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Mérida, August 19, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government led by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced the creation of the National Training Program for Construction Workers.

According to official sources, the initiative seeks to professionalize workers in key trades, including plumbers, masons, electricians, blacksmiths, and carpenters, to integrate them into housing and infrastructure projects amid the country’s post-earthquake recovery efforts.

The project is being coordinated by several institutions, including the Education and Labor Ministries, the INCES vocational training institute, and the “Venezuela Rises” program created by the government in the wake of the June 24 double earthquake. The training initiative will begin in Caracas and nearby areas.

Rodríguez, in a meeting with the government team, said that the people interested in this program “can register through the Homeland system. Registration will begin on August 24.” She also said that the persons “can be nominated by municipal administrations or at INCES offices throughout the country.”

She added that the program is “open to individuals with prior experience, training, or knowledge in this area, as well as those who wish to learn the trade.”

In parallel, the Venezuelan executive delivered 48 new apartments on Monday in the Ciudad Tiuna housing complex in Caracas to families who lost their homes in the recent earthquake. 

According to official figures, the government has assigned 335 homes to affected families so far, with authorities estimating that around 25,000 new homes will be needed for those displaced by the natural disaster. 

“By December we will have completed some 4,000 homes to hand over to those who are in the temporary camps,” the acting president pledged during Monday’s event in Ciudad Tiuna, one of the largest housing complexes of Venezuela’s Great Housing Mission (GMVV). 

Furthermore, in Ciudad Caribia, another major GMVV development, authorities are advancing in the construction of 1,000 new transitional homes where displaced families will relocate to while permanent housing projects are finalized.

Alongside the housing initiatives, the Rodríguez administration is also boosting credit programs for reconstruction projects. On Saturday, the acting president announced loans to 157 condominium boards in several parts of Caracas.

The subsidized credit line, part of the “Venezuela Rises” Plan, is intended for structural repairs, common area maintenance, and public utility fixes. The Venezuelan government has likewise launched loan programs for housing purchases.

According to the latest official figures released, the total death toll from the June 24 earthquake currently stands at 6,438 people. Authorities are presently focused on rubble removal operations, as well as controlled demolitions of buildings with heavily compromised structures in La Guaira State, the hardest-hit area.

Venezuela’s seismology institute FUNVISIS has registered over 1,400 aftershocks since the June tremors. The latest one, on Tuesday, had a magnitude of 4.0 with an epicenter located 10 kilometers northwest of La Guaira. There were no reports of damage.

New popular consultation scheduled

Alongside the post-earthquake recovery initiatives, Acting President Rodríguez also announced a new National Popular Consultation scheduled for October 18, 2026. It had originally been slated for October 11.

A prior consultation set for July was postponed following the double earthquake. 

The National Popular Consultation sees communities organized in communal circuits vote directly on local infrastructure and social projects to be funded by the national government. In prior editions, each winning project received US $10,000 of funding. According to Venezuelan officials, the upcoming vote will also extend to condominium boards and neighborhood associations.

In a conference call with government officials and grassroots spokespeople, Rodríguez emphasized that the consultations reinforce “the path of participatory and protagonistic democracy.”

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

A striking photo of homes ablaze under the headline “Houses burn and train derails on hottest day” dominates the front of the Times. Perhaps unusually, it is a headline that encompasses three separate stories from Thursday – the fires that raged across the West Midlands, the rail accident near Lewes that left two people seriously injured, and the ongoing heatwave that saw the UK record its hottest day of 2026.

Ben Morris visited Sambuca di Sicilia, dubbed “Italy’s little America”, to investigate a seemingly incredible €1 home scheme, but he quickly discovered a catch

A travel vlogger who visited the beautiful Mediterranean island of Sicily to investigate a €1 home scheme quickly came across a major “catch”. A wave of reports advertise small towns in Italy flogging vacant properties for as little as €1 (just 85p in today’s money).

It’s a phenomenon that comes on the back of a reported rural exodus. Young Italians have been increasingly drawn to city life, leaving stunning villages to empty out as their ageing populations dwindle.

Around 25 municipalities are said to be offering the €1 homes, betting that renovated and occupied properties will be more lucrative; second homes come with tax bills.

Ben Morris visited the commune of Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily, dubbed “Italy’s little America” due to the influx of US property buyers, to investigate. On his self-titled YouTube channel, Ben spoke to a local estate agent about the scheme.

She explained: “So, when they launched the first project, then there has been three: €1 houses, €2 houses, and €3 houses.”

The estate agent went on to say: “The rules are more or less always the same. You have to do an offer of at least €1, €2 or €3, but you know that the higher offer will win the house.”

Returning to Ben’s narration, he stated: “So there’s the catch in Sambuca. Although houses do go on the market for €1, they usually get bid on for up to €5,000 (about £4,200).

“However, the town that we’re going to visit after this actually has houses that you can straight up buy for €1. No catch. And there’s actually places available now.”

Ben then spoke about the home of Meredith Tabbone, who bought hers for €5,000 and later bought the home next door. However, her renovations set her back a whopping $446,000 (about £333,000).

Later, he set off in search of a no-strings-attached €1 home in the town of Mussomeli. Ben met up with a woman named Natalie, who said she’d show him a range of homes, including two that cost just €1.

Once he entered one such property, it was immediately visible that the house needed a lot of work. Ben was advised to only walk on the edges of the floor as he ventured through the property for “safety” reasons.

After he inspected the seemingly dilapidated two-level property, he commented: “And that is exactly why so many of these homes are being sold for so cheap. You’re going to need to do renovations and spend money to make it livable.

“You also have the responsibility to make sure your house doesn’t fall down and like kill your neighbour or something.”

Natalie also explained that, in addition to this, the buyer would have expenses to close the sale. Ben said this was another “little catch”, adding that you’d have to pay for notary fees and certificates.

Speaking previously about the scheme, 1eurohouses.com said in a statement, as reported by the Independent: “We do not need new constructions and new overbuilding.

“The strategy to improve the housing environment and reclaim our cultural identity is to revive the small abandoned centres or to redevelop buildings in a state of abandonment, with a story that is our history.”