Venezuela Sends Aid to Hurricane-Ravaged Dominica, Solidarity to Mexico

Bogota, September 20, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government has sent 18 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the hurricane ravaged Caribbean island of Dominica, confirmed Interior Minister Nestor Reverol Tuesday.

Dominica was battered by winds of up to 160 miles per hour during hurricane Maria, which hit the island as a category five storm late Monday night. 

In a Facebook post yesterday, the island’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, said Maria had left “mind-boggling’ devastation in her wake. The storm has destroyed homes and hospitals across the island and several fatalities are expected – though no official death count has been released to date.

“We are sending our support in two planes: mattresses, medicine, water, food and special tents for medical assistance,” Reverol told press Tuesday. 

A team of forty Venezuelan rescue workers, doctors, and damage assessment personnel has also been sent to the island, the Interior Minister added. 

Dominica is a fellow member of the regional organisation, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), launched by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2004.

Maria is the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean since the beginning of September, when hurricane Irma caused widespread devastation across Barbuda, Cuba, St. Martin, and Puerto Rico.

The Venezuelan government also offered humanitarian assistance to the Mexican government Tuesday evening, after central Mexico was hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake earlier in the day. So far, at least 225 fatalities have been recorded as a result of the earthquake, with the number expected to rise as rescue efforts get underway.

“We express our solidarity with the people and government of Mexico. We are attentive of any support that we can give from Venezuela,” wrote Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on Twitter following the disaster.