www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Thought many here would like to see the offers for help. I really like my adopted country of Panama's offer.

Many nations have offered the United States aid in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including an agreement by European governments to release 2 million barrels of oil per day from strategic reserves. Other offers include:


• AFGHANISTAN: $100,000.

• ARGENTINA: Six disaster relief and rescue coordinators.

• AUSTRALIA: $8 million to American Red Cross.

• AUSTRIA: Water pumps, plastic sheets, cots; An Austrian Red Cross team is in Houston to set up a communication network.

• BAHAMAS: $50,000 for U.S. victims and additional aid to Bahamian citizens in stricken areas.

• BANGLADESH: $1 million.

• BELGIUM: Medical, logistics, civil engineering and diving teams, pumps, generators.

• BRAZIL: Willing to contribute but awaiting specific request from United States.

• BRITAIN: 500,000 ready-to-eat meals; medical experts, search-and-rescue gear, marine engineers, high-volume pumps.

• CANADA: three navy ships, a coast guard vessel, several Sea King helicopters and about 1,000 personnel, including navy divers to help clear waterways and inspect damaged levees.

• CHILE: Plans to contact U.S. authorities to see what is needed.

• CHINA: $5 million to aid survivors. Says it will help with medical treatment and epidemic prevention if necessary.

• COLOMBIA: Offers rescue and paramedic teams.

• CUBA: Offers 1,100 doctors.

• CZECH REPUBLIC: Rescue teams, field hospital and pumps and water processing equipment, as well as transport planes.

• DENMARK: Water purification units.

• DOMINICA: Police to help patrol disaster zone.

• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Offers rescue workers, doctors and nurses.

• EL SALVADOR: 100 army troops, including medical personnel and engineers.

• FINLAND: A search-and-rescue team.

• FRANCE: Flying in 300 tents, 980 cots; 60 generators, three water purification units; 30 water pumps. Offering aircraft and two ships with helicopters, disaster unit with 20 soldiers, civil defense detachment of 35 people.

• GERMANY: 40,000 meals; 30,000 more coming. Offering medical supplies, vaccination teams, water purification equipment, medical evacuation aircraft and crisis management experts.

• GREECE: Two cruise ships to help house homeless, as well as relief supplies and rescue crews.

• GUATEMALA: 80 specialists from army, health and interior departments.

• HONDURAS: 134-member medical and rescue brigade. Mayor of capital, Tegucigalpa, offers a similar group.

• INDIA: $5 million to American Red Cross. Offering medical teams with experience in waterborne diseases and to set up community water purification plants.

• INDONESIA: Medical team of 45 doctors and 155 other staff and 10,000 blankets.

• IRAN: Offers to dispatch unspecified aid through its Red Crescent agency if needed.

• ISRAEL: Sending medical team. Offering hundreds of doctors, trauma experts and other medical staff as well as field hospital.

• ITALY: 300 cots, 300 blankets, 600 sheets, a water pump, six life rafts, 11,200 chlorine tablets, first-aid kits; baby food.

• JAPAN: $1 million in aid and offers to send tents, blankets, power generators and portable water tanks.

• KOSOVO: $500,000.

• KUWAIT: $500 million worth of oil and other aid.

• LATVIA: A disaster relief team, financial aid, blankets, bottled water.

• LITHUANIA: Rescue teams, meals, building materials.

• LUXEMBOURG: two jeeps, 1,000 cots, 2,000 blankets.

• MEXICO: Navy ship carrying food, amphibious vehicles, helicopters and medical team to arrive Wednesday. Fifteen army vehicles carrying food, health brigades, water-treatment plants and mobile kitchens with capacity to feed 7,000 people a day heading to U.S. border. Government sets up bank accounts to collect donations and donates $1 million. Offer comes from search-and-rescue group called "topos" — "moles" — organized by youths digging through collapsed buildings after Mexico City's 1985 earthquake.

• THE NETHERLANDS: A frigate with water, medicine, helicopters and beds to arrive Wednesday. Three giant water pumps have been offered, as well as expertise in dike and water engineering, and forensic ID help.

