This Monday, the United States Government has increased its emergency aid to more than 300 million dollars (263 million euros) to deal with the effects of the double earthquake registered last week in Venezuela, which has left at least 1,450 dead and 3,150 injured.
“Given the urgent needs identified by US first responders on the ground, the United States has increased its financial commitment to this life-saving response to more than $300 million,” the State Department announced in a statement.
In this way, Marco Rubio’s portfolio has decided to double the aid allocated to Venezuela, after the Government announced on Thursday aid valued at 150 million dollars (130 million euros) to respond to the ravages of the double earthquake of 7.5 and 7.2 on the Richter scale registered in the Latin American country.
The Department has indicated that 50 million dollars (44 million euros) of the additional amount will be directed to “finance critical operations of partner organizations”, so that they will jointly receive 200 million dollars (175 million euros), half of them for “bilateral” financing – which includes organizations such as World Vision, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Program (WFP) – and the other half for the “common fund for Venezuela” of the Coordination Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“These funds will provide emergency medical care, food assistance, water and sanitation, shelter, protection and logistical support,” the Department has highlighted, after ensuring that it “is committed to maintaining this response and ensuring that the Venezuelan people receive all the US support necessary to recover from this tragedy.”
The US authorities have deployed four “urban search and rescue” teams in Venezuela, made up of more than 300 rescuers and 23 dogs. All of them, the ministry has stressed, are “highly trained” and “work tirelessly to locate survivors, provide emergency medical care and carry out structural evaluations in the areas most affected” by the double earthquake.