The devastating earthquakes that shook Venezuela, especially the coastal region of La Guaira, exposed the failure of the housing plan promoted by the Chavista regime for decades. Nearly 72 hours after the quake, the scene is desolate: corpses piled in the streets, survivors without assistance, and entire buildings reduced to rubble, mainly those built under the Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV), emblem of the project promoted by former dictator Hugo Chávez.
The human impact of the tragedy is immediate and brutal. Under temperatures close to 35 degrees Celsius, bodies covered with sheets remain lined up on public roads awaiting identification. The most affected areas coincide with housing complexes built by the regime. In Caraballeda, one of the areas declared a disaster, five towers of the Misión Vivienda were severely damaged, two of which collapsed completely.
The magnitude of the disaster prevents even staying in the area. «The putrid smell you breathe is unbearable,» said journalist Maryorin Méndez, describing the situation among the rubble. The outlook is even more critical in other nearby areas. In Catia la Mar, where the regime had built a complex called Hugo Chávez to house about 7,000 people, destruction is almost total.
«There are 193 buildings in Hugo Chávez, of which only three remain standing. All collapsed in the earthquake,» said a survivor on social media, who now sleeps outdoors after losing his home. Rescue efforts also offer no encouraging expectations. The head of the Chilean aid contingent, Nadiomar Polanco, was blunt in assessing the situation: «Unfortunately, the collapse is total and there are few chances of finding people alive.» The specialist added that current efforts focus on «recovering deceased people,» confirming the severity of the scenario.
Beyond the immediate tragedy, the massive collapse of these homes rekindles structural questions about the Chavista housing program. Engineers and specialists attribute the collapses to the use of low-quality materials, lack of technical controls, and non-compliance with anti-seismic standards. According to these analyses, state constructions were not prepared to withstand a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.
Added to this are allegations of systematic corruption in the program’s execution. Transparencia Venezuela has pointed out irregularities in international contracts, such as the agreement with Belarus, where at least $120 million were transferred to the state company Belzarubezhtroy for a project that was never completed. Similar situations occurred with other allied countries of Chavismo, such as Uruguay and Brazil, where unfinished works and «lost» funds exposed corruption in management.
The collapse of these structures also revives the precedent of 1999, when a landslide in the same region left thousands dead. At that time, Chávez’s government prioritized the construction of social housing in the coastal area, even rejecting international aid. More than two decades later, those same buildings collapsed in seconds. The tragedy in La Guaira not only leaves a devastating human toll but also exposes the failure of years of socialist policies, lack of controls, and the political use of social housing.
che esto ya es un chiste de mal gusto para mi las casas del chavismo se caen como panqueques y encima lloran por ayuda putin los debe estar mirando con asco yo creo que voten a la oposicion o los vamos a sacar a patadas en el culo viva la libertad carajo
Para mí esto huele a opereta yanki de punta a punta. Las viviendas del chavismo son un ejemplo de lucha contra el capitalismo, no se derrumban por corrupción sino por sabotaje imperialista. Yo creo que los terremotos los provocaron ellos para tirar abajo la Revolución. Viva Madre Tierra y muera la oligarquía de mierda.