Tom Phillips

Twin earthquakes on Venezuela’s north coast devastated the OPPE 25 housing complex and exposed deep public anger at the government’s slow and disorganized response. Survivors described years of deteriorating living conditions under Nicolás Maduro and expressed frustration at acting leader Delcy Rodríguez’s handling of the crisis. Experts questioned why poorly built structures were erected in a high‑risk seismic zone and argued that better planning could have reduced the death toll. The disaster intensified longstanding political discontent, with many viewing the regime as corrupt, incompetent and detached from its original revolutionary promises.