When Venezuela trembled due to two high-magnitude earthquakes, our country was the first to arrive with aid at the scene of the devastation.
A rescue brigade, stocked with food, medicine and various utensils, arrived in La Guaira, sealing a wonderful gesture of solidarity in emergencies.
“Quisqueya Solidaria” is not only the name of a campaign, but of an attitude typical of our idiosyncrasy, already demonstrated in the earthquakes in Nicaragua in 1972 and in Haiti, in 2010.
The mission was deployed according to instructions given by President Luis Abinader, a few hours after the tragedy occurred.
Coordinated by the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, the main contingent was made up of the Specialized Emergency and Disaster Mitigation Corps, CEMED, of our armed forces.
They are our best certified specialists in search and rescue in collapsed structures, in initial care of victims.
But solidarity did not end in the rubble.
The government also activated the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) and deployed a mobile hospital with about 40 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and psychologists.
President Abinader also decided to open an air corridor today to transport Dominicans living in Venezuela to the country, ensuring their protection.
In parallel, numerous centers are operating here to collect more aid for the victims.
Despite our own challenges, President Abinader understood that a brother in disgrace is a debt that is paid immediately.
The brigades were not only to remove debris, but to restore hope, to bring medicine and to place the Dominican flag among the first to fly after the tragedy.
Just as we faced the devastating earthquakes in Managua and Port-au-Prince, the Dominican Republic demonstrated that a large country is not the one that has the most, but the one that gives the most.
And in those three contexts, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela, the country grew and reconfirmed that the sense of brotherhood lives in the Dominican DNA.
We are a people of people who share even the little they have, who cross borders when others close doors and who do not hesitate to extend their hand in another’s storm.
