Imperialism-Induced Fault Lines: The Venezuelan Earthquake - CounterPunch.org<https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/30/imperialism-induced-fault-lines-the-venezuelan-earthquake/>
By Chris Gilbert and Cira Pascual There is no such thing as a purely natural disaster, especially in a country under siege. Likewise, the response to any disaster is always mediated by social, political, and even geopolitical factors. Following the devastating 1812 earthquake that occurred during the independence struggle, Simón Bolívar said: “If nature opposes us, we will fight against it and make it obey us.” Today, this remark can sound jarring—like a strange anti-ecological outburst—but what Bolívar meant was that the strategic project of emancipation must remain in the forefront and guide our actions, even when confronting a natural challenge. This should be kept in mind when we think about the earthquakes that recently struck Venezuela. The natural fact is straightforward: there was a double movement of the earth, first a magnitude 7.2 tremor followed seconds later by another measuring 7.5. In its wake, the destruction followed along natural fault lines, such as the San Sebastián Fault that runs along the La Guaira coast, but it also spread along imperialist-made ones. Foremost among these were the fractures in the country’s infrastructure, emergency rescue capacity, and health system caused by more than a decade of crippling sanctions. These sanctions, which still number more than 1000, are not merely words and hostile intentions. Mark Weisbrot’s research at CEPR<https://cepr.net/publications/economic-sanctions-as-collective-punishment-the-case-of-venezuela/?utm_source=chatgpt.com> in Washington estimated that they contributed to some 40,000 excess deaths in just one year. For those unacquainted with the international finance system, the impact of a sanctions regime of this kind may be hard to understand. However, the net result is that every international transaction becomes difficult. Ordinary trade and credit lines collapse, while companies, banks and governments avoid transactions, even when they may be technically legal under the sanctions regime, because they lack certainty and fear future reprisals. The consequences affect every aspect of disaster preparedness and response. In Venezuela, millions of people began to migrate shortly after the Obama <https://orinocotribune.com/biden-extends-obamas-executive-order-against-venezuela-for-one-more-year/> Executive Order<https://orinocotribune.com/biden-extends-obamas-executive-order-against-venezuela-for-one-more-year/> was published in 2015, including doctors, medics, civil engineers, and other trained professionals. Heavy rescue equipment became harder to repair because spare parts cannot be imported. Hospitals struggled to replace specialized medical equipment. Public utilities postponed maintenance because financing dried up and suppliers fear secondary sanctions. Even when transactions are technically legal, banks and manufacturers frequently overcomply, refusing to participate and leaving institutions to improvise under conditions of permanent scarcity. A second set of fault lines was opened by the January 3 imperialist attacks on Venezuela, in which democratically-elected President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped in a military operation that killed more than one hundred people, and left many more injured and traumatized. Although the Bolivarian Revolution succeeded in retaining political power—essential to any revolutionary process—it lost control over Venezuela’s oil sales and was forced to introduce “reforms” to the country’s highly advanced legislation governing its natural resources, especially oil. All of this means that the earthquake in Venezuela, heartbreaking by every measure, has been made far more lethal—both in its immediate impact and long-term consequences—by factors directly attributable to U.S. imperialism’s ongoing, multi-level assault on the country and its people. Nearly 1500 deaths have now been officially recorded, and that tragic toll will continue to rise in the days ahead. The overall number of casualties will be felt on many levels, and the struggle to mitigate them through an effective, sovereign, and coordinated response is now a battleground, in which the contradiction with U.S. imperialism is at the center..... ......... Finally, it is in the country’s socialist communes that the most far-sighted response is taking shape. Teams from the network called Unión Comunera went to help with rescue efforts in La Guaira. In Caracas’ El Panal Commune, in addition to assessing the condition of the barrio’s buildings, communards set up several collection centers and are creating a shelter for those who have been left houseless by the earthquake. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#42259): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/42259 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/120077180/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
