Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Climbs Past 1,400 as Rescue Window Narrows: UPDATE

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The death toll from the devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has climbed to more than 1,430, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the country in recent history.

According to Venezuelan officials, including National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, at least 1,430 people have been confirmed dead, while some reports place the number above 1,450 as recovery crews continue pulling victims from the rubble. More than 3,150 people have been injured.

The powerful earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, leveled neighborhoods across parts of Caracas and La Guaira, reducing apartment buildings, businesses, and public infrastructure to piles of concrete and twisted steel. Rescue teams continue searching collapsed structures despite persistent aftershocks that have complicated recovery efforts and endangered first responders.

Officials say the chances of finding additional survivors are fading with each passing day. While thousands of rescue workers remain on the ground, the operation has increasingly shifted from rescue to recovery.

Reports regarding the number of missing people remain uncertain. Some tracking systems have suggested that tens of thousands may still be unaccounted for, though authorities caution that those figures likely include duplicate reports and communications disruptions caused by the disaster. Government officials have indicated that the verified number of missing persons is significantly lower, though they have not released a definitive total.

The confirmed death toll has risen steadily since the immediate aftermath of the quakes, when early estimates counted only dozens of fatalities. As emergency crews gain access to previously unreachable areas, officials expect the number of confirmed deaths could continue to increase.

The disaster has left Venezuela facing an enormous humanitarian challenge, with thousands displaced from their homes and critical infrastructure severely damaged. Relief operations remain underway as emergency personnel race to assist survivors and provide aid to devastated communities.

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Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Rises

While some predictions believe there will be up to 20,000 or more deaths from the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday, June 24th, around 6:04 p.m. local time, followed by another quake 39 seconds later, the most recent official toll rose to 920 deaths. 

The first quake registered 7.2 magnitude followed by a 7.5 earthquake, a significantly stronger one about 100 miles west of Caracas.

Caracas was devastated, flattened in parts and the government has estimated hundreds of people are still trapped and missing since the disaster.

The president of the national assembly, Jorge Rodriguez released the official death toll, but obviously, it's expected to rise as more information is revealed.

A website established to collect reports of missing individuals had registered more than 50,000 unaccounted-for people as of midday Friday. The United Nations’ chief aid official provided a similar estimate.

Foreign rescue teams and humanitarian aid began arriving in the country on Friday, while desperate Venezuelans and an increasing number of international volunteers worked urgently to locate survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings and debris.

Rodriguez reported that 871 international rescue workers were operating in Venezuela by Friday afternoon. Among the nations dispatching teams were Mexico, El Salvador, and Spain. The U.S. Geological Survey has forecasted a high likelihood of more than 10,000 fatalities, which would rank these earthquakes among the deadliest in Latin America over the past century.

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Rubio ties up CBS anchor's brain on Venezuela: "I don't know why that's confusing"

Oh give us a break. CBS News hack Margaret Brennan thought she could spring a gotcha on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whining about why the Trump administration only nabbed Venezuelan narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife instead of rounding up every last indicted thug in the regime at once. This is the same media crowd that would have screamed bloody murder if we turned Caracas into another endless quagmire.

Rubio, fresh off Sunday shows where he owned the narrative, schooled her like she was an intern. And folks, he was spot on; Marco didn't hold back.

Referencing Maduro's arrest on Saturday, Brennan noted that President Donald Trump's administration had left a number of others, who had also been designated as narco-terrorists, holding power of some sort in the Venezuelan regime.

"The defense minister, who has deep ties to Russia, $15 million price on his head. He is still in place," Brennan said. "I'm confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco terrorist regime?"

"You're confused? I don't know why that’s confusing to you. I mean, it's very simple," Rubio pushed back, but Brennan interrupted.

"They're still in power!" she protested.

"You're not going to go in and . . . you’re going to go in and suck up five people?" Rubio’s tone was incredulous. He spoke to her like she just got off the boat from Boatswana, if there even is such a place. "They are already complaining about the one operation! Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people."

"We got the top priority," Rubio continued. "The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested along with his wife who is also indicted."

"That was a pretty sophisticated and frankly, complicated operation," Rubio said, and Brennan voiced her agreement as he explained, "It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country. The guy lived on a military base. Land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets."

"That’s not an easy mission and you're asking why didn't we do that in five other places at the same time?” Rubio asked. "I mean, that’s absurd!"

Exactly. 

