Venezuela Sends 50 Tons of Humanitarian Aid to Central America

This Saturday, ambassadors from the republics of Guatemala, Erick Molina; El Salvador, Roman Mayorga; and Nicaragua, Ramon Leets Castillo, thanked the humanitarian aid sent by the Venezuelan government to support the communities affected by torrential rains in Central America.

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Caracas, 23 Oct. AVN.- This Saturday, ambassadors from the republics of Guatemala, Erick Molina; El Salvador, Roman Mayorga; and Nicaragua, Ramon Leets Castillo, thanked the humanitarian aid sent by the Venezuelan government to support the communities affected by torrential rains in Central America.

Last week the Venezuelan government sent 50 tons of non-perishable foods, medicines and clothes to the Central American countries; who each received 16.5 tons of aid.

Nicaragua’s Ramon Leets Castillo stated that his country had received aid from Venezuela and also from member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, Iran and Canada. The diplomat confirmed that some other international agencies, such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations World Food Program, had also sent aid to Nicaragua in the wake of the disaster.

“The people of Nicaragua have remained firmly united in order to move on from this” said Castillo.

The ambassador also stated that Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, had declared a state of disaster and national emergency.

“Since then we have been determined to resolve, the people as much as the government and institutions, that natural disaster which is once again affecting the poorest areas of Central America.”

Equally, Salvadoran Ambassador Roman Mayorga stated that “the loss of human life has not been great, thank God, however, the damage to houses, crops and infrastructure has been great, and it is going to be very difficult for us to recover from this”.

Mayorga called on the international community to be supportive and to show solidarity with the people suffering in the Central American nations. The five Central American countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras) are currently heading a worldwide campaign to request help after the disaster caused by heavy rains, confirmed Mayorga.

Venezuela’s aid was a contribution from the ministries of Health, Environment, Food and Interior Relations and Justice, and was sent through the National Directorate of Civil Defence and Management of Disasters.

“No efforts will be spared in sending technical teams and contributing to the people of these nations” said Venezuelan Justice and Interior Relations Minister, Tareck El Aissami.

For several weeks, Central America has been suffering heavy human and economic losses due to the torrential rains, which are expected to continue according to official weather reports.

A report from the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) estimates that the affected nations will have to allocate up to 10 percent of their Gross Domestic Product in order to recover from the damages caused to their agriculture and economies by the rains.