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The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) and Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Billings (LCS 15) have arrived in the region to provide rapid, life-saving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

U.S. service members are on the ground in Venezuela, delivering assistance where it is needed most following two devastating earthquakes June 24. 

The Puerto Rico Air National Guard, 156th Contingency Response Group is helping with humanitarian assistance operations led by U.S. Southern Command in Venezuela after recent earthquakes in that country.

Following two earthquakes off the northern coast of Venezuela on June 24 the United States mobilized a humanitarian response at the request of the Venezuelan government. To support U.S. Southern Command’s rapid deployment of personnel and specialized equipment into the disaster zone, Littoral Combat Force 24 transitioned from scheduled regional security missions to support the U.S. government’s disaster response operation.

Friendship, or amistad in Spanish, brings more than 20 National Guard medical professionals from throughout the country to Paraguay, but this is more than a cultural exchange. The seasoned practitioners brought thousands of hours of clinical experience to share with Paraguayan medical professionals and offer care to locals during exercise Amistad 2026.