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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday Ottawa will send humanitarian aid to support Venezuelans after what he called “catastrophic earthquakes” overnight.
“It’s a, obviously, fast-developing tragedy,” Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill.
In a written statement, Carney expressed his condolences to the dead — who number at least 164 — and the hundreds of injured and displaced people. He said Canada is preparing to deliver humanitarian assistance.
“You can expect further communication on that later today,” the prime ministers told reporters Thursday morning. “We’re working with our partners directly and we will scale things as appropriate to move forward.”
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century, and could be felt throughout the region, The Associated Press reported.
Mariana Pacheco, a journalist in Quebec who left Venezuela for political reasons, said two of her husband’s cousins are missing in the most affected state, La Guaira. She said friends have been sending videos of flattened buildings and injured people.
“The government wasn’t ready for this,” Pacheco said in French. She runs the social media account Latinos en Quebec, where the Venezuelan diaspora community has been exchanging news of loved ones and ways to help support people.
Pacheco said a group chat of Venezuelans in Canada started lighting up within an hour of the first earthquake Wednesday night. What first seemed to be a minor earthquake quickly triggered a wave of disturbing videos, she said.
“We cried a lot. We didn’t sleep because it was a difficult situation,” she said. “It’s a very, very terrible tragedy.”
She said multiple crowdfunding sites have emerged and she worries donations will flow to some untrustworthy people instead of aid groups with established reputations.
Pacheco said the diaspora group Engagement Foundation is looking into how people might send cash, clothing or food to meet the needs of those on the ground.
“I want all Canadians, everyone, to know that the situation in Venezuela is very, very terrible. There is no communication, no electricity, no clean water, no food,” she said.
Canada and Venezuela have not formally severed relations but Ottawa closed its Caracas embassy in June 2019 after Venezuela refused to renew expiring visas for diplomats.
Canada had been among the most prominent countries supporting Venezuelan opposition leaders after an election that was widely viewed as stolen.
In January, American forces captured Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro in a brazen raid in Caracas, and hand-picked one of his deputies, Delcy Rodriguez, to run the country.
Her government has declared a state of emergency and asked for help from the global community. Pacheco said she hopes the political crisis doesn’t hinder aid.
“Countries that have political problems with Venezuela, they (can) leave that aside,” she said, adding she hopes Canada sends first responders. “Today, the most important thing is all the people who are missing.”
Save the Children’s country director in Venezuela told reporters young people on the ground need psychological help after witnessing traumatic scenes.
In a teleconference from Caracas, Fatima Andraca said she ran out of her shaking home to find streets full of people wandering around, many of them holding bags of items they had managed to gather from their homes. Immediately, she said, people were offering water and someone gave her a pair of shoes.
“In these kinds of situations you find solidarity and you find community,” she said. “I found myself in a safe place with everyone — the policemen, the firefighters, everyone was trying to help and to (make) us safe.”
She said the government seems open to working with aid agencies.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand wrote on the platform X that the suffering is “heartbreaking” and “many are facing unbearable days ahead without shelter, food or certainty.”
Global Affairs Canada officials are in touch with regional partners and aid groups, Anand wrote, and Canada will “contribute to humanitarian efforts as appropriate.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2026.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
