U.S. pledges generous earthquake relief to Venezuela

A man carries a mattress past damaged residential buildings in Catia La Mar, about 18 miles northwest of Caracas. Twin earthquakes on June 25 have killed at least 164 people and destroyed multiple buildings near the capital. The U.S. has pledge a substantial amount of aid to address the aftermath of the disaster. Federico Parra/AFP/via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Federico Parra/AFP/via Getty Images The U.S. has announced what appears to be one of its strongest responses to a natural disaster since the dismantling of its premier aid agency, USAID. Speaking to the press during his trip to the Gulf, Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised: "We have a whole-of-government response. It'll be big; it'll be fast; and it'll be effective." The U.S. effort includes a commitment to allocate $150 million to faith-based aid groups like Samaritan's Purse and Catholic Relief Services, and two United Nations agencies: the World Food Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In addition, the U.S. is deploying a Disaster Assistant Response Team and two search and rescue teams from Virginia and California to help with locating survivors. The Virginia team will include 80 people and 6 dogs. The California team includes 70 people and 6 dogs. The administration has also tapped the Pentagon to help with getting U,S. government staff and critical supplies into the country, as some of the airport infrastructure in Venezuela has been damaged. …