Wednesday briefing: After two powerful earthquakes, what is the reality on the ground in Venezuela?

<p>In today’s newsletter: A country already in crisis since the removal of its leader earlier this year by the US, now has to find a way to rebuild with little state presence in evidence</p><p>The shaking seemed to come from nowhere. In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nDC9JWwJ8Z8">moment captured</a> by fishers off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/25/earthquake-venezuela-caracas-tremors-aftershocks">two earthquakes struck seconds apart</a>. Plumes of dust appear where buildings once stood in the recording as the camera rises and falls with the swell. The men rapidly head for the shore in search of their families. “I’m shaking,” says the cameraman.</p><p>Since the quakes struck last Wednesday, the search for missing loved ones has not stopped for scores of Venezuelans. Officially, more than 1,700 people have died. But tens of thousands remain missing: desperate relatives are walking up and down streets lined by rubble and collapsed buildings with photos of those they cannot find, asking for help.</p><p><em><strong>World news</strong></em> | A child has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/30/toddler-rescued-from-rubble-six-days-after-devastating-venezuela-earthquakes">rescued from the rubble</a> in Venezuela, six days since the country was hit by devastating twin earthquakes.</p><p><em><strong>UK politics </strong></em>| Andy Burnham will have to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/30/burnham-left-with-47bn-bill-for-starmers-new-defence-investment-plan">find an extra £4.7bn for defence</a> in his first budget, after Keir Starmer announced a £298bn defence investment plan (Dip) without having fully identified how it will be funded.</p><p><em><strong>US politics &