The ground split open. La Guaira is still finding a way to hold itself together.
Two earthquakes struck Venezuela's Caribbean coast 39 seconds apart, flattening homes and high-rises across La Guaira. Weeks later, thousands of families are still displaced, still searching, and still rebuilding — largely on their own. Abrazo La Guaira Foundation exists to close that gap.
Figures are still being confirmed by Venezuelan authorities and international agencies as recovery continues, and will be updated as more accurate counts emerge.
Search and rescue has ended. The harder work is starting.
On June 24, 2026, a magnitude 7.2 foreshock and a magnitude 7.5 mainshock struck Venezuela's Caribbean coast less than a minute apart, collapsing apartment towers and homes across La Guaira, Caracas, and Miranda. International search teams have since gone home. What remains is a slower, less visible emergency: families without housing, communities without the equipment to safely clear rubble, and survivors carrying grief that hasn't had anywhere to go.
This is also not new ground for La Guaira. The coast has weathered deadly flooding before, most notably in 1999. What's different this time is the scale — and how much of the recovery has fallen to residents themselves, with little heavy machinery or government support reaching the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
Abrazo La Guaira Foundation was formed to close that gap: funding the equipment, shelter, and support families need to recover their homes and their dead with dignity, and to stay rebuilding long after the news cameras leave.
"Abrazo" means embrace — the help we give is meant to hold a community up, not just pass through it.
Support built around what La Guaira needs today
Search-and-rescue has wound down, but the recovery is far from over. Our programs are shaped around the phase Venezuela is in right now — and the years of rebuilding still ahead.
Shelter for the Displaced
Support for families with nowhere to return to, in the shelters that sprang up across La Guaira, Caracas, and Miranda after their homes collapsed.
Equipment for Recovery Work
Many families have had to rent cranes and heavy equipment themselves to safely reach loved ones and clear rubble. We help cover that cost.
Grief & Reunification Support
Help for families still searching for missing relatives, and grief support for those who have found and laid their loved ones to rest.
Housing Reconstruction
Rebuilding homes lost when public housing towers and coastal neighborhoods collapsed, with a focus on safer construction this time.
Three ways to help La Guaira recover, right now
Donate
Your gift can fund shelter, or materials to start rebuilding for families that lost everything.
Volunteer
Join recovery efforts and help crews still working through the rubble in La Guaira, by offering remote skills in logistics, translation, or fundraising.
Partner
We work with local businesses, diaspora groups, and other NGOs to move equipment and resources where they're needed most.