CARABALLEDA, Venezuela (AP) 鈥� The rich and poor shared paradise in Caraballeda on Caribbean coast. Their apartments, a few with direct marina access and hundreds in public housing towers, stood on the same curving street and offered idyllic views of the white sandy beaches and crystal waters.
The yacht owners and public transit riders who shared this road epitomized the social integration that the government set out to accomplish. Many of them enjoying a holiday or resting at home on June 24 met the same fate when the ground shook so violently that their .
Now, about 17,000 who survived also share the . As the official , many must rely on a government that has been and that has politicized housing in the past to figure out where they will live 鈥� if they will have a new home at all.
Housing is still a constant even in times of crisis
Housing has generally been the first aspiration for Venezuelan adults since the second half of the 20th century, when an oil bonanza allowed the government to fund housing complexes, the poor to build brick and cement shacks locally known as 鈥渞anchos,鈥� and the rich to buy second and third homes.
Even when the country鈥檚 economy came undone in 2013, most Venezuelans still had a roof over their heads, be it by getting one handed out by the country鈥檚 self-described socialist government, buying one at a deep discount from people desperate for cash to migrate, building ranchos on top of each other, and even invading abandoned homes.
Those in housing built by the ruling party of 27 years 鈥� currently helmed by 鈥� do not hold the deeds to the property, but the homes allowed them to save and keep entire families off the streets.
鈥淚t was their home, their house. It was an immense joy when they were assigned these houses here,鈥� Carlos Ortega said of the 12 apartments in Caraballeda that his relatives were assigned to more than a decade ago following years of financial struggles after a mudslide.
鈥淚magine, they were given a home after losing everything, but now they鈥檝e lost everything, even their lives.鈥�
Only one of Ortega鈥檚 siblings survived the collapse of the public housing towers, while his son, who lived in a ninth-floor apartment but was working at a convenience store when the earthquakes struck, is still missing more than a week after the disaster. Ortega hoped he might find him at a hospital, a shelter or one of the tent camps that have taken over public spaces and private parking lots.
Not far from where he took a break from removing the rubble that buried his family, people were assessing flattened homes adjacent to a yacht club and some towed Jet Skis. There, rescuers were being handed cookies and other food on a plastic tray while standing on the rubble where the wife of a military general hoped he and their children would be found.
Government efforts to integrate different socioeconomic classes
Ronal Rodr铆guez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at Colombia’s Universidad del Rosario, explained that Venezuelan governments, even before the arrival of the to the presidency in 1999, had tried to prevent socioeconomic segregation by building housing projects in or near areas that were considered exclusive. The strategy, he said, also gave them a political edge by diversifying the voter base in wealthier neighborhoods that tend to vote for the opposition.
But the homes built under Ch谩vez鈥檚 鈥淕rand Housing Mission,鈥� which his successor, Nicol谩s Maduro, continued until the , came with a caveat: People never received a deed.
鈥淲hat Chavismo tries to do is maintain political dependence,鈥� Rodr铆guez said of Ch谩vez鈥檚 political movement. 鈥淭hat is, if at any point you turn against me and stop supporting me, then I鈥檒l take away the roof I鈥檝e given you.鈥�
This makes these residents vulnerable to the whims of the government once again, particularly when survivors have been vocal about the lack of government support in search and rescue efforts.
The government of Rodr铆guez, whose dismal response to the catastrophe has been decried by residents across the board, has not yet given any timelines for long-term housing recovery efforts.
The extent of damage is still unclear, but at least 10,000 structures, or about one-third, were damaged in Catia La Mar, a city west of Caraballeda also in La Guaira state, based on satellite imagery analyzed by Microsoft鈥檚 AI for Good Lab. Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in .
Picking up the pieces
Benito Mantilla, 68, now lives in a tent set up in a pharmacy parking lot in Catia La Mar after his privately owned home was damaged. His wife left for the Dominican Republic last week, but he decided to stay and try to find a job about 40 minutes away in the capital, Caracas, as the earthquakes also damaged his and his brother’s car repair shop.
Another woman also living in the parking lot was still hoping that the government would give her a home soon. Her daughter, she said, is part of the local organizers for the ruling party.
Meanwhile, Caryudedi Gonz谩lez, who bought her own home when she was 21, was hoping that her working-class home, half of which went down a ravine, could somehow be repaired.
鈥淚n many countries, it鈥檚 very difficult to own a home, and here, we work so hard to have what鈥檚 ours,鈥� Gonz谩lez, 44, said.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
