The Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola, received this Sunday a contingent from Portugal and highlighted that there are already more than 750 foreign brigades fighting forest fires in the Andean country.
Urrejola and the ambassador of Portugal in Chile, Carlos Amaro, received the Portuguese Joint Task Force formed by 144 people, including firefighters and specialists, who will help fight the forest fires in the central-south zone of Chile.
«I want to thank the Government and the people of Portugal for sending this contingent. There are 144 brigadistas with different specialties to fight the fires,» said Urrejola, according to a statement from his Ministry.
«This has been one of the largest contingents of support in the fight against the fires we are suffering in the south. The history of collaboration with Portugal goes back a long way. Some time ago Chile also sent help to fight the forest fires in Portugal and today we are once again receiving Portugal here with a tremendous contingent,» the Minister emphasized.
«We are very grateful to Portugal, to its people, to its government and, above all, to each of the people who, as of this afternoon, will be deployed», she added.
For his part, the Portuguese ambassador stressed that «this is the largest group, in this framework, that we have sent abroad». «This is the proof of the solidarity between our countries», he said.
Among the more than 750 foreign brigade members there are firefighters, military and specialists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Portugal and Venezuela. They are joined by logistical and financial support material that has arrived from different countries.
In the case of Spain, more than 50 forest firefighters and experts from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and five autonomous communities are collaborating in the tasks of extinguishing the serious forest fires in Chile.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
