Miyamoto International, a U.S. structural engineering firm, has signed a contract with the Venezuelan government to remove and process three million tons of debris in areas devastated by the earthquakes last June, as announced this Saturday by the Washington Embassy in Caracas.
The agreement was described by the U.S. diplomatic delegation as "a public-private effort" that will deploy heavy machinery, technical capabilities, and labor from the Venezuelan private sector, and is part of the three-phase plan promoted by the Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the country's economic recovery.
The earthquakes that prompted the contract struck northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, making them the strongest in the country in 125 years.
La Guaira was the area most affected: out of the 190 buildings that collapsed nationwide, 158 were located in this coastal town, which is the main access to the international airport of Maiquetía.
The human toll of the disaster reached on August 24, the date of the last official report, 6,509 dead, 6,462 rescued, and over 226,696 people treated in hospitals.
The United Nations Development Programme estimated direct damages at $6.7 billion, equivalent to 6% of Venezuela's gross domestic product.
It was also reported that 600,790 tons of debris had been collected, equivalent to 28.61% of the total. Miyamoto International has been operating in Venezuela since July 3, 2026, when it deployed rapid response teams in La Guaira.
The firm inspected at least 10,000 buildings with a team that grew from about 25 initial engineers to nearly 100 specialists.
NASA's satellite estimates calculated 58,870 buildings damaged and 1.2 million tons of debris in just that area, while the Venezuelan government and the UNDP estimated national debris at over two million tons.
H. Kit Miyamoto, CEO of the company, Japanese-American structural engineer and advisor to the World Bank, noted that at least 30% of the debris will be reusable and that the project includes a site to dispose of approximately two million tons.
The contract signed this Saturday formalizes a collaboration that has been developing since August 5th of this year, when the acting president Delcy Rodríguez led a meeting with Miyamoto International and TFI Solutions to plan urban reconstruction.
The agreement is part of the second phase of the U.S. plan for Venezuela —economic recovery— announced by Rubio on January 7, 2026, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro. To facilitate these operations, the United States temporarily relaxed financial restrictions between July 27, 2026, and January 29, 2027, with the goal of speeding up humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in the country.
According to the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the contract "provides fundamental engineering support for the economic recovery of Venezuela" within the framework outlined by Washington to accompany the transition of the Caribbean nation.
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