In the wake of catastrophic back-to-back earthquakes that have left Venezuela reeling from widespread destruction and human loss, the government of Belize has announced plans to repatriate all of its citizens studying in the South American nation. Belize’s Foreign Affairs Minister Francis Fonseca confirmed the evacuation order in an official statement delivered Wednesday, noting that all five Belizean students currently enrolled in Venezuelan educational institutions have been confirmed unharmed, but will return to their home country due to the continued hazardous and unstable conditions across the affected regions.
“This is a profound human tragedy,” Fonseca shared in his remarks. “Our hearts go out to the Venezuelan people who are enduring this unimaginable disaster. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters there, and we are actively coordinating with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to organize and deliver much-needed relief assistance to support response and recovery efforts.”
Fonseca explained that Belize’s ambassador to Venezuela, Annie Lou Burns, has maintained constant communication with the students alongside teams from Belize’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education to monitor their situation closely. “We have received consistent updates that all of our students are safe and accounted for,” he said. “Nevertheless, given the extremely difficult living conditions across Venezuela right now, we have made the decision that evacuating them back to Belize is the best course of action to ensure their ongoing safety and well-being. We expect them to arrive home in the very near future.”
As of the latest official update from the Venezuelan government, the confirmed death toll from the earthquakes has climbed to at least 2,295. More than 11,000 people have been reported injured, and an estimated 50,000 people remain unaccounted for in the aftermath of the quakes. While search and rescue operations are still ongoing across the hardest-hit areas, multiple independent observers have raised concerns about the accuracy of the official death count. Forensic investigators, opposition political figures, and United Nations officials have all warned that the actual number of fatalities is likely significantly higher than the figure published by Venezuelan authorities, as rescue teams continue to pull bodies from collapsed buildings and debris fields.