This was a surgical strike, folks. Delta Force pulled off a flawless op, no American losses, top target in cuffs, and the media's big complaint is why not more? Because that's how you turn a win into Iraq 2.0, you geniuses. Rubio just exposed the absurdity of these armchair warriors who want everything but nothing at the same time. Classic liberal media meltdown. 

Trump gets results, and they can't stand it.

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BREAKING: Cuba plane crash: 'High number dead'

A commercial flight headed to the Cuban city of Holguin, crashed near a roadway and high school campus in the Boyeros neighborhood next to the airport. 

There were 104 passengers on board Cubana de Aviacon airline and according to sources, there was a high number of dead.

According to witnesses, a huge fireball followed by a towering plume of smoke was visible near the airport located on the outskirts of Havana. The plane lay on a farm, according to local media, and firefighters were spraying water on the smoldering remains.

An aircraft from Cubana de Aviacon crashed in 2005 in Caracas during takeoff when it experienced mechanical problems. It lost a wing and an engine before crashing onto a highway. Six passengers were injured.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel along with other government officials rushed to the site along with first responders.

This is an ongoing situation and more information will be made public.


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POTUS will not rule out bombing the s*** out of Venezuela/NoKo

President Trump will not rule out a military strike on Venezuela in spite of his bellicose warning to North Korea about the possibility of a U.S. military action there.

Mr. Trump kept the military option on the table with Venezuela, but he did not give a lot of details to his statement. At the same time, the president stepped up his rhetoric with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in a press conference at his Bedminster, N.J. golf course on Friday.

"I'm not going to rule out a military option," he told reporters when asked about Venezuela. "Venezuela is a mess," he said.

According to CNN, the word 'mess' is code for 'I support the white supremacists.'

"We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary," Trump said.

According to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, the term 'military option' is code for 'Obama led from behind and is a Nancy boy who refused to take action'.

Trump's statements came a day after President Nicolás Maduro said in a speech to the new constituent assembly that he hoped to speak with President Trump by phone or meet him when he [Maduro] visits the U.S. in September for the UN General Assembly.

"If he is so interested in Venezuela, here I am," Maduro said Thursday. "Mr. Donald Trump, here is my hand."

It isn't clear if Maduro was teasing Trump about hand size, but the possibility is real.

Maduro reiterated his criticism of Trump as the leader of an "imperial power," calling him a threat to the global order. Upon hearing those words, Rosie O'Donnell offered to engage in sex with the socialist dictator in spite of her usual sexual preference.

"With Donald Trump, a dangerous class of lobbyists, multimillionaires and extreme right-wingers reached the presidency, capturing all of the positions of power in the government," Maduro said. "Today, they are threatening world peace."

Venezuela's Information Minister Ernesto Villegas tweeted Friday that Mr. Trump's comments are "the gravest and most insolent threat ever made against the fatherland of Bolivar."

A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that the Department of Defense has no orders from Trump regarding Venezuela (aka the 'fatherland of Bolivar') and referred all questions back to the White House.

The White House later explained that Maduro had requested a call from Trump but POTUS refused the request citing Maduro's steps that the U.S. is characterizing as "the path of dictatorship" the White House said. 

The steps in that pathway to dictatorship appear to be heading in the same direction as our judiciary when it comes to undermining executive decisions.

"The United States stands with the people of Venezuela in the face of their continued oppression by the Maduro regime. President Trump will gladly speak with the leader of Venezuela as soon as democracy is restored in that country," a White House spokesman, who wishes to remain anonymous in case Mr. Trump changes his mind, said.

The question remains then, why is President Trump taking phone calls from Vladimir Putin?

Venezuela has been experiencing antigovernment protests and about 120 people have been killed in the last four months, according to Luisa Ortega, the country's former attorney general who was ousted from office for her activism against dictator Maduro.

Some opposition supporters of Maduro have mixed reactions to Trump's words.

"I'm worried by these remarks because they could deepen the political, social and economic crisis the country," Caracas advertising agent Carmen Gonzalez said.

More radical opponents of the government believe that military action is the only way to get rid of the authoritarian government.

"This government has ruined us, has destroyed this country. I don't see this [military] option as bad as long as this government goes," said Angelica Azuaje, a Venezuelan architect.

However, some political analysts believe that Trump's comments might bolster Maduro by seeming to affirm what the late, not so great Hugo Chávez and Maduro had been saying about the U.S. being out to get the country's Socialist government.

On the other hand, the fact that the people are experiencing firsthand the failings of the socialist government, might not sway the people to go along with the program.

And providing them with toilet paper would be nice. 


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