Machado and many of her supporters of starting up some sort of anti-Trump/anti-U.S. campaign, and he essentially began whitewashing Delcy and the regime. He’s gone after some highly respected people in these pro-Machado/pro-democracy for Venezuela circles — people from whom I have learned so much myself.
Before I knew it, other random supposedly conservative “MAGA” people — people who had never so much as uttered a word about Venezuela and I’m willing to bet still couldn’t find it on a map — were coming out swinging too, parroting the same talking points. They accused Machado of being a socialist (far from it — she’s been fighting it most of her life), of being a big Biden supporter (she’s been trying to work with any U.S. president who would help get rid of Maduro, and for what it’s worth, Biden played a big role in the actions that led to her not being able to run for president in Venezuela in 2024), and all sorts of other ridiculous things that simply made no sense.
I mean, if they were going to pretend it was organic, they could have at least spaced it out instead of all saying the same things at once, or pretended they cared about Venezuela at all before they started putting out blatantly inaccurate “facts.” This little campaign has been so poorly executed that there is no doubt in my mind that there’s an ulterior motive. Many have asked if the Maduro-turned-Delcy regime is paying them to do this. Who knows for sure, but it wouldn’t be the first time it has tried to influence opinion in the United States.
To add to all of that, Axios’ Marc Caputo came out today with a hit piece called “How a top State Dept. official ‘went rogue’ over Machado’s Venezuela plans.” The “article” goes on to describe how Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Marco Rubio’s number two, is possibly “going rogue” over the Machado situation. It asserts that the U.S. policy is to keep Machado from returning to Venezuela, that officials have called it “political opportunism,” and that the Trump administration does not want her involved at all going forward. However, Landau allegedly went against this and “Marco isn’t happy” because his deputy secretary miscommunicated this policy to at least two other countries and blah blah blah.
It also accuses Landau, who is a remarkable public servant, of refusing to say anything nice about Delcy and the regime. If that’s the case, I don’t see the problem. He knows what they are. No one on this planet should have a nice thing to say about them.
Most of the article is attributed to anonymous sources. As a matter of fact, most of the so-called U.S. policy on Machado has come from anonymous sources. Trump has never said anything negative about her publicly, and Rubio certainly hasn’t. He’s been one of her biggest champions for many, many years, and I don’t think that has suddenly changed. In 2025, when she was voted as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” it was Rubio who wrote the blurb about her, calling her Venezuela’s “Iron Lady” and even mentioning her children. He met with her privately pretty recently. As far as I know, he remains close and in contact with her, as does Landau.
There is also no on-the-record response to any of this from the State Department or anyone else in the administration, except for spokesperson Tommy Pigott stating today (in response to Axios) that “The State Department is in lockstep behind President Trump and Secretary Rubio in advancing the president’s foreign policy agenda. Deputy Secretary Landau is a trusted member of the department’s leadership team. Any claims to the contrary are simply false.”
Members of Congress have also come to Landau’s defense.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has devoted his career to serving the United States with honor, humility, and an unwavering commitment to the values that make our nation exceptional.
A distinguished lawyer and diplomat, he has earned the respect of colleagues and…
— Rep. María Elvira Salazar (@RepMariaSalazar) July 8, 2026
They’re also speaking out against the idea that Delcy is the future of Venezuela.
Every life lost was a tragedy.
The United States has pledged to continue humanitarian relief efforts, and we should ensure that EVERY dollar of aid reaches the Venezuelan people — NOT Delcy Rodríguez, Diosdado Cabello, or anyone in their criminal racket.
I’ve been clear:… pic.twitter.com/KBRXqDsGj8
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) July 8, 2026
And one of my favorite journalists, who is usually trustworthy and does actual fair reporting, David Alandete, posted this today on X:
There is a sacred rule in journalism. Anonymous sources are for providing INFORMATION, revealing hidden facts or weighty decisions, but never for giving OPINIONS or serving as a vehicle for DISQUALIFICATIONS. With Venezuela, we’re seeing a lot of that last part here in Washington recently.
He’s right. A lot of people like to jump on these stories put out by anonymous sources, but most of the time, those sources don’t really know anything and are just trying to make a name for themselves. Just going back to the fall of 2025, when I was reporting weekly on the potential fall of Maduro, there was so much misinformation out there. I’d have people say, “Why aren’t you reporting this?” and I’d say, “because I don’t think it’s true.” A week or two later, it’d be proven wrong.
And well, well, well, as I’m writing this on Wednesday evening (I’ve been working on this article for two days), Trump is on Air Force One, and a reporter asked him about Machado and whether he told her not to go back to Venezuela.
“No, no, no, not at all — no, she’s terrific. She’s a wonderful person,” the president said. “…I did not tell her to not go back. I think she’s a good person.” He went on to talk about how she gave him her Nobel Prize and all the wars he’s settled, but you get the idea. He even says he doesn’t even know if she’s in Venezuela now or not.
#AHORA | El video: Trump niega haberle dicho a María Corina que no viajara a Venezuela y afirma que es una persona maravillosa:
“No… no, para nada… ¿Cómo le voy a decir eso? Ella es increíble. Es una persona maravillosa. Yo no le dije que no fuera”. pic.twitter.com/sQweInvERc
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) July 9, 2026
Machado herself did an interview with journalist Luis Carlos Vélez on Tuesday, and among other things, she said, “I have permanent communication at the highest level with the government of President Trump” (presumably meaning Rubio) and that she understands the language Trump uses with Delcy because “It’s a pragmatic perspective. The only one they have to be able to help in the face of a regime like the current one. They have had to silence part of the truth.”
On a personal note, I’ll add that over the past year, I’ve become acquainted with many people on Machado’s team and have done endless hours of studying and research, and I can assure you that what these “MAGA influencers” are suddenly saying on social media is not true. I don’t have any sort of inside connection with the Trump administration — as I used to say in my “New Monroe Doctrine” column, Rubio isn’t handing me exclusives… yet — but most of what they’re saying is something anyone with a brain (or a Google) could figure out. It’s so obviously scripted and inorganic that it’s almost comical, or it would be if there weren’t thousands of people in Venezuela dying because of these politics. That’s what’s most important.
They say Machado is causing problems by trying to return to her homeland, but the fact is that they are the ones trying to stir up trouble. Machado has such a large following that what they’re saying will only serve to drive a wedge between the Venezuelan people and the United States, which is exactly what Trump and Rubio do not need at the moment. And that’s exactly why I decided to go ahead and write this.
John Barrett, the current Chargé d’Affaires in Venezuela, confirmed recently that Rubio’s three-point plan for the country — stabilization, recovery, and transition with elections — is still very much in place. But it will never work if the country turns against the Trump administration. Which, again, leaves me wondering what these “MAGA” people who are starting all of this drama are really after.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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