U.S. accepts aid from Mexico

BY NATALIA GÓMEZ/EL UNIVERSAL
September 06, 2005

The Foreign Relations Secretariat announced Monday that the United States accepted Mexico's offer to send Navy troops and equipment to assist in the continuing Hurricane Katrina rescue effort.

As the first step in the humanitarian mission, the naval vessel Papaloapan left the port of Tampico, Veracruz, on Monday afternoon, to deliver equipment to the city of New Orleans.

A statement from the Secretariat said the humanitarian mission "highlights the solidarity of Mexicans with the American people, as well as the high level of political dialogue and inter-institutional cooperation that exists between the administrations of (Mexican President Vicente) Fox and (U.S. President George W.) Bush."

The Secretariat also said Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez would travel to Louisiana this week to provide assistance to the mission. In particular, Derbez plans to provide support for Mexicans affected by the disaster.

Among the cargo leaving with the Papaloapan Monday were eight all-terrain and seven amphibious vehicles that will carry supplies and assist in the rescue of victims still trapped by the flood waters. Also dispatched were an ambulance equipped with a mobile surgical unit and two helicopters.

Specialized Navy personnel were on board the Papaloapan as well, and will participate in the rescue under the coordination of U.S. authorities, said the Secretariat.

The Papaloapan was also used to carry personnel and supplies to Indonesia in February after the deadly tsunami that struck the South Pacific region.

Also on Monday, the Chiapas state coordinator for international relations, Sergio RodrÃÂ*guez Gelfenstein, said that the three Mexican nationals from his state who were confirmed dead in the Katrina aftermath had been identified.

The remains of the victims would be repatriated by the government to their families in Chiapas, Gelfenstein said.

On Sunday, the government had reported four Mexicans dead. But on Monday it said one of them had survived and was listed in serious condition at a hospital in Louisiana.

Some 145,000 Mexicans live in the large swath of the U.S. Gulf Coast affected by the powerful hurricane, 10,000 of them in New Orleans, according to official figures.

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