Where is the Aid for Earthquake Affected Communities?

The earthquake on Friday, October 9, opened a rift within the ruling party. Humanitarian aid is not reaching communities in Tonosí and Macaracas according to Ronald De Gracia, deputy of Realizando Metas (RM) for circuit 7-2, Los Santos, Macaracas and Tonosí.

The political infighting at the Emergency Operations Center (COE) in Las Tablas could be one of the reasons. De Gracia explained that the problem lies in the management of the COE. “They’re not letting the governor do his job. That’s practically a political bias, one thing is for one person, but not for another,” he stated.

De Gracia spoke from El Pájaro , in Macaracas, where he said that “there are people who have not received any humanitarian aid”.

People need food supplies, clean water, tents, blankets, medicine, milk for children, mattresses, and help with structural damage.

Even though the roads are open, help is slow to arrive from the administration.

A 10 member team called The Virginia Task Force1, from the United States is in Panama right now to help the victims of the earthquake. The task force is trained to respond to such disasters.