Venezuela Reels From Earthquakes as Deported Migrants Are Feared Dead

Many of the 146 Venezuelans deported from the United States on the day an earthquake struck the country are feared dead, The New York Times reported. Some are confirmed dead and others remain missing, an outcome that links US deportation policy directly to a natural disaster in a country already under severe economic and political stress.

Images from the capital showed the sky over Caracas turning deep red at sunset, Al Jazeera reported. Together the accounts describe a country facing several crises at once.

The economic dimension is significant for two reasons that investors are watching. Venezuela is a major oil producer whose potential return of supply has been one factor pushing global crude prices lower, and it is a focus of a broader US effort to reassert influence across the Western Hemisphere. A disaster that further destabilizes the government introduces fresh uncertainty into both that oil supply and the regional contest between Washington and outside powers.