Press Release


OAS CONTRIBUTES TO RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS CAUSED BY FLOODS IN COSTA RICA

  May 17, 2002

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luigi R. Einaudi, today presented a donation of $20,000 to Ambassador Hernan R. Castro of Costa Rica to support reconstruction efforts from damages caused by the worst rains recorded in recent years in that Caribbean country.

The Assistant Secretary General noted that with this symbolic contribution of the Inter-American Emergency Fund, the Organization "expresses our solidarity with the people of Costa Rica." Einaudi lauded President Abel Pacheco's government for the work carried out in assessing the damages and adopting measures to aid the victims of the disaster.

In accepting the donation, Ambassador Castro, said that May 9 was a day of both celebration and mourning for his country, "of celebration because we were marking the transition to a new government…the people of Costa Rica joyfully welcomed the installation of President Pacheco, but unfortunately the inclement weather in the Atlantic produced damages not only to the infrastructure, but also to thousands of homes of people of few resources and to the banana plantations, affecting one of the main products of the region."

Ambassador Castro, after noting that the most affected area was President Pacheco's native province of Limon, thanked in the name of his government and the people of Costa Rica "this gesture of solidarity from the 34 democratic countries of the hemisphere which will alleviate the suffering of thousands of residents of Limon are going through a difficult time."

According to data from the Costa Rican Institute of Meteorology, during the first days in May, Limon, which is located about 100 mile from San Jose, suffered a record-breaking 28 inches of rain, unmatched within the last 60 years.

Reference: E-098/02