ACS Secretary General & Members: We Stand in Solidarity with St. Vincent & Guatemala

ACS Secretary General & Members: We Stand in Solidarity with St. Vincent & Guatemala

Secretary General Rodolfo Sabonge and chair of the Special Committee of Transport, Cuban Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Tania Diego Olite expressed support for the people of the region who face the challenges caused by volcanic eruptions.

In a meeting of the executive board of the ACS Special Committee on Transport this week, Secretary General Sabonge said “We reiterate that we stand in solidarity with our Member States who are facing serious challenges. We are very concerned by all that we see is happening in our sister country Saint Vincent, and now also in Guatemala, because they are also experiencing a volcanic eruption and are facing similar challenges there.”

Ambassador Olite said “We must take a moment to reiterate our solidarity with the people and government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the other countries that have been affected by the volcanic eruption of La Soufrière. Barbados and Grenada have also been significantly affected so we wanted to express our profound solidarity with our brothers and sisters of the Caribbean.”

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Unit reports that La Soufrière “continues to erupt although explosive activity appears to have ended at this time. Explosions with accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger size, could restart in the future impacting St. Vincent and neighbouring islands.” The volcano, which began erupting explosively last week, remains on red alert level. Guatemala's national disaster coordination agency reports that the Pacaya volcano is maintaining high levels of activity with significant lava and ashfall, triggering wildfires and destruction of agricultural produce.