Venezuelan firefighters before traveling to Bolivia to support in fighting forest fires. Photo: IG/@josuelorca.
Since September 30, the Bolivian government has declared a national disaster to address the forest fires and the accompanying environmental crisis, seeking increased international support. In response, Venezuela initially sent 60 firefighters and civil protection personnel to assist Bolivians.
In order to relieve this first group, another team of 54 specialists from the SimĂłn BolĂvar Humanitarian Task Force of Venezuela left on Saturday, October 5, for Bolivia to help put out the forest fires that are ravaging that country.
In this regard, this working team, made up of men and women from different specialties, traveled to Bolivia with three tons of humanitarian aid supplies.
For his part, the director of civil protection, Juan Carlos Oti Paituvi, stated that the new group, which also includes park rangers, is trained, educated, and equipped to “help the people of Bolivia” in combating the forest fires.
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Oti Paituvi also said that they traveled on the instructions of the minister for internal affairs, justice and peace, Diosdado Cabello, and that the message they carry is that “Bolivia is not alone, but is accompanied by its brother, the Venezuelan people.”
Forest fires
According to international media, firefighters are activated because fires are a recurring problem in Bolivia at this time of year and the fire is often attributed to chaqueos, which are controlled burns to make land available for planting or grazing, as well as being a low-cost form of clearing land.
Likewise, the minister for ecosocialism, JosuĂŠ Lorca, recalled that during the first 25 days the Venezuelan contingent was working in the department of Santa Cruz and successfully confronted the flames together with the Bolivian Armed Forces and other emergency relief organizations.
Lorca said that the SimĂłn BolĂvar Humanitarian Task Force is always deployed around the world bringing solidarity and the Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy of the revolution and of President NicolĂĄs Maduro.
The President’s message is that Venezuela always has its arms open for Bolivia and the world with its diplomacy that is characterized by giving beyond what we have, he said.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/MCM
