Finnish Red Cross ready to send aid to Venezuela

The Finnish Red Cross is preparing to deploy aid workers to Venezuela following this week’s devastating earthquakes, with some personnel possibly departing as early as this weekend, the organization told Yle.

Toni Jokinen, head of the international aid support and coordination unit at the Finnish Red Cross, said Venezuela urgently needs both shelter for those who have lost their homes and medical assistance. The organization has already placed several aid workers on standby, and requests for support have begun arriving.

“We have a couple of people ready to go as soon as the call comes. We also have the material capacity, including field hospital capabilities, if a decision is made to deploy them,” Jokinen said. He added that by Monday morning it should be clear whether the first team will leave over the weekend.

The Finnish Red Cross is also allocating financial assistance from its own disaster fund to the Venezuela operation.

Jokinen described the situation in Venezuela as severe, with a need for medical aid not only in the immediate aftermath but in the weeks and months ahead. “There are many injuries from the earthquakes, but there is also a need for basic healthcare because local capacity has been damaged,” he said.

As of Friday evening, Venezuela’s earthquakes had claimed 920 lives, with around 3,400 people injured.