Venezuela just got hit by a massive geological reality check. On Wednesday afternoon, two massive earthquakes—a 7.2 and a 7.5—struck the northern coast less than 40 seconds apart. The result? Total devastation, with thousands feared dead and dozens of buildings turned into pancake stacks. It turns out that when you spend decades running a country into the ground with socialist economic policies and political repression, your infrastructure doesn't hold up too well when the earth actually decides to move.

To make matters worse, the regime’s crown jewel of transport, the Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas, was completely wrecked by the quakes. Yes, the main gateway for the country is offline because the buildings couldn't survive a minute of shaking. This has left the local rescue efforts completely paralyzed, leaving residents to dig through collapsed concrete with their bare hands in places like La Guaira, Catia La Mar, and Caraballeda.

The destruction is absolute. In La Guaira alone, over 100 buildings collapsed, including the Ritasol Palace apartments and the beachfront Eduard's Hotel. We are talking about entire families of four or five people just disappearing into the void. It’s an absolute tragedy, but one that was entirely predictable given the shoddy building standards and complete lack of public safety investment under the current regime.

Over in Caracas, buildings collapsed in the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes neighborhoods, sending residents running for their lives. The seismic waves were so strong they actually traveled over 1,000 miles south to Manaus, Brazil, where people had to evacuate their homes. When your country's tectonic failures are shaking apartment buildings in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, you know you’ve got a massive problem.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez popped up on television to declare a "disaster zone" and a state of emergency, calling it an "utter tragedy." Well, yes, Delcy, but the real disaster has been the Venezuelan government's economic policies for the last twenty years. The country was already in a humanitarian chokehold before the plates shifted; now they have absolutely zero domestic capacity to handle the fallout.

Naturally, the regime that loves to scream about "Yankee imperialism" is now waiting for the U.S. military to bail them out. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Department of Defense is helping deploy search and rescue teams. Rubio pointed out the obvious: the next 72 hours are the "golden hours" to dig people out before they suffocate under the socialist-grade concrete.