SAN PEDRO SULA.
The queen of Spain, Doña Letizia, witnessed the still latent scene of devastation in the northern part of Honduras, a month after the passage of the tropical storms Eta and Iota which also affected other parts of the country.
The queen’s agenda began with a meeting with the various Spanish oeneges who led cooperation programs in Honduras and who are now active in providing humanitarian response to the affected families.
Shortly afterwards, Doña Letiza, accompanied by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, moved to Coronel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base in San Pedro Sula, where she was received by the President of the Republic, Juan Orlando Hernandez, and the first lady, Ana Garcia.
At this meeting, the president offered an overview of the years and the work carried out, to then take a tour and show the donations sent by the Spanish Cooperation, which consists of 120 tons of humanitarian aid.
The shipment includes food, kitchen utensils, two thousand beds and 24,000 covid-19 screening tests.
From the base area, Mrs. Letizia moved to the Oswaldo López Arellano education center in La Lima, always accompanied by the presidential couple, and all received by the Secretary of Education, Arnaldo Bueso.
In this encounter, the Honduran civil servant exposed that, due to the natural phenomena, more than 500 educative institutions were donated. “The level of impact was practically throughout the country, but with the greatest impact on Cortés, Santa Bárbara, Colón, Atlàntida, Yoro, El Paraíso and Francisco Morazán.”
After the visit, the queen of Spain he moved to the hostel established at the Instituto Patria, also in La Lima, after talking to the host families. In this center temporarily living 131 families (222 adults, most women, 161 under 18 and 83 under five).
Doña Letizia known to those affected that, despite the now scarce media repercussion, the years of torment Iota and Eta they have been much larger caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
As part of her visit, the queen consort toured neighborhoods, muddy streets, and the rubble of destroyed homes and schools and razed and useless crops.
His visit ended in the central courtyard of the Instituto Patria and then he moved to the Operations Center of the 105th Brigade to return to Madrid.
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A rewarding morning for Honduras and Spain Witness. Doña Letizia met the testimony of a young refugee. Mitch suffered when he was five years old. Now she is 27 and has a five-year-old daughter. “We don’t have opportunities, but we have capabilities.” All the people he has had contact with the Queen today are a difficult hope. Meetings. The queen had quick meetings with Spanish oeneges operating in Honduras, and later with President Hernandez and part of his cabinet, who provided an overview of the damage caused by the two storms in the context of the covid pandemic. Commitment. The Spanish government confirmed to Honduran officials the facilitation of 70 million euros for the reconstruction of the country, which will enjoy favorable conditions, as explained by the Secretary of Finance, Marco Midence, in a press conference yesterday to the 105th Brigade, as SPS. Scopes. President Hernández thanked His Majesty’s visit and the actions of Spanish cooperation, while requesting that Spain consider leading international aid for the reconstruction of a country of 9.5 million inhabitants and third on the scale of inequality internationally. |
Scopes
As part of the visit of the queen of Spain the president Juan Orlando Hernández asked the European country to lead the process of cooperation for the reconstruction of Honduras by the onslaught of Eta y Iota.
The president confirmed during an appearance in the 105 Brigade, after the departure of the queen consort, who made the request to King Felipe VI and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, in order for Spain to act as a locomotive of aid to Honduras in its “crusade to build a roadmap ”that reactivates the country after the impact of the storms and the pandemic of the covid19.
Hernández added that “it has been requested to Spain so that they can lead the donor group in the European Union, working based on the Mitch experience, but with new gears ”.
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In the education system The head of Education, Arnaldo Bueso, explained to Queen Letizia the need for reactivation of water and sanitation systems in more than five thousand schools that have been affected, “but also must be activated for when it is present the opportunity for a safe return to school ”. Due to the floods, more than 530 schools are donated. |
Between 1998 and 1999, Sweden acted as host country to manage and execute overdue donations from other countries for Honduras, thereby rehabilitating a considerable part of the infrastructure destroyed by the hurricane.
In the face of recent natural disasters, Hernández said that he has asked Spain to become a leader in the process of agglutinating cooperators. In the same speech, the Secretary of Finance, Marco Midence, confirmed that the Government of Spain announced in Honduras, during the visit of the Queen Letizia, the availability of a fund of 70 million euros (2.1 billion leprosy) for rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the country, “at a very low concession rate and a long plan.”
The official also advanced that the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Aecid) has joined forces to push through an emergency education project with Unicef for $ 300,000 (L7.5 million) to ensure permanence and quality learning.