|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KATRINA:
Thousands of
Latin American Immigrants Among
Katrina's Victims
Diego
Cevallos
MEXICO CITY, (IPS) - Thousands
of Latin American immigrants are
among those left homeless by
Hurricane Katrina in the
southern United States, and at
least three have died. But
although governments and social
organisations from the region
have offered help, they have run
into restrictions set by
Washington.
Consular authorities from Latin
American countries estimate that
around 300,000 people from
Mexico, Central America and
several South American nations
live in the area affected by
last week's hurricane and the
consequent flooding, which left
millions of people with nothing
but the clothes on their backs.
"It is very difficult for us to
find and identify the Latin
American victims, and to reach
them with assistance.
Furthermore, the U.S. State
Department has so far placed
restrictions on the efforts that
we could make," Honduras'
ambassador to the United States,
Norman García, told IPS.
According to García, some
140,000 people from Honduras and
their descendants were living in
the greater New Orleans area
alone, one of the hardest-hit
areas. Nearly all of them were
left homeless and without a job,
including the staff of the
Honduran consulate in that city.
García lamented that the offers
of food and medical aid and
logistical support made by
governments in Latin America and
the Caribbean have been turned
down by the U.S. government.
"For now, the government in
Washington is only allowing
monetary donations, through the
Red Cross," he said in a
telephone interview from
Washington, D.C.
It will take years for the Gulf
Coast region to recover from the
damages wrought by Katrina on
Aug. 29, said President George
W. Bush. Some estimates put the
number of dead at 10,000.
The Mexican government reported
that around 100,000 Mexican
citizens are among those
affected by the hurricane, whose
winds and rain devastated a
large part of the states of
Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis
Derbez, who said Monday that the
deaths of three Mexicans have
been reported so far, will visit
the Gulf Coast region within the
next few days along with other
Mexican officials to assess the
best way to provide assistance.
Consular authorities from
Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and El
Salvador have gone to the
outskirts of the affected areas,
and to storm shelters, while
setting up special hot-lines to
offer help to those in need.
"But the consulates cannot
operate as they would wish in
the area, because the State
Department is not allowing us
to," said Ambassador García. His
government sent presidential
commissioner René Becerra to
work directly with the victims
in the United States.
"So far, we have information on
300 Hondurans who have been left
homeless, but who are safe. But
we don't know anything more than
that, nor do we have reports on
how many Hondurans might have
died, because we have not been
allowed access to the lists that
the U.S. government is drawing
up," the ambassador added.
Washington accepted the aid
offered by Mexico, which will
send a team of doctors, rescue
workers and members of the
military to the affected areas,
the government of President
Vicente Fox announced Monday.
Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala,
Honduras, Panama and Venezuela
have also offered assistance,
including doctors, medicine,
rescue equipment and food, but
the U.S. government has not yet
responded.
Carlos Avila, an official at the
Central American Bank for
Economic Integration (BCIE),
told IPS from his offices in
Honduras that the regional
institution is designing a
project for the provision of
assistance to Central American
victims of the storm.
"In Central America, we have
experience from Hurricane Mitch,
in 1998, and we know that for
the victims, a difficult process
of reinsertion into normal life
comes after the initial impact,
because many have lost
everything they had, including
their jobs, and young people
have been left out of school,"
he said.
The project, which is still
being drafted, is aimed at
coordinating with the U.S.
government a plan to provide
comprehensive support for the
victims of the hurricane. "The
idea is to find a way for them
to be reinserted into society,"
said Avila.
The BCIE is comprised of Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras and Nicaragua. Its
associate members are Argentina,
China, Colombia, Mexico and
Spain.
The regional bank finances and
coordinates reconstruction
efforts when Central America is
hit by natural catastrophes.
Central America indeed has
experience in hurricanes. In
1998, Hurricane Mitch left more
than 7,000 dead in Honduras and
3,000 in Nicaragua, while
causing economic losses of
nearly 4.8 billion dollars.
García said Hurricane Katrina
has led to "an extraordinary
mobilisation of the Latino
community." Consulates from
several Latin American countries
and organisations that work with
immigrants have pooled their
efforts to identify victims from
the region, he explained.
But the challenge is huge,
because many of the victims are
undocumented migrants and have
avoided going to shelters to
seek help, said Carlos Gonzáles,
Mexico's consul in Houston,
Texas, where tens of thousands
of storm refugees have fled.
"Undocumented migrants live in a
state of terror, and some
believe they will be seized and
deported," said the official.
According to the last U.S.
census, 39.9 million people of
Latin American origin or descent
- most of them Mexicans - live
in the United States, a country
of 290.8 million people. Of
those nearly 40 million, around
five million are living in the
country without legal documents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
