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BOGOTA (AlertNet) - Five days after Chile requested international aid to help it recover from a massive earthquake, Latin American nations have been quick to respond, showing rare solidarity in a region long scuppered by ideological differences and territo
BOGOTA (AlertNet) - Five days after Chile requested international aid to help it recover from a massive earthquake, Latin American nations have been quick to respond, showing rare
solidarity in a region long scuppered by ideological differences and territorial disputes.
Despite a history of often sour diplomatic relations, the governments of Peru, Bolivia and Cuba appear to have set aside their differences to offer aid and support to Chile where 2
million people are thought to have been affected by the quake and the tsunami it triggered.
Outgoing Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet, has asked the international community to donate field hospitals and kitchens, temporary bridges, water treatment systems, satellite phones,
tents, medical equipment, as well as damage-assessment experts and search-and-rescue workers.
"I think what you are going to see in this disaster in Chile is a lot of regional response," Nan Buzard, senior director for international response and programs at the American Red Cross,
was quoted as saying in The Santiago Times.
"I think you're going to see a lot of the countries around Chile in South America, for a whole host of political and social and language and economic reasons, come to the aid of Chile,
perhaps more than a huge international response," Buzard said.
Ideological differences between lefist and conservative governments in Latin America has in the past hampered cooperation and unity.
Chile and Bolivia have not enjoyed full diplomatic ties since 1978 amid disagreements over Bolivia's demand for access to the Pacific Sea. But the Feb. 27 earthquake prompted Bolivian
president, Evo Morales, to announce that he and his vice-president would donate half of their salaries to quake survivors.
Bolivia, one of Latin America's poorest countries, has already sent Chile 120,000 tonnes of aid with more to follow.
Morales said Bolivian aid "was a campaign of solidarity with two Latin American countries (Haiti and Chile) which face irreparable climate factors".
Peru has also rallied to help Chile, apparently calling time-out on disagreements over maritime boundaries and a diplomatic row that erupted late last year when Peru ordered the arrest of two Chilean military officers over alleged spying.
"This is not an opportunity to talk about differences, neither directly or indirectly, but rather about South American fraternity...," Alan Garcia, Peru's president, told reporters
during a visit to Chile last week.
He was accompanied by military planes filled with medical equipment.
The majority of field hospitals in the worst-hit regions across Chile's coast and southern provinces have been donated by Latin American countries, including Peru, Cuba, Argentina and
Brazil, which has provided a 400-bed hospital.
Cuba has also sent a 30-member medical team to Chile, while Ecuador has sent more than 9 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
Argentina, which shares a 5,600 km border with Chile, was one of the first countries to offer aid and has flown in medical teams, two tent medical wards, an ambulance and a 70-bed
hospital destined for Maule, one of the worst-affected regions.
Countries outside Latin America have also pledged aid to Chile.
Australia, which was placed on tsunami alert after last week's quake, pledged $4.5 million in emergency and reconstruction aid. The European Commission has approved 3 million euros in emergency aid for Chile, while Japan has pledged $3 million and China $1 million.
Back in Chile, a 24-hour telethon gets underway today to raise some $29 million earmarked for building 30,000 emergency homes in coastal regions.
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