• NEW ZEALAND: $1.4 million. Government has also offered to send an urban search and rescue team, a disaster victim identification team or recovery personnel.

• NICARAGUA: Flooding and sanitation experts.

• NORWAY: Navy divers, 10,000 blankets and unspecified financial aid.

• ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES: $25,000 to American Red Cross.

• PAKISTAN: Doctors and paramedics.

• PANAMA: 120,000 pounds of bananas for hurricane victims.

• PERU: 80 to 100 doctors with expertise in tropical diseases and disasters. But President Alejandro Toledo said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld requested Peru instead send medical supplies and canned foods. Peru will try to comply.

• THE PHILIPPINES: Philippines Red Cross donating $25,000. Government offers 25-man relief team.

• PORTUGAL: Lending 2 percent of its strategic oil reserve, equivalent to 500,000 barrels of oil.

• QATAR: $100 million in humanitarian assistance.

• ROMANIA: Two teams of medical experts.

• RUSSIA: Three transport planes with generators, food, tents, blankets, drinking water and medical supplies.

• SAUDI ARABIA: Offers to increase oil production to replace shortfalls caused by Katrina.

• SINGAPORE: Three CH-47 transport helicopters and 38 soldiers in training unit at Grand Prairie, Texas, to Fort Polk, La., to work with Texas Army National Guard in disaster relief operations, including resupply and airlift missions.

• SLOVAKIA: Water purification gear, cots, water.

• SLOVENIA: Cots, bedding, first-aid kits.

• SOUTH KOREA: $30 million in government and civilian assistance and sending search team and relief supplies.

• SPAIN: Firefighters and equipment, medical staff, search-and-rescue expertise, tents, cots, blankets, water treatment units, heating equipment, meals, water, generators.

• SRI LANKA: $25,000 to American Red Cross.

• SWEDEN: First-aid kits, blankets, meals, generators, plastic sheeting, 2 water purification units and instructors; aircraft ready for immediate deployment.

• SWITZERLAND: Blankets, 50 tons of aid supplies, two logistic experts from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, two doctors and two water specialists.

• TAIWAN: $2 million.

• THAILAND: At least 60 doctors and nurses along with supplies of rice.

• TRINIDAD: Local Red Cross sending 10-15 relief workers.

• URUGUAY: Two mobile water purification units and two tons of powdered milk.

• VENEZUELA: Offers 1 million barrels of gasoline, $5 million in cash, water purification plants, rescue volunteers and more than 50 tons of canned food and water. Government's Citgo Petroleum Corp. pledges $1 million.

• UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Tents, clothing, food and other aid.

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A Costa Rica Toast:
Here's to Looking like Movie Stars, Partying like Rock Stars and phucking like PORN STARS!

Interesting list, Papi. What is more amazing is not so much the number of countries that would want to help us in even a small way after so many years of US assistance in times of natural disaster all over the world, but the idea that our country with all the resources we have would need help for even a disaster of these proportions. In some cases the offers are made in the spirit of appreciation for past help as much as for any real expectation that they are needed. In other cases, I can't help but think there is a touch of comeuppance and politicking involved. For example, Hugo Chavez has accused the US of plotting to assassinate him. Of course, idiot comments by that dickhead Pat Robertson do not help that impression. At the very least, we supported an attempted coup against him last year. There's no love lost between his country and ours, and I'm sure he will get a lot of PR mileage for his offer in the face of what we've offered him. Same story for Fidel in Cuba. After 40 years of US embargo against his country, he's now offering to send us doctors. I'm betting he's loving every miunte of this opportunity to see the shoe on the other foot.

Whether these countries are offering all this because they think we really need it or simply because its the proper thing to do, such foreign aid can at least help defray what is going to be a humongously expensive relief and reconstruction effort that is mostly going to be borne by all of the US taxpayers. What I find embarassing by all this is that whether we need the help or not, the images of the initial rescue and relief efforts revealed how ill prepared we are for such disasters despite being the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. A) how can we tell other countries that we will be able to rebuild Iraq, with all the distance, violence, and lack of infrastructure when we can't even help ourselves in our own country? B) What sort of message is this sending to would be terrorists about the progress we have failed to make in the last 4 years in being able to respond to either natural or man-made disasters?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050906/ap_on_re_eu/katrina_world

My take on the response is that no matter the time it takes, people in the USA are basically cry Babi*s and the media is just a profit center so mix the two together and you get "whatever you want to call it."

