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LATIN AMERICA |
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Argentina
to Send Rice Shipment to Drought-Stricken
Guatemala
BUENOS AIRES – The Argentina government
plans to send 16 tons of rice next week to
Guatemala, which is facing a food crisis
triggered by drought and the global
financial crisis, Argentine officials said.
“Due to the serious food crisis affecting
Guatemala and in response to the call for
international aid by President Alvaro
Colom’s government,” Argentina will send a
shipment of 16 tons of rice through the
White Helmets Commission, a humanitarian aid
and peacekeeping agency, the Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The ministry did not indicate a specific
date for the shipment, adding that the
“contribution is in addition to food
shipments from other countries in the
region, such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and
Venezuela.”
The United Nations announced on Friday that
it has increased by $5 million its aid to
the most affected population in Guatemala,
where 25 children have died of severe
malnutrition thus far this year, according
to official figures.
It said Guatemala has the highest level of
chronic child malnutrition in Latin America
and the Caribbean (49.3 percent) and one of
the highest rates in the world.
The food crisis, brought about by a severe
drought that ruined the harvests for
thousands of people, has directly affected
54,000 families in eastern and northeastern
Guatemala and threatens another 350,000
nationwide.
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