Are Belizean Students Safe After Venezuela’s Deadly Quakes?

Belize is offering support to Venezuela after twin earthquakes on June twenty-fourth killed more than two thousand people and left thousands injured and displaced. Prime Minister John Briceño says he has contacted Venezuelan leaders, pledged support through CARICOM, and committed financial assistance for emergency supplies. But as the crisis deepens, questions remain about Belizean students in Venezuela. We asked Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca whether government has reached them and what support is being offered.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“It’s a human tragedy.  We certainly, feel for our brothers and sisters in Venezuela. Belize has reached out directly to them. The Prime Minister has been in touch with the President of Venezuela. And we are working with CARICOM to provide assistance to Venezuela. So Belize will be working with them with CARICOM and providing financial assistance to purchase the needy items that they have identified that they want. And I should note that we have five students, Belizean students, in Venezuela. Thankfully, all of them are fine. We’ve been checking on them through the Ministry of Education and Foreign Affairs, our ambassador- Annie Lou Burns has been checking with them. So they’re fine. We’re bringing them back home. So they should be home very soon. Because as right now, the conditions in Venezuela are very dire. So we think it’s best for them to come home.”

 

The twin-earthquakes measured seven point two and seven point five in magnitude and experts project that the country will suffer between four and eleven billion dollars in losses.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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