I'm wondering why people blame government when everyone was told that this wasn't the normal hurricane - why did the able-bodied stay and then complain when they are stranded? Part of the reason is that hurricanes have always been a wait and see thing for both civilians and government, because they change course and they go from cat 5 to 2 or 3 in a heartbeat sometimes or much of the time.

We could have had 4000 buses and 4000 helicopters in Texas just waiting for the hurricane to pass, but with the wait and see thing, this probably won't be the policy even during the next hurricane.

Why is the blame being placed on the federal government when the state government should have plans of their own?

Talk about American cry Babi*s, when BART, the mass transit train in the Bay Area, is 5 minutes late people start huffing and puffying.

I hate this blame game that we play in the USA.

The more embarrassing thing is the shootings, rapes and murders, not the time that it has taken to get rescuers there.

Just a note here... with this disaster I have been more leanient to allow the various discussions but I certainly don't want to turn this into a polictical forum of US bashing or other so keep it in perspective please.

Thank you.

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Gotta love Kuwait! We saved their bacon but they are putting up what we need!

There is some hard feelings here in the west coast Canada to aid,
as there has been an ongoing freetrade dispute with the US and our softwood timber.

But It has been decided the huricane event is so much more than political
dispute and for now the dispute comes second to just plain old niebourly aid.
I think the CAN government is talking about releasing our fuel reservres
to send south to help with the shortages.

It will take a while but you will get through this.

fiedler

True, I've seen time and time again where they continue to show their appreciation. Some people don't realize to what extent we actually helped them, however they surely know (regardless of our motivation if some want to say that we helped purely for their oil).


(admin1: thanks for the warning, these tender subjects can get out of hand!)

Doesn't it seem like the tiny little countries are much more helpful than our allies (Britain, Russia)?

-Orange

Did someone notice COSTA RICA is not on the list???

Geez I am not surprised.... we have nothing to offer....

Mente.

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Tico and Panama, let me know if you need any help down here.
Panamaexplorers.com

MENTE;
GOOD OBSERVATION. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW THE TICO TIMES REPORTS THIS IN THE NEXT EDITION. ONE OF THIER REPORTERS SHOULD ASK PACHECO IF HE INTENDS TO HELP.
LVSTEVE

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Just an old horney, fat gambler.

PLEASE SEND RELIEF CHICAS TO PACO'S HOUSE ASAP!

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

OK guys..... I really don't want to be the one to throw the fire on this, but guys I think we have convered enough ground here. We are all very sympathetic to the tradegy that occured with Hurricane Katrina and feel for its victims and I am sure our prayers are with everyone.

Now on the flip side.... without being unfeeling towards this but this has Nothing whatsoever to do with CR. Its time to put the political jousting, opinions and various contributions about the hurricane to rest.

I do not want to sound unsympathetic but based on the dozens of pm's and emails I have received stating nobody wants to read political opinions and contributions its time to move forward and let these particular related threads go to bed.

THANK YOU!

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I have to respectfully disagree with our esteemed Admin here. Sometimes a disaster is so devastating that it supercides all other conversation. CNN has seen fit to continue to broadcast about the Hurricane 24 hours a day ever since it happened. Iraq has tragically fallen off the importance map. ( I wonder how we are going to rebuild there when we have to rebuild our own Country) In fact the Hurricane is,has been, and will continue to be the focus of conversation ( in addition to chicas) at the BM. If this Hurricane had turned right sooner there would be NO CRT because our Admin. would have no place to run it from. Several of our members have encountered severe damage to their lives.Sorry for extending the thread,but I needed to get my two colones in.

Hi Fiedler,

I agree Canada's support and offerng of help is an important effort and such things a trade disputes need to be put aside for a very short time.
The human factor should rule here.

On a humour note....

What is stamped on the buttom of each Sea King helicopter?
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answer: be ware of falling object

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GO Winnipeg JETS!