The European Commission will grant 2.17 million Euros (2.81 million dollars) to Guatemala and Honduras in order to help victims of the strong rains that devastated the region last month, the European Union’s office in Honduras announced this week.

According to an official statement, “The European Commission responds to requests for international aid by Guatemala and Honduras by providing 2.17 million Euros”. This contribution, which will be channeled to the two countries through the European Community Humanitarian aid Office (ECHO), “will enable relief efforts implemented by non-governmental organizations, the Red Cross and specialized agencies of the United Nations”.

The donation will benefit more than 35 thousand people affected by the floods and the mudslides caused by the rains in both countries.“With this contribution the European Commission helps to respond to the needs of both countries for food, drinking water, healthcare, restoration as well as distribution of seeds, tools, fertilizer and cattle”, the statement points out.

The vice-president of Guatemala, Rafael Sword, this week asked for support of the international community to take care of the emergency caused by the strong rains that brought about destructions in the north and the northeast of the country.

Sword met with representatives of various European embassies in Guatemala and with delegates of international financial institutions, asking for support amounting to 500 million quetzals (about 50 million Euros).

The vice-president assured that the government has already spent a similar amount for the first stage of reconstructions in the departments of Petén, Alta Verapaz, Quiché (north), and Izabal (northeast), the areas which were worst hit by the rains.

The funds that are required, he explained, “will serve to resolve the crisis and to develop plans for the response to future natural disasters”. Part of the aid granted by the EU, equivalent to one million Euros (1.29 million dollars), will be used for providing food for the more than 35 thousand Honduran victims of the malnutrition crisis affecting the south of the country, which will provided for a duration of six months through the world-wide Food Program of the United Nations.

In Honduras, according to official sources the intense rains and cold front in recent weeks have hit 600,000 people and left more than 30 dead and several missing.

Floods in 17 of Honduras’ 18 departments have destroyed numerous roads and nearly 8,500 homes, prompting President Manuel Zelaya to declare a state of emergency. Authorities estimate total damages at 154 million dollars.