With the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases climbing daily in politically and economically downtrodden Venezuela and its citizens in “dire” need of help, the United States last week reiterated its plea to that country’s President Nicholas Maduro to allow it to take in humanitarian aid.
The call came even as Guyana continues to man its porous borders with Venezuela situated to the east and from which hundreds of that country’s citizens have already fled here to escape political instability and economic and social hardships.
The US State Department has stressed that “pandemics do not respect national borders.”
“We certainly would like to reiterate the call that Maduro should open the door and let in humanitarian aid to help the people of Venezuela,” Jim Richardson, Director of Foreign Assistance at the Department of State told a teleconference on May 1.
“Since before the COVID pandemic the US and other donor countries have been trying to get vast amount of humanitarian assistance into Venezuela but has been blocked by Nicolas Maduro and the dictatorship,” he added.
Richardson and John Barsa, acting Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) held a telephone conference on May 1 with reporters from around the world to discuss their country’s global assistance in the fight against COVID-19.
Barsa and Richardson underscored their country’s assistance to the rest of the world and informed that the US has already committed some $775 million in aid to more than 100 at-risk countries to help contain the outbreak, since COVID-19 was first declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
The funding, they explained, will improve public health education, protect healthcare facilities, and increase laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in the countries where the money is donated.
While neither Guyana nor the Caribbean was mentioned yesterday, this country has already twice been a beneficiary of US government aid for the COVID-19 fight.
A State Department statement explained, “$1.7 million in previously announced health funding is helping 10 Caribbean countries (Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago) scale up their risk communication efforts, provide water and sanitation, prevent and control infectious diseases in health facilities, manage COVID-19 cases, build laboratory capacity, and conduct surveillance.”
“This builds upon decades of strategic U.S investment in the region, including more than $840 million total over the past 20 years, which includes $236 million for health,” it added.
On April 23, the US Embassy here announced that as part of the ongoing commitment to Guyana through the US-Caribbean Resiliency Partnership, the Regional Caribbean Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was releasing US$475,000 to help address Guyana’s priority areas of laboratory diagnostics and systems strengthening and supplies, surveillance, infection prevention & control, and emergency operation centres.
Then the embassy also announced an additional US$1.7 million ($357m) to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean.
It said that the US, via USAID, is providing life-saving support by working with the Government of Guyana, international humanitarian partners, and other stakeholders to identify priority areas for investment.
“The United States Government is committed to assisting the people of Guyana to combat the spread of COVID-19 to prevent illness and deaths associated with the dreaded pandemic and ultimately improve the quality of life and the economic outcomes of this wonderful country and its people,” US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch was quoted as saying.
Through this assistance, the statement said, the USAID will support: infection prevention and control in health-care facilities, communications to help educate people on steps they can take to prevent and respond to the spread of the virus, through country-specific media campaign and surveillance and rapid response with case-finding and event-based surveillance for COVID-19. The statement added that USAID also helps countries train and support rapid-response teams to probe cases and conduct contact tracing.
It disclosed that the CDC will coordinate with Guyana’s Ministry of Public Health and its regional partners to disburse these funds rapidly and implement the activities.
However, what remains unclear is the methodology of disbursement and if this country’s Civil Defense Commission or COVID-19 Task Force will be the ones hiring consultants or procuring supplies with the funds, given the fact that there is a caretaker government and this country still awaiting the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
The US Director of Foreign Assistance at the Department of State and Acting Administrator of the US Agency for International Development pointed out that the donor funding will be used in ways “tailored” for the needs of the respective countries.
