Countries Pledge Hurricane Aid to U.S.
By BARRY SCHWEID

The Associated Press
09/02/05 23:53 EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) – In an accelerating drive, more than 50 countries
have pledged money or other assistance to help Americans recover from
Hurricane Katrina.

Cuba and Venezuela have offered to help despite differences with
Washington. Oil giant Saudi Arabia and small countries like Sri Lanka
and Dominica are among the nations making pledges.

“I hope that will remind Americans that we are all part of the same
community,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday as offers
kept pouring in.

None has been turned down, Rice said at a news conference, disputing a
report from Moscow that a Russian offer had been rejected. However,
she said some offers were being taken up immediately and others
“somewhat later,” depending on the needs on the ground.

But Cuban President Fidel Castro said he hoped an offer made Tuesday
to send 1,100 Cuban doctors would be accepted “immediately so as not
to lose another minute.” Castro said in a live broadcast in Havana
Friday night that he had just sent a diplomatic note to the U.S.
mission in Havana to make the offer a second time.

In her news conference, Rice singled out Sri Lanka for praise for
making a contribution even as it struggles to recover from the tsunami
and earthquake disaster of last December.

And she said contributions from poor countries were being accepted
because “it is very valuable for people being able to give to each
other and to be able to do so without a sense of means.”

Australia announced a donation of $8 million to the American Red Cross.

“The United States is so often at the forefront of international aid
efforts to help less fortunate nations,” Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer said. “So it is only fitting that Australia should contribute to
the daunting task of helping the thousands of American citizens whose
lives have been thrown into turmoil by this unprecedented disaster.”

France, “determined to show its solidarity with the United States,”
offered a range of aircraft and two ships, with helicopters and
planes capable of airlifting tons of supplies, a disaster unit with
20 soldiers, a civil defense detachment of 35 people and an airborne
emergency unit, the French Embassy said.

Canada is loading three warships and a coast guard vessel in Halifax
with emergency supplies and food, and will dispatch them to Louisiana
next Tuesday, Dan McTeague, parliamentary secretary to Foreign Minister
Pierre Pettigrew, said in an interview.

Up to 1,000 divers, engineers and reconstruction experts will be
aboard, McTeague said.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has announced the release of 30,000 barrels
of gasoline and oil for U.S. use.

Japan said it would contribute $200,000 to the American Red Cross
for its relief operations. Upon request, Japan is prepared to provide
up to $300,000 worth of tents, blankets, power generators, portable
water tanks and other equipment, the Japanese Embassy said.

The United States historically has aided victims of disasters, but it
is not universally recognized as providing the level of aid expected
of a rich nation.

In July, President Bush resisted British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s
ambitious goals for assisting Africa, though Bush took steps to double
U.S. aid to more than $8.6 billion by 2010.

The United States, which has the world’s largest economy, lags behind
other rich nations in the percentage of its giving to nations in
Africa, the world’s poorest continent.

By Friday, offers had been received from Armenia, Australia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Britain, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba,
Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France,
Germany, Greece, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Paraguay, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,
Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea,
Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela and the United Arab
Emirates.