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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2005 
Mexican Airline Offers to Fly Katrina Victims Home for Free
 Associated Press
| | Mexicans who lost their homes and jobs can fly for the free until October 15. |
Mexico City - Mexican airline Aeromexico said Monday it will fly Mexicans home for free from hurricane-damaged areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Mexicans who lost their homes and jobs or were otherwise affected by the devastating hurricane can qualify for the free one-way ticket home until Oct. 15.
They must fly from Atlanta, Miami, Houston or Dallas. Mexican consulates scattered throughout the United States are identifying those who qualify and helping them obtain the tickets.
"Hurricane Katrina's effects have been felt across so many communities, including that of Mexicans living and working in the United States," said Jose Kuri, senior vice president of Aeromexico's U.S. division. "It is our responsibility to step forward and support the Mexican community in times like these when they need us the most."
The Mexican government believes some 40,000 of its citizens were living in Louisiana, most in New Orleans, when the hurricane hit. Some were living illegally, making them ineligible for most federal aid.
Also Monday, Mexico's national civil defense chief, Carmen Segura, said at a news conference that the government has scrapped plans to send a second naval vessel, the Huasteco, with aid for Katrina's survivors.
She said officials believed it was quicker to send aid to their northern neighbor through other means, including by plane.
She said, however, that the government had sent four civil defense experts on disaster coordination and may send more health workers.
Mexico last week sent the Papaloapan ship to Biloxi, Mississippi. Its crew members have been helping clean up debris and feed survivors.
Some sailors from the Papaloapan have complained that they thought they would be doing more than shifting rubble and passing out food.
"We would have liked them to let us help more," said Lt. Jose Luis Cruz, supervising 21 Mexican sailors working alongside 31 U.S. Marines to cut tree limbs and move debris.
Lt. Jose Villasenor Martinez, an orthopedic specialist, said he had come expecting to practice medicine.
"But it seems that they now have everything under control," he said.
His only patient has been a U.S. Marine who cut a finger while moving debris from a house in downtown Biloxi. |
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