U.S. is right to prioritize Venezuela earthquake rescue, not Machado’s return | Opinion
Exiled Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado wants the U.S. to help her return home. Caracas needs Washington’s help digging out from under the rubble. Machado asking for that assistance is self-serving in the wake of a crisis.
Twin earthquakes have killed more than 1,700 people in Venezuela, with thousands more injured and untold numbers trapped under collapsed buildings in Caracas, La Guaira and the surrounding states. Specialized rescue teams from Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami are part of American rescue crews on the ground searching through the wreckage for survivors.
Their mission is straightforward: find the survivors, recover the deceased and give grieving families the closure they deserve.
That’s why reports that Machado has been asking U.S. officials to help facilitate her own return to Venezuela feel out of step with the moment. Machado says her return is a moral obligation to be with her people, and that’s understandable. But it shoudn’t be a priority for America in the middle of rescue efforts.
In an interview with Fox News, Machado discussed the rescue efforts and Venezuela’s need for help, and said she would be returning to the country. “The time has come. It is my duty to accompany my people. We need to be together, to embrace, to grieve and mourn together,” Machado said. Any leader would want to stand beside their nation in mourning.
South Floridians understand natural disasters better than most, and we understand collapsed buildings in particular. In 2021, the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside killed 98 people. We remember how every hour mattered, how rescue work was measured in minutes and how anything that pulled resources or focus away from the disaster carried real consequences. Venezuela’s rescue crews are living that same urgency now.
Machado’s wanting to return and reportedly asking the United States to make that return a diplomatic priority aren’t the same thing. While rescue operations continue and lives remain at stake, every available American resource should stay focused on the humanitarian response.
Washington is fully committed. The State Department has allocated $150 million in emergency aid, deployed search-and-rescue teams and coordinated medical supplies and military logistics support, as aftershocks complicate the operations on the ground.
According to Reuters, a White House official said Machado’s outreach has frustrated senior Trump administration officials, who questioned whether helping her return needed to be an immediate priority after the catastrophe. “We support her returning to Venezuela, but does it have to be 24 hours after a massive humanitarian catastrophe where the death toll continues to climb?” the official told Reuters.
That’s the right question to be asking. During the aftermath of an active disaster, Washington’s finite diplomatic bandwidth should be devoted to saving lives and delivering aid — not arranging travel logistics for one politician’s return, no matter how popular she remains in her country.
Instead, Machado should use the influence she has built with U.S. officials and lawmakers to press for additional search-and-rescue resources, expanded humanitarian aid, temporary shelter for displaced families and long-term rebuilding assistance. Those priorities would do far more for Venezuela.
Machado should return to Venezuela. But it should happen when the country is no longer sifting through the wreckage. Leadership isn’t about arriving first. It’s measured by keeping the focus where it belongs. And right now, that focus belongs on saving lives in Venezuela.
Mary Anna Mancuso is a member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board. Her email: mmancuso@miamiherald.com