Polish Medical Mission will help Venezuelans

Destroyed homes, hospitals overwhelmed with the injured, and thousands of people affected or missing—these are the consequences of two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening. According to official figures released by the Venezuelan government, at least 4490 people have been confirmed dead and more than 16,740 injured, with the toll expected to continue rising. The Poland Medical Mission will provide assistance to those affected by the earthquakes in cooperation with the local organization CESAP.

Several dozen hours after the two powerful earthquakes struck, it is now clear that the disaster in Venezuela has had devastating consequences. The Venezuelan government has reported more than 13,500 people affected, including 2,295 confirmed fatalities, but these numbers are expected to rise. According to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the most likely scenario is that the death toll could exceed 10,000. Meanwhile, the website where families can report missing loved ones already contains tens of thousands of names.

“This does not mean that everyone reported missing will ultimately be confirmed as a victim of the earthquake. I was in Nepal in 2015, when an earthquake of similar magnitude struck. In the aftermath, communications are usually severely disrupted—phone networks are down, internet access is limited. We can hope that many of these people have simply lost contact with their families,” says Jakub Belina-Brzozowski of the Poland Medical Mission. “The coming hours and days are critical for search and rescue teams trying to find survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings. After that, an equally important phase begins: supporting those who have lost everything they had, and often the people they loved most. These families will have to rebuild their lives from scratch.”

Venezuela was already facing a humanitarian crisis before this disaster. Years of corruption, hyperinflation, and the collapse of public institutions have left even basic goods beyond the reach of many people. In large parts of the country, access to healthcare and other essential services was already severely limited. The impact of the earthquakes will therefore compound an already protracted humanitarian emergency.

“This is not only a crisis caused by the earthquake. It is a humanitarian emergency affecting people whose daily lives were already extremely difficult long before this disaster,” says Ileana Malito of CESAP, the Poland Medical Mission’s partner organization in Venezuela. “Those affected now have limited access to clean water, electricity, healthcare, and transportation. This is a multidimensional catastrophe.”

The Poland Medical Mission, in cooperation with CESAP, will provide assistance to people affected by the earthquake in Venezuela. The Polish organization has been working in the region for years, supporting communities both in Venezuela—including co-financing a medical clinic in Rubio—and in Colombia, where at least 2.5 million Venezuelan refugees have sought safety.