Venezuela Crisis

Venezuela Map
Source: OCHA/ReliefWeb

The country

Venezuela (officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) is a country on the northern coast of South America that gained independence from Spain in 1811. Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830; the others are Ecuador and New Granada, which became Colombia. The country is bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean and shares land borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana. Its capital is Caracas. Venezuela covers an area of 912,050 square kilometers. In 2026, the country has an estimated population of about 28.5 million people. Venezuela is one of the resource-rich countries in the world.

The humanitarian situation

In June 2026, two powerful earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela, causing more than 4,500 deaths and at least 16,700 injuries. This catastrophe added to an already deep crisis; 7.9 million people in Venezuela required humanitarian assistance at the beginning of 2026. Political turmoil, socioeconomic decline, and strained public services have led to the worst humanitarian crisis in South America and one of the world's largest migration crises. Since 2014, more than 6.7 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of nearly 8 million who have left Venezuela. 

Venezuela is facing a national emergency after two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 hit the north-central region within a minute of each other at 6:00 pm local time on June 24, 2026. This is the most significant seismic event to affect Venezuela in over a century. At least 856 buildings were affected, including 190 that collapsed. Since the devastating earthquakes hit, authorities have reported more than 1,100 aftershocks.

While the earthquakes were felt across much of Venezuela and neighboring countries, at least seven Venezuelan states have been impacted, including La Guaira, Caracas, Miranda, Falcón, Carabobo, and Yaracuy. The most serious impact has been reported in La Guaira. Two weeks after the earthquakes struck, Venezuelan authorities reported more than 6,400 rescues since the start of the emergency, while some 18,000 people have been left homeless.

The Venezuelan government's early response has focused on search-and-rescue operations, providing emergency medical care, and assessing damage, while the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to work alongside national authorities to support survivors and address their most urgent needs. According to Venezuelan authorities, 87 transitional camps are supporting affected populations with a capacity of over 22,000 people and a current occupancy of nearly 17,000.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has conducted an initial assessment indicating that the direct damage to housing and infrastructure amounts to approximately US$37 billion. The majority of the damage, estimated at around $24 billion, is concentrated in housing, businesses, schools, hospitals, and public facilities.

On July 8, the United Nations launched a US$296 million appeal to provide life-saving support to 1.3 million people affected by the devastating earthquakes over the next six months. This appeal is an addendum to the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan, which already requests $632 million to provide food, shelter, health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance, as well as other critical interventions. As the response shifts from search and rescue to the broader humanitarian and recovery phase, the most urgent priorities focus on shelter, health, water, sanitation, hygiene, food security, protection, education, and early recovery.

The devastating earthquakes occurred at a time when millions of Venezuelans were already facing significant humanitarian needs. Persistent gaps in basic services, including healthcare, water, education, and energy, remain among the most critical needs of vulnerable populations. Access to social protection, livelihood support, and income-generating opportunities is limited, particularly for women, children, older adults, people with disabilities, indigenous communities, displaced people, and LGBTQ+ people.

Before the earthquake struck, Venezuela was experiencing a political and economic crisis marked by hyperinflation, limited food availability, medicine shortages, violent crime, and human right violations. Since 2014, more than 6.7 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of nearly 8 million Venezuelans who have left their country. In 2026, at least 7.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the South American country.

Since 2022, Venezuela has shown some signs of economic stabilization and growth, but the country still faces major socioeconomic challenges due to the massive economic contraction of the past decade. Despite the potential end of hyperinflation, Venezuela still faces a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions lacking access to clean water, adequate nutrition, healthcare, and other basic services.

In 2024, the country experienced economic growth, with estimates ranging from between 4 and 9 percent, driven by the recovery of the oil and non-oil sectors. The growth followed a ten-year, large-scale economic contraction of 75 percent of GDP, ongoing economic sanctions, and limited fiscal space for investing in basic services and social programs. Despite the recent growth, the economy remains 70 percent smaller than its 2013 peak, and the economic recovery has had a minimal impact on alleviating the needs of the most vulnerable.

In 2025, Venezuela experienced a series of complex economic and political developments, which affected the needs of the most vulnerable people. Despite previous years of economic recovery, recent shifts in external circumstances affecting the domestic oil sector have introduced additional complications, limiting the state's access to foreign currency and causing sharp increases in the cost of essential goods.

More than 7.9 million refugees and migrants - about 30 percent of the population - have left Venezuela as a result of the humanitarian crisis and ongoing political and socioeconomic instability, triggering the largest external displacement crisis in Latin America’s recent history.  Seventeen countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean host around 85 percent of Venezuelans who have fled their home country. 

