Venezuelan earthquakes test Trump’s new western hemisphere policy after gutting of USAID

<p>Marco Rubio is scrambling to provide effective disaster response to country whose president US deposed in January</p><p>This week’s dual earthquakes in Venezuela are a test for the new era of American power in the western hemisphere, as the Trump administration scrambles to provide an effective disaster response mission to a country that it now calls an ally in Latin America, after a US special forces raid in January deposed the country’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro.</p><p>The US is marshalling what secretary of state Marco Rubio called a “big, fast, effective” and “whole-of-government” response as the state department sent three specialised urban search and rescue teams and pledged a $150m assistance fund that one former disaster relief expert called the largest he had seen within 24 hours of an incident.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/28/venezuelan-earthquakes-test-trumps-new-western-hemisphere-policy-after-gutting-of-usaid">Continue reading...</a>