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Monday, September 11, 2017

Where To Go To Help the Mexican Earthquake Victims - Will Trump Help Out ?

courtesy AP- Aljazeera:  Mexico Earthquake Victims


Once again I am putting on hold the national and local violence statistics of the drug war to note several reports on the Mexican earthquake and where to go to help out.

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This morning on their daily show Democracy Now! reported:


"Oaxacan Residents Plead for Water & Food After Mexican Earthquake Kills Over 90 People (video within the title link)"



"In Mexico, the death toll from Thursday’s devastating 8.2-magnitude earthquake has risen to 90 people as rescue teams continue to search through the rubble in parts of the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Over the weekend, journalist Andalusia Knoll spoke to survivors from the earthquake in Juchitán, Oaxaca, which was the city hardest hit by the earthquake.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, we end in Mexico. The death toll from Thursday’s devastating 8.2-magnitude earthquake has risen to 90, as rescue teams continue to search through the rubble in parts of the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Over the weekend, journalist Andalusia Knoll spoke to survivors from the earthquake in Oaxaca, in Juchitán, the city hardest hit by the earthquake.
MARÍA TERESA GARCÍA MORALES: [translated] My name is María Teresa García Morales, and this is where my mother lived. My mother died the day of the earthquake while rescuing my niece and my sister. We are here in Asunción Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca. It is a town where we are lacking many things, and the children are lacking them, too. We don’t have water. Please, people, those in the city, help us more than ever. One has to have solidarity with our people and help us, because we don’t have anywhere to live. We don’t have anywhere to stay. We are staying in the streets, in the open air, and sometimes it rains. And we have to see where we can stay.
JOSÉ JUAN ROBLEDO CASTILLO: [translated] This is where my bed was. Here was the bed. And I ran outside and successfully grabbed my daughters. It was this tree trunk that fell on top of our bed. I had to move the trunk to drag the bed out and use here in the backyard, because that is where we are staying. We have to stay in the backyard, because we are still at risk that the house will fall down, and the government help and help from the municipal government has still not arrived. They came to visit us here on the street corner. But up until now, we haven’t had any help from the government of the municipality of Juchitán.
GAIL REGALADO: Yeah, my name is Gail Regalado. It is the only one time that we received something for help. No other kind of people, especially governments, municipal or the federal government—they didn’t bring us anything, as we don’t have water. And, of course, we don’t have electricity. We don’t have electricity. So, for example, in this moment, when it’s at night, we feel really scared, because, you know, the earthquake, the movement, we feel really scared, because we don’t have light. So it’s that kind of—and, of course, we need something that—a kind of food that we can eat for these days.
AMY GOODMAN: Voices from Juchitán, Oaxaca, which was the city hardest hit by last week’s earthquake off the coast of Mexico."


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Similarly about twenty four hours ago, Aljazeera reported ( with links within the report):

Aljazeera

Mexico Earthquake: Victims Complain Of Slow Response 
by, Chantal Flores


More recent reports are that help is beginning to come in:

Aljazeera - about two hours ago:

Mexico Rushes Aid To Millions of Quake Victims (with onsite video)


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Locally this morning AFN is reporting there are brigades of COFEPRIS in Oaxaca and Chiapas:

AFN

Brigadas de Cofepris en Oaxaca y Chiapas 


And in Ensenada there has been a drive by the Mayor and the city to collect the basic necessities for the victims of the earthquake, with two centers opening today:

Frontera

Piden Apoyo Para Damnificanos Del Terremoto
por, Jayme Garcia


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As you are aware, Mexico volunteered help and actually did help the victims of  HARVEY.  Since their own disasters they have had to rescind their offer to help with IRMA. But so far, Trump has not offered to help the Mexicans nor even mentioned the massive earthquake, which is disgusting.  Will he?  Meanwhile you can go here to help:


"How To Help Mexico Earthquake Victims As The Country Struggles To Recover" (Link within the title)

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The sky reportedly turned green in parts of southern Mexico on Thursday night, moments before an 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit. Buildings were leveled by the earthquake, the strongest felt by the country in at least 100 years, and people were killed. At least 61, according to The New York Times, though that number could continue to rise as rescue crews seek out victims within the rubble. Thousands of people were affected by the shock, and will continue to be affected for the foreseeable future. We need to help the Mexico earthquake victims; it's going to be a long road ahead to recovery, and they will need all the help they can get.


While the earthquake was felt by tens of millions of people throughout Mexico and as far away as Guatemala, the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca were hit the strongest. These states were the closest to the earthquake's epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, according to The New York Times. Mexico City, which was devastated by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake in 1985 that killed 10,000 people, was also affected by the earthquake but was able to sound a warning over loudspeakers. The city was shaken, but no one was seriously injured. The same could not be said for the provincial city of Juchitán; perhaps the hardest hit of the areas, the city of 100,000 people lost one-third of its homes and 36 people died. Their hospital was nearly destroyed, leaving medical staff to work on injured residents in the parking lot by the light of their cell phones.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visited the ravaged city of Juchitán on Friday, and has declared a three-day period of mourning, and reassured locals that the government would offer aid to help with reconstruction. In fact, several world leaders have stepped up to the plate as well. The heads of state for the Latin American countries of Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Spain have all reached out to offer their assistance, as has Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Unfortunately, President Donald Trump has yet to offer any form of assistance or even acknowledge the earthquake in the slightest. Which is particularly galling, considering the aid Mexico offered to the United States when Hurricane Harvey caused flooding and devastation throughout Texas. Mexican Red Cross volunteers entered the state armed with trailers containing rice, beans, coffee, chocolate, 300 beds, nine generators, mobile kitchens and telecommunications equipment. Trump has never acknowledged their aid, and has yet to offer any reciprocal help.
Whether the United States government aids Mexican earthquake victims or not, private citizens could (and should) rise to the occasion. While direct relief efforts have not been established yet, several reputable national charities exist.
Donating to Mexico could become even more needed in the coming weeks; Hurricane Katia is expected to make landfall off the Atlantic coast of Mexico on Saturday. It's simply too much for one country to bear; thankfully, they seem to have (mostly) good neighbors who are watching out for them. As Juchitán mayor, Gloria Sánchez López said during a phone interview with The New York Times, their country is in the midst of:






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