Neighboring Colombia hosts the largest number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants (2.8 million), followed by Peru (1.7 million), Brazil (627,000), Chile (532,000), and Ecuador (445,000). In 2026, an estimated 4.2 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants are in need of humanitarian assistance. 

According to the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), Venezuelans continue to leave their country. According to R4V, the ongoiing Venezuelan exodus is driven by multiple factors, including the country's difficult socioeconomic situation and cost of living crisis, political repression, erosion of human rights and freedoms, state-generated violence, and insecurity.

Women and girls affected by the Venezuelan regional crisis, including those living in host countries, remain at high risk of experiencing gender-based violence (GBV), according to an analysis by the non-governmental organization (NGO) International Rescue Committee (IRC). Displaced women and girls who travel along migration routes and resettle in other countries are at particular risk of experiencing GBV, the NGO reported.

Lack of livelihood opportunities and increasing insecurity continue to drive Venezuelan refugees and migrants to transit northward through the Darién Gap, a dangerous corridor between South and Central America located in a forested region between Colombia and Panama, exposing people on the move to threats to their lives and health.

According to the United Nations, 7.9 million Venezuelans are expected to require humanitarian assistance in 2026. Among them are 4.2 million children. The 2026 Venezuela Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks $632 million to provide urgent assistance to 5.5 million of the most vulnerable people. As of June 2026, however, the HRP remains severely underfunded, receiving less than 50 percent of the necessary funds.

The 2026 Venezuela Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) aims to assist 1.19 million people and requires $763 mbillion. As of June, the RMRP was only 11 percent funded. 

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reports that the food security situation in Venezuela remains critical, with 15 percent of the total population — around 4 million people — urgently needing food assistance, while a total of 40 percent of the population is experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity. WFP continues to provide emergency food assistance, including school-based programs and livelihood interventions, to food-insecure populations in Venezuela.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Venezuela has the highest rates of malnutrition in South America. Nearly 82 percent of Venezuelans reportedly live in poverty, and 53 percent live in extreme poverty, earning incomes insufficient to access a basic food basket. Multidimensional poverty affects approximately 70 percent of the population.

Despite the improvement in economic indicators since 2025, including growth, reduced inflation rates, and stable prices and food supply, the majority of vulnerable households continue to face food insecurity due to the adverse effects of inflationary pressures over several years and the resulting loss of purchasing power. Insufficient wages and a lack of purchasing power continue to hinder households' ability to meet their basic needs.

On November 26, 2022, the Venezuelan government and the opposition (Unitary Platform, Plataforma Unitaria de Venezuela) signed the Mesa Social humanitarian agreement, committing both parties to pursue joint initiatives to benefit the Venezuelan people and address humanitarian needs using frozen Government of Venezuela funds for assistance in the South American country. 

Representatives from the government and the opposition agreed to prioritize funds to support Venezuela’s health system and expand emergency food assistance via the World Food Programme. The implementation of the humanitarian agreement could lead to a significant decrease in the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance in the country.

In 2025, the United Nations and partner organizations appealed for US$607 million to provide humanitarian assistance to 5.1 million of the most vulnerable people in Venezuela. As of early 2026, the Venezuela 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 20 percent covered by funding.

In 2024, the United Nations and partner organizations appealed for US$617 million to provide humanitarian assistance to 5.1 million of the most vulnerable people in Venezuela. As of early 2025, the Venezuela 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 28 percent covered by funding.

In December 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had announced that humanitarian organizations would need at least $1.59 billion to support 3 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela and their host communities in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024. However, the Venezuela Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) 2024 was only 28 percent funded as of early 2025.

 

Venezuela LocationThe security situation

The crisis in Venezuela began during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and deteriorated under the first presidency of Nicolás Maduro between 2014 and 2018. On January 10, 2019, Nicolás Maduro claimed the presidency for his second term in an election boycotted by most opposition parties and widely viewed as fraudulent. The last democratically-elected institution is the 2015 National Assembly. 

The president of the 2015 National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was recognized by several countries as the interim president of Venezuela, while Maduro is recognized by most countries. In 2020, legislative elections were held in Venezuela for a new National Assembly, which the opposition boycotted and which were widely condemned as neither free nor fair. The resulting assembly is viewed by most opposition parties and many international actors as illegitimate.

On December 30, 2022, the Venezuelan opposition (Unitary Platform) dissolved the interim government led by Juan Guaidó. The vote was held in the opposition-controlled 2015 National Assembly. Delegates from three of the four main opposition parties voted to remove Guaidó as interim president and place responsibility for the interim government in the hands of a committee.

