Hanoi, June 28, 2026 – The Europe Today: Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence has decided to deploy an 82-member military humanitarian and disaster relief team to Venezuela to assist in search-and-rescue operations and post-earthquake recovery following the devastating earthquakes that struck the South American nation on June 24.
The ministry is scheduled to hold a task-assignment meeting in Hanoi on Sunday afternoon before the contingent departs for the disaster-hit country.
The deployment follows two powerful earthquakes that caused significant loss of life and widespread destruction across Venezuela. In response, the Vietnam People’s Army has established a humanitarian assistance mission comprising command personnel, a military engineering search-and-rescue unit, medical teams, and a canine search-and-rescue unit.
During the mission, the Vietnamese contingent will use specially trained search dogs to locate victims trapped beneath collapsed buildings, conduct urban search-and-rescue operations, provide emergency medical treatment to survivors, and undertake other humanitarian activities to support Venezuelan authorities and affected communities in their recovery efforts.
The ministry has also completed logistical preparations for the mission. According to the General Department of Logistics-Technical Services, relief supplies, including food, drinking water, medicines, and essential equipment, were assembled, inspected, and packed on Sunday morning.
Military-run Joint Stock Company 22 mobilised its workforce to operate around the clock, producing 50 tonnes of compressed ration bars, three tonnes of canned meat, and 3,000 litres of clean drinking water for the humanitarian operation. The relief supplies have been transported by Brigade 971 to Nội Bài International Airport for loading and shipment to Venezuela as scheduled.
Vietnam has previously demonstrated its commitment to international humanitarian assistance by dispatching search-and-rescue teams to Türkiye following the 2023 earthquake and to Myanmar after the 2025 disaster.
