Venezuela offers humanitarian team to Mexico

The Venezuelan government has offered to send a humanitarian team to help Mexico with search and rescue efforts for 65 people missing after floods that left 64 dead.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the team could also facilitate operations carried out by Mexican authorities to help people affected by the rains.

In the latest provisional assessment, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that around 100,000 homes were affected by rains and flooding in five states in the center of the country.

The government of Nicolás Maduro reiterated its “unwavering solidarity” and expressed confidence in the “strength and resilience of the honorable Mexican people to overcome this regrettable situation.”

The Venezuelan presidency also expressed deep condolences to the families of the 64 people killed by the heavy rains, which also caused severe damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Claudia Sheinbaum assured that “in all cases, there will be support” in each of the 111 affected municipalities.

In response to accusations and criticism from opponents who pointed out that both the federal, state and municipal governments "were overwhelmed by the emergency" and that it was a mistake to eliminate the National Fund for Natural Disasters in the previous government, the head of state stressed that, although the fund no longer exists, "there is a budget allocation for emergencies."

Sheinbaum recalled that there is an “emergency budget” of 19 billion pesos (about 900 million euros), of which three billion pesos (about 140 million euros) have already been allocated for the damage caused by Hurricane Eric in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.

"There are sufficient resources. Nothing will be spared in anything related to the emergency, because we are still in that period," the President assured.

Heavy rains, caused by hurricanes Raymond and Priscilla in the Pacific Ocean, combined with several meteorological phenomena in the Gulf of Mexico, brought more than 1,800 millimeters of rain to the states of Veracruz (east), Hidalgo, Puebla, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí (center).

In just four days, an amount comparable to half the annual average rainfall in these regions was recorded.

Also on Tuesday, Nicolás Maduro announced that he was proposing the deployment of international peacekeeping brigades, made up of builders, farmers and doctors, to help Palestinian authorities rebuild the Gaza Strip.

"We are working on an idea with international organizations to, from Venezuela and other countries, help Gaza, accompanying the people with internationalist peace brigades, where builders go, where farmers go to produce, and where doctors and health personnel go to monitor the reconstruction," he said.