LatinNews Daily - 30 June 2026

*Venezuela has been struck by an earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale, five days after twin earthquakes on 24 June caused massive damage and potentially tens of thousands of deaths in the north of the country. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre of the latest quake was located 27km north of the town of Caraballeda, in La Guaira state, which was the state that suffered the most damage in the previous earthquakes. The aftershock came as the search for survivors continues and as the disaster is becoming increasingly politicised. Exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado, who said on 28 June that she had plans to return to Venezuela imminently to help the country in the aftermath of the earthquakes, said in a social media video yesterday that she had attempted to fly to Venezuela from Panama City, but that “the regime closed our country’s airspace to try and stop me”. She also accused President Delcy Rodríguez’s government of obstructing journalists and volunteer search teams, and said that “blocking and manipulating information in these circumstances produces even more victims”. The New York Times reported on 27 June that there is frustration in the White House over Machado’s requests for US support to return to Venezuela, where the Rodríguez administration has been cooperating closely with Washington’s demands on economic reform.

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