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2026-07-27 15:15 UTC → 2026-07-28 12:54 UTC ·
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Venezuela quake relief: cable restored, aid continues internet back
Mid‑July relief Relief actions expanded. continued through July following the 24 June double‑earthquake that broke the main submarine fiber‑optic cable offshore La Guaira. After Vice‑Minister Endes Palencia inspected schools in La Guaira for shelter use, while Ecuador’s education ministry began school inspections in Chimborazo. UN‑appointed use and UN experts urged Venezuela to lift removal of legal and banking hurdles that impede NGOs’ work on missing‑person searches, aid delivery and reconstruction. The hurdles, the Wave Sentinel repair vessel arrived in Guaranao on 17 July, docked for customs, and deployed its underwater robot and laser‑fusion tools to splice Cirion Technologies’ multinational crew repaired the submarine fiber‑optic cable broken by the 24 June earthquakes. in a six‑day subsea operation, costing about US $4 million. By 22 July, southern laser splice was finished and the northern end readied for final splicing, with link‑testing pending. On 25 July, July the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) confirmed that the cable repair was complete. Cirion Technologies complete, and a crew of about 200 multinational technicians had restored on 25 July it announced that Venezuela’s international internet capacity was fully restored. Final link‑tests on 28 July verified that the offshore link network returned to 100 % capacity, its original design capacity and performance standards, achieving 99.9 % availability after a six‑day subsea operation. availability. The effort, costing roughly US $4 million, repair was accelerated by Venezuela’s membership completed in 14 days, well ahead of the typical 45‑day schedule, thanks to ACMA cable‑maintenance cooperative, which facilitated cooperative membership that expedited customs clearance and vessel access. authorizations. Humanitarian gestures continued, proceeded alongside, including a community‑organized community screening of the 2026 World Cup final for displaced children and a QR‑code donation drive led by Miss Venezuela Universe 2024 Stephany Abasali.