The United States has positioned more than 900 military personnel inside Venezuela and roughly 800 others at support bases in Puerto Rico and Curaçao to assist relief efforts after twin earthquakes devastated the country last week, General Francis Donovan, commander of US Southern Command, told Reuters. A Marine logistics element has arrived with medium-lift trucks, off-road vehicles and military ambulances to keep supply routes open, while at least four or five MQ-9 Reaper drones now fly over Venezuelan airspace, feeding imagery to a fusion cell in Miami that helps Venezuelan authorities assess damage and locate survivors.

Viewed from Washington, the deployment represents a rapid operational pivot. On 3 January, US forces carried out a raid to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro and fly him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges. General Donovan acknowledged the contrast, noting how the relationship has evolved in a matter of months. In the past month, the US military also conducted a strike that killed the leader of the Tren de Aragua prison gang, an action coordinated with Venezuelan authorities. The general expressed hope that the relief mission could help build stronger military-to-military ties in the future.

On the ground, US Marines were among the first foreign personnel to dig through rubble alongside Venezuelan rescue teams, searching for survivors after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes struck less than a minute apart. The US military helped reopen the main airport and mobilised air and naval assets to prevent bottlenecks of international aid at entry points. Donovan said the same surveillance capabilities used to track hemispheric threats are now being employed to identify open roadways and pinpoint damaged structures, information that he said can be difficult for authorities to observe from ground level.

Venezuelan authorities have faced domestic criticism for failing to deploy heavy equipment and search-and-rescue teams quickly, leaving residents to dig with hands, shovels and ropes in the critical first days. State television later showed heavy machinery at work, and residents said foreign teams helped recover bodies. The official death toll has risen to 1,943, with hundreds of homes destroyed and hospitals damaged. The UN World Food Programme has expanded its operation, targeting 500,000 quake victims.

Donovan declined to speculate on the duration of the US military mission, referring the matter to the State Department, which leads the broader American relief effort. He stated that the forces sent are not preparing for any long-term ground mission and will depart once the work is finished. The dossier remains open as humanitarian needs are assessed, with no fixed endpoint announced for the military component of the operation.