VENEZUELA: 5 MINUTES - Special Issue · June 29, 2026
With Our Heads Held High — Venezuelan Voices After the Earthquake
This is not a normal issue of Venezuela: 5 Minutes.
There are weeks when analysis is enough.
This is not one of them.
Today’s publication steps away from our usual intelligence format to make room for something more important: the voices of Venezuelans who have lived through the country’s worst earthquake in more than a century.
Over the past several days I asked one simple question:
“What have you witnessed or felt that you want the world to know and remember?”
Their answers became this Special Issue.
Inside are reflections from journalists, economists, healthcare professionals, volunteers, and ordinary Venezuelans connected directly to the tragedy.
Some describe extraordinary courage.
Others describe heartbreaking loss.
Together they document something no statistic can fully capture—the character of a people under unimaginable circumstances.
This issue also includes a documented review of the institutional response and the remarkable international rescue effort that followed, maintaining the same commitment to evidence and careful sourcing that defines every VSTM publication.
There are moments when the numbers matter.
There are moments when the people matter more.
Today is one of those moments.
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The purpose of this publication is not only to inform, but to ensure that the experiences of ordinary Venezuelans are seen beyond their borders.
Their stories deserve witnesses.
NEXT ISSUE
Venezuela: 5 Minutes returns to its regular analytical format next week with continued coverage of:
• humanitarian recovery
• reconstruction efforts
• political developments
• economic implications
• international assistance
• the long-term impact of the June 24 earthquake
The story is not over.
We will continue documenting it.
Thank you for reading.
— John Young
Founder, VSTM Analytics