Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed the recovered funds will aid housing, infrastructure and public services reconstruction as the death toll from the June 24 double earthquake.
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez announced on July 17 that the recovery actives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -drawn from Venezuela’s own contribution reserves within the multilateral institution- will be allocated to support affected families post-quakers.
“Venezuela initially agreed to 346 million of its own resources at the IMF, which will be allocated to the process of recovery and reconstruction after the tragedy,” stated Rodriguez.
“This will enable us support affected families with housing, infraestructure and essential prublic services” Rodriguez stated in an official communiqué released this Friday evening.
The Acting President also thanked IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva for “her support and commitment, as well as all the institutions that made this important step possible.“
Venezuelan Acting President Rodriguez had previously spoken with Georgieva on July 8 regarding the release of blocked national resources at the Fund. During that conversation, the Acting President reiterated her demand for the lifting of international sanctions against Venezuela and the full unblocking of the country’s financial assets abroad.
On July 9, IMF Spokesperson Julie Kozack clarified during a press briefing that Georgieva and Rodriguez discussed “the use of Venezuela’s reserve tranche at the IMF, which constitutes an important and easily accessible source of liquidity that can be mobilized quickly.” Kozack distinguished the reserve tranche -funds that countries contribute as part of their IMF membership-, which are immediately available to meet urgent humanitarian needs arising from the disaster from the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) still retained by the institution, which amount to approximately $4.5 billion. Combined, Venezuela’s total assets held at the IMF approach $5 billion dollars.
Kozack confirmed that the reserve tranche assets have “immediate availability to help address urgent humanitarian needs arising from the disaster” and constitute the resource Venezuela “has indicated it wishes to use.”
The development marks a significant milestone in the gradual normalization of relations between Venezuela and the IMF, which resumed formal contacts in April 2026 after being suspended since 2019. Since then, technical dialogues between the Fund and the Bolivarian government have been regular, with the aim of completing the procedural steps that could eventually allow Venezuela to access additional IMF financial instruments.
This strategy seeks to stabilize the foreign exchange market and ensure that the currency market operates more efficiently, planing to dynamize the domestic economy and ensure access to resources necessary for the country’s development.
Sanctions Still Ongoing
The IMF disbursement represents a rare instance of financial fluidity for Venezuela, which has faced severe economic sanctions and restricted access to multilateral credit since 2017, including 4,5 billion dollars still retained by the institution.
In a related diplomatic move, Acting President Rodriguez recently confirmed the dispatch of a formal letter to UK King Charles III requesting the release of Venezuelan gold reserves currently retained at the Bank of England. The gold -valued at approximately $2 billion- has been frozen since 2018 amid the international dispute over recognition of Venezuelan legitimate government.
“Allow me to reiterate once again the call for the definitive cessation of all coercive and unilateral measures that, in violation of international law, continue to harm our people,” Rodriguez stated. “We will continue working tirelessly to protect our people and advance the country’s recovery,” she affirmed.
Devastating Earthquakes
The twin earthquakes struck northwestern Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first tremor -a magnitude 7.2 foreshock- struck at 6:05 P.M. local time at a depth of 20.3 kilometers, followed just 39 seconds later by the magnitude 7.5 mainshock at a depth of 10 kilometers, making it the strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela since the 1900 San Narciso earthquake.
Official report released by the Venezuelan government place the death toll at 5,069, with 16,740 injured and 17,907 people rendered homeless. Infrastructure damage has been catastrophic: 856 buildings were affected, of which 190 collapsed completely. The hardest-hit region was the coastal state of La Guaira, adjacent to Caracas, where approximately 80% of buildings collapsed under the force of the quakes.
The recovered financial resources will be allocated immediately to mitigate the damage caused by the seismic emergency and the 1.331 aftershocks.
Author: Laura V. Mor
Source: Venezuelan Presidential Press / t.me/DrodriguezVen
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