The Fallout of Massive Earthquakes for Venezuela — and the U.S.

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The Scale of Civilian Solidarity — and Its Limits

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For Karmanayev, witnessing the civilian response was emotionally overwhelming — rich and poor Venezuelans alike cooking food, delivering supplies, digging through rubble with their bare hands, opening their homes, providing transportation. He notes the deep irony: authoritarian regimes, from Putin to Maduro, deliberately atomize their societies to prevent exactly this kind of collective action. That the Venezuelan people came together so powerfully despite 20 years of systematic division is a testament to something resilient in the national character. But Karmanayev is clear-eyed: 'these are just regular people facing a massive catastrophe, and they are putting Band-Aids at a massive problem.' Without organized state involvement, the volunteers can only do so much.