美军向委内瑞拉派遣逾1700人协助双重强震灾后救援US Military Deploys Over 1,700 Personnel to Aid Venezuela Earthquake Relief

上周三，委内瑞拉加勒比海沿岸遭遇了里氏7.2级和7.5级双重强震的袭击。这两次强震相隔仅数秒发生，瞬间将大量建筑物夷为平地，并扬起巨大的尘烟。根据委内瑞拉政府、反对派、联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）以及美国国家航空航天局（NASA）汇总的数据，目前已确认的遇难人数接近2000人，此外仍有约4.3万人处于失踪状态。面对如此惨重的伤亡，无数焦急的民众正拿着亲人的照片，在废墟和坍塌的建筑群中四处寻找，向救援人员寻求帮助。

Last Wednesday, Venezuela's Caribbean coast was struck by devastating twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, which occurred just seconds apart. The powerful tremors instantly reduced numerous buildings to rubble, sending massive plumes of dust into the air. According to figures collated by the Venezuelan government, the opposition, UNICEF, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the disaster has left nearly 2,000 people confirmed dead, while approximately 43,000 individuals remain missing. Desperate relatives are walking through streets lined with collapsed structures, holding photos of their loved ones and pleading for assistance.

随着时间的推移，灾区搜救工作面临着严峻的挑战。尽管救援人员仍在废墟中全力搜寻幸存者和遇难者遗体，但由于关键的72小时黄金生存窗口已经关闭，搜救工作的整体进度已明显放缓。除了面临人员伤亡，救援机构还警告称，在当地医疗系统已经不堪重负的背景下，饥饿和疾病的威胁正在进一步加剧。目前，来自各方的救援力量仍在废墟中艰难推进，试图在重重困难中寻找生命迹象。

The search and recovery operations face severe difficulties as the critical 72-hour survival window has closed, causing the pace of rescues to slow down sharply. While rescue teams continue their efforts to locate survivors and recover the bodies of victims, aid agencies have warned of worsening hunger and disease spreading through an already overwhelmed healthcare system. Despite these mounting challenges, emergency personnel persist in searching the debris, though hopes of finding more survivors are rapidly fading across the affected regions.

在双重强震袭击委内瑞拉近一周后，灾区依然传出了令人振奋的生命奇迹。本周一，21岁男子阿伦·莱维·坎蒂略·瓦尔加斯（Aaron Levi Cantillo Vargas）在倒塌建筑物的废墟下被困长达106小时后成功获救。此外，在地震发生六天后，救援人员还成功从废墟中救出了一名儿童。这些幸存者的获救，在充满悲伤的灾区为焦急等待的家属们带来了一丝希望。

Nearly a week after the twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela, remarkable stories of survival have emerged from the debris. On Monday, a 21-year-old man named Aaron Levi Cantillo Vargas was successfully rescued after spending 106 hours trapped beneath a collapsed building. Additionally, a child was pulled alive from the rubble six days after the devastating tremors first struck. These successful rescues have provided brief moments of hope for desperate families waiting near the destruction.

然而，随着72小时黄金救援窗口的关闭，整体搜救工作正面临巨大的瓶颈，许多废墟中的生命迹象正在逐渐消失。本周二，来自厄瓜多尔和美国的救援队被迫中止了在拉瓜伊拉州马库托（Macuto）的搜救行动。此前，救援人员曾尝试了超过40个小时，试图营救被困在建筑物废墟下的一名母亲和她的三个孩子，但由于最终无法再收到他们的任何回应，搜救行动不得不宣告停止。目前，救援人员在继续搜寻幸存者的同时，也开始着手搜寻和清理遇难者遗体。

Despite these miracles, rescue operations are facing severe obstacles as the critical 72-hour survival window has closed, and signs of life are rapidly fading. On Tuesday, international rescue teams from Ecuador and the United States were forced to halt their operations in Macuto, located in La Guaira. The teams had spent more than 40 hours attempting to extract a mother and her three children trapped under a collapsed building, but they ultimately stopped the operation after they no longer received any responses from the family. While emergency workers still hope to find survivors, they are increasingly shifting their focus to recovering the bodies of the deceased.

