The worst damage from Wednesday’s earthquakes appears to be concentrated in the port city of La Guaira, a scruffy gateway to Caracas, the capital, that was also at the center of Venezuela’s last major natural disaster.
In 1999, mudslides from torrential rains swept away shantytowns on the city’s hills, causing at least 15,000 deaths. The tragedy occurred just months after a divisive new government took power, becoming the first major crisis for then-President Hugo Chávez.
The parallel is unlikely to be lost on the country’s current leader, Delcy Rodríguez, a member of Mr. Chávez’s ruling party who took over the presidential palace with Washington’s blessing in January following the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces.
Most Venezuelans consider Ms. Rodríguez’s government illegitimate and clamor for new elections. Her response to the earthquake is likely to affect how long she can remain in power.
La Guaira, the capital of one of Venezuela’s poorest states, had long been the ruling Socialist Party’s stronghold. The city has one of the country’s largest population of Venezuelans of African descent, traditionally one of the country’s most marginalized socioeconomic groups.
Most residents were ardent supporters of Mr. Chávez, who as president used the country’s oil wealth to fill the city with social housing blocks and recreation projects.
His government, however, failed to create sustainable jobs in the state. Some residents continue to rely on artisanal fishing, the city’s traditional industry. Many more commute daily through a winding mountain highway to Caracas, where many work as builders, security guards or maids in middle-class homes.
Most of the infrastructure projects by Mr. Chávez in La Guaira have fallen into disrepair or been abandoned.
In recent years, La Guaira, like most of Venezuela, has swung sharply against the government. Venezuela’s former opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who in 2019 led a short-lived parallel government with the support of President Trump’s first administration, had won his congressional seat in La Guaira.
