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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2005 
Mexico Storm Recovery Help Heads to New Orleans
 Reuters
| | A Red Cross volunteer, left, takes donations from a man at the Red Cross center in Mexico city. Mexican Red Cross technicians are expected to fly to the U.S. Gulf Coast Tuesday to help with relief efforts. (Photo: AP) |
Mexico City – A Mexican warship and a convoy of army trucks headed to the U.S. Gulf Coast Tuesday carrying rescue vehicles, clean water, troops and emergency workers to help with the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
A convoy of 25 military trucks with hundreds of troops and civilian workers, equipment and supplies left Tuesday and was expected to cross the border the following day, with a second convoy to follow Wednesday.
Mexican newspapers Tuesday hailed the peaceful deployment of troops on U.S. soil as unprecedented.
Asked about the presence of Mexican troops on U.S. soil, a State Department official in Washington said many countries were using their military to transport supplies for the relief effort.
"In no way, shape or form is any foreign police, military or other security personnel performing a police or military or security function on U.S. soil," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The ship El Papaloapan left Mexico's Gulf port of Tampico Monday for the ravaged city of New Orleans with 15 all-terrain and amphibious vehicles, two helicopters, a surgically equipped ambulance, 200,000 liters (52,000 gallons) of drinking water and other supplies and personnel, the Foreign Ministry said.
"There are three health teams that will provide medical attention, each made up of a medical surgeon, a dental surgeon, a health official, a nurse and nurse's aide," Ruben Aguilar, a spokesman for President Vicente Fox, told reporters.
Another Mexican warship equipped as a hospital may also be deployed, he said.
Mexican officials also were working to help thousands of compatriots in the New Orleans area.
Temporary consulates have opened in Mobile, Alabama, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and representatives in cities across the southern United States were helping Mexican nationals who suffered losses in the storm or were seeking loved ones.
A third temporary consulate may open in Gonzalez, Louisiana, near New Orleans, which has a relatively large Mexican population, said Juan Bosco Marti of Mexico's Foreign Ministry.
With a shared border and distant history of military conflict, Mexico and the United States have recently suffered strained relations over cross-border drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Additional reporting by Sue Pleming in Washington |
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