Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado met Sunday, November 8, with relatives of people killed and residents affected by the collapse of residential buildings in San Bernardino, Caracas, following the devastating twin earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela in June.

Machado visited the San Bernardino parish, where she met with families whose relatives were killed or directly affected by the destruction. During the gathering, she listened to accounts from survivors and family members, embraced attendees and offered her support to those continuing to deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

Some residents reportedly welcomed her return with emotional words, saying, "Thank you for coming back. God heard us." The encounter took place at a particularly difficult time for families who have spent months coping with the loss of relatives, displacement and uncertainty surrounding the future of their homes.

San Bernardino among Caracas' hardest-hit neighborhoods

San Bernardino was one of the areas of the Venezuelan capital most severely affected by the June 24 earthquakes. Several residential buildings suffered catastrophic structural damage, including the Santa Rita, Moisés and Marama buildings, which collapsed entirely or partially.

The destruction triggered extensive search-and-rescue operations, with emergency personnel and local residents working through the rubble to locate survivors and recover victims. In the immediate aftermath, hundreds of people across the greater Caracas area were evacuated from buildings considered structurally unsafe, while residents awaited engineering assessments to determine whether their homes could be safely occupied.

The Santa Rita building was among the most devastating individual collapse sites. Initial reporting on June 29 documented 13 confirmed fatalities there, alongside continuing concerns over missing residents. At the Moisés and Marama buildings, rescue teams also recovered victims and located survivors during the initial response.

A disaster that continues to affect thousands

The earthquakes struck on June 24, when two powerful seismic events measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 occurred just 39 seconds apart. The second earthquake followed the first along northern Venezuela's active plate boundary, with the sequence causing widespread destruction across several states, including La Guaira, Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo and Falcón.

The disaster overwhelmed emergency services and damaged residential infrastructure, hospitals, transportation networks and other essential facilities. The Venezuelan government subsequently declared an emergency as search-and-rescue operations expanded across the affected regions.

By August 24, Venezuelan authorities had reported 6,509 deaths attributed to the disaster. An assessment published by Amnesty International in September also highlighted significant unanswered questions surrounding missing people, the transparency of casualty reporting and the continuing needs of affected communities.

The scale of the displacement has remained substantial months after the initial earthquakes. According to UNICEF, 18,055 people were still living in 86 transitional camps as of October 11, with humanitarian organizations continuing to support families who lost their homes or remain unable to return to their previous accommodation.

Machado's return to Venezuela

Sunday's meeting comes approximately two weeks after Machado returned to Venezuela on October 25, following nearly 10 months abroad. Her return was greeted by large crowds of supporters during an extended journey to Caracas.

In the days surrounding her return, Machado had indicated that she intended to engage with communities affected by the June earthquakes, alongside meetings with families of political prisoners and representatives of Venezuela's democratic movement.

She had previously visited earthquake-affected areas of La Guaira, another region heavily impacted by the disaster.

The meeting in San Bernardino places renewed attention on families who continue to live with the consequences of the June earthquakes. While the initial emergency response has transitioned toward reconstruction and longer-term recovery, many affected residents remain confronted with the loss of relatives, damaged homes and the challenges of rebuilding their lives.

For families in San Bernardino, the disaster remains an ongoing reality long after the rescue operations ended.