Hundreds of U.S. military service members are assisting with disaster response efforts in Venezuela after the South American country was rocked by a pair of earthquakes on June 24, the U.S. State Department reported on June 29.
This military-supported humanitarian effort comes less than six months after U.S. forces led an offensive operation to breach Venezuela’s defenses and capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, to face criminal prosecution in the United States on drug trafficking and terrorism-related charges.
Venezuela’s interim authorities have reported more than 1,700 people have died as a result of the earthquakes. More than 58,000 people have been reported missing on the website Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela—which allows Venezuelans to self-report missing loved ones—as of June 30….