On October 17, 2023, the Maduro government and the Unity Platform reached an agreement (Barbados Agreement) to create conditions for inclusive and credible elections in the second half of 2024, including commitments to guarantee the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs and fundamental freedoms. The political agreement was welcomed by international observers as a necessary step in the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.

Also in October 2023, opposition parties organized their first primary elections since 2012 to choose a unity candidate, selecting María Corina Machado as the opposition candidate for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Machado was elected despite being banned from holding public office by Venezuelan authorities.

In January 2024, Venezuela's Supreme Court upheld the ban, preventing presidential candidate Machado from holding office. In an unprecedented show of unity, opposition leaders and opposition groups then united behind a single candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

The Venezuelan authorities honored their commitment to set an electoral timetable and hold the election. On July 28, 2024, Venezuelans went to the polls to vote in a historic presidential election. President Nicolás Maduro was officially declared the winner of the disputed presidential election on July 29, one day after the political opposition and the incumbent each claimed victory in the contest. 

Venezuela's National Electoral Council claimed that 51 percent of the vote went to Maduro, compared to 44 percent for González. Serious concerns exist that this result does not reflect the vote of the Venezuelan people. The Council's results largely contradicted exit polls of voters, which showed González winning by a wide margin. Venezuela's opposition said it had proof that challenger Edmundo González defeated President Maduro in the presidential election. Venezuelan electoral authorities have not released detailed precinct-level results.

According to human rights groups, the election process in the South American country was marred by arrests of opposition members, arbitrary disqualifications of opposition candidates, and efforts to further restrict civil rights. According to media reports, the Venezuelan government allowed only 69,000 of the nearly 5 million voting-age Venezuelans who had fled or migrated abroad to cast ballots in an effort to limit voter turnout.

The presidential election took place against a backdrop of years of systematic human rights abuses by the government. While Venezuela is legally a multi-party constitutional republic, the authoritarian government led by Nicolás Maduro exercised control over all branches of government: the executive, judicial, and legislative branches, the offices of the attorney general and ombudsman, and the electoral institutions. Following the July 2024 presidential elections, the situation did not improve.

A United Nations Fact-Finding Mission of the Human Rights Council has documented human rights abuses attributed to the Maduro government, including torture, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and detentions without due process. The UN Fact-Finding Mission's latest report found that gross human rights violations continue to occur in Venezuela.

In its latest update on Venezuela's human rights situation, the FFM stated that the Venezuelan government continues to engage in actions constituting the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds, committed in connection with the crimes of imprisonment or severe deprivation of physical liberty, as well as other crimes. The Mission reported that the arbitrary detention of individuals perceived as opponents of the government continues, including members of the political opposition, human rights defenders, and journalists.

In November 2021, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced his decision to open an investigation into possible crimes against humanity committed in the country. In June 2023, ICC judges authorized the reopening of the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the country.

According to human rights groups, Venezuelan security forces have been responsible for extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and sexual and gender-based violence. They have jailed opponents, tortured detainees, prosecuted civilians in military courts, and cracked down on protesters. 

Violent crimes, such as homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking are common in the country. Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with 40,3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022, 26.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, and 26.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024.

On January 3, 2026, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured in a large-scale US military operation in Caracas. They were abducted and transferred to New York. Reportedly, more than 80 people were killed in the US attack, including 32 Cuban military and intelligence personnel. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez became acting president of Venezuela as ordered by the Supreme Court.

These latest developments follow a period of heightened tensions between the United States and Venezuela that began in mid-August. US officials have insisted that there is "no war against Venezuela or its people." The US military intervention in Venezuela constitutes a gross violation of international law and severe interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country. Such action constitutes a breach of the United Nations Charter, as well as the laws and constitution of the United States.

The Venezuelan government has characterized the US action as military aggression carried out in civilian and military areas and a flagrant violation of the UN Charter that poses a threat to international and regional peace and security. The UN Charter enshrines the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. 

The US military buildup and operations in the Caribbean Sea further threaten to worsen the security situation in Venezuela. Prolonged military pressure could further deteriorate the already fragile socioeconomic conditions, increase protection concerns, and significantly escalate humanitarian needs, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable. 

Donations

Your donation for the Venezuela emergency and the Venezuela refugee and mirgation crisis can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.

Currently, there are only a few active appeals for the Venezuela crisis. You may also consider making an unearmarked donation for organizations active in the country.

To find other organizations to which you can donate, visit: Humanitarian Crisis Relief, Refugees and IDPs, Children in Need, Hunger and Food Insecurity, Medical Humanitarian Aid, Vulnerable Groups, Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations, and Human Rights Organizations.

Further Information

Last updated: 14/07/2026

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