Friday, 26 June 2026: The South African Communist Party (SACP) is saddened following the reports that at least 188 people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured after two powerful back-to-back earthquakes tore the country on Wednesday night, damaging hundreds of buildings.

The SACP conveys its message of condolences to the families of those who have been killed and wishes speedy recovery to the injured. Many more remain missing under the rubble in Caracas and the state of La Guaira, where more than 100 buildings have collapsed, and we hope that they will be found alive.

Measuring at magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, the quakes hit about a minute apart, not giving the people enough space to escape. The second quake was reportedly the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900.

As the Venezuelan people are now faced with the mountainous challenge of facing the devastating effects of the earthquakes, they were already facing a worse aggression led from the north by US imperialism. Since 2005, the people of Venezuela have suffered and fought against sanctions imposed by the US imperialist regime, greatly impacting on their national development. Additionally, in 2017, some US allies, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, also imposed sanctions on Venezuela after failing to remove the democratically elected government, first under President Hugo Chávez and, after his death in March 2013, under President Nicolás Maduro. The US under Donald Trump illegally invaded Venezuela in January 2026 and abducted President Nicolas Maduro, to whom we reiterate our solidarity - as well as our solidarity with the people of Venezuela.

These imperialist-driven hindrances to Venezuela's progress are now affecting Venezuela's capacity to save the lives of those still under the rubble as well as providing medical care to those who need it. As such, any more deaths and worsening of injuries are also to be attributed to the paralysing machinations propagated by imperialist forces - chiefly the US government.

In light of the difficulties faced by the people of Venezuela, the SACP calls upon our government and others across the world who value the importance of justice and peace to do everything reasonably possible to provide all forms of practical assistance to the people of Venezuela both as they mourn their loved ones and as they seek to rebuild their country after this latest devastation. We also reiterate our solidarity with the people of Venezuela in the defence of their national sovereignty and the right to self-determination against US imperialist aggression.

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.

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Mbulelo Mandlana, Head of Media, Communications and Information
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