美军在委内瑞拉境内及周边地区建立了强大的兵力部署以支持救援行动。美国南方司令部司令弗朗西斯·多诺万上将透露，目前已有900多名美军人员进入委内瑞拉境内，另有约800名人员部署在波多黎各和库拉索等加勒比海枢纽。这些美军力量不仅直接参与了地面的搜救工作，还协助恢复了当地机场的运转，并调动空中和海上资产，以确保人道主义救援物资能够顺利运抵灾区。

The U.S. military has established a robust footprint in and around Venezuela to support ongoing relief operations. According to General Francis Donovan, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, more than 900 personnel have been deployed inside Venezuela, while approximately 800 additional personnel are stationed in Caribbean hubs, specifically Puerto Rico and Curacao. These U.S. forces have actively participated in ground search-and-rescue operations, assisted in getting local airports back up and running, and mobilized both air and naval assets to facilitate the arrival of critical humanitarian relief.

在空中侦察方面，美军在委内瑞拉上空部署了至少四到五架MQ-9“收割者”无人机。这些无人机与设在迈阿密的融合中心紧密配合，为委内瑞拉当局提供关键的情报支持。多诺万上将指出，美军正在利用原本用于追踪半球威胁的资产，来协助确认受损建筑物的位置并确保道路畅通，因为这些从空中获取的洞察信息是委内瑞拉当局在地面上难以看清的。

In addition to ground support, the U.S. military has deployed at least four or five MQ-9 Reaper drones over Venezuela. Operating in coordination with a fusion cell in Miami, these aerial assets are bolstering the intelligence picture for Venezuelan authorities. General Donovan noted that the military is utilizing some of the same assets typically reserved for tracking hemispheric threats to ensure roadways remain open and to identify damaged buildings, providing crucial insights that are often difficult for local authorities to see from the ground level.

美军此次在委内瑞拉展开的大规模人道主义救援行动，标志着两国关系发生了戏剧性的转变。就在六个月前的今年1月3日，美军曾发动军事突袭，逮捕了委内瑞拉时任总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗，并将其送往纽约接受毒品走私指控的审判。尽管马杜罗否认了所有指控，但该事件导致委内瑞拉在今年早些时候因领导人被美方带走而陷入危机，国家重建面临着国家力量几乎缺位的困境。然而，在双重强震带来的巨大灾难面前，双方的关系却在短期内发生了显著变化。

The massive humanitarian relief operation by the U.S. military marks a dramatic turn of events for a bilateral relationship that was severely upended just six months ago. On January 3, the U.S. military executed a raid to capture Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro, flying him to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, which Maduro denied. Following the removal of its leader, Venezuela had already been struggling with an ongoing crisis and was forced to find a way to rebuild with very little state presence in evidence. The sudden transition from a hostile military arrest to active cooperation on the ground represents a stark contrast in their geopolitical relations.

在过去的一个月中，美军还曾与委内瑞拉当局采取协调行动，进行了一次军事打击，消灭了委内瑞拉监狱黑帮“阿拉瓜火车”的头目。如今，美军更是直接派遣地面部队并部署原本用于追踪半球威胁的MQ-9“收割者”无人机，协助委内瑞拉开展震后救援。这种从今年年初的军事突袭逮捕行动，转变为如今在救灾中开展密切的军事与情报合作，凸显了双方地缘政治互动中极为罕见的合作姿态。

This shift toward cooperation is further highlighted by recent joint efforts. In the past month, the U.S. military carried out a strike that killed the leader of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, an action taken in direct coordination with Venezuelan authorities. Now, the deployment of over 1,700 U.S. personnel and advanced intelligence assets like MQ-9 Reaper drones to assist local authorities in earthquake recovery shows an unprecedented level of military and intelligence alignment between the two nations, moving from a high-profile raid to collaborative disaster relief.