BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it has joined the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) in providing a US$1 million contribution to the recovery and reconstruction of Venezuela, following two back-to-back earthquakes that killed several people last month.

CAF established the Fund for the Recovery and Reconstruction of Venezuela two days after the earthquake struck the South American country on June 24. The fund is intended to mobilise and coordinate international support for emergency response, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction activities identified as priorities by the Venezuelan Government.

“In the immediate aftermath of this tragedy, the Caribbean Development Bank determined that we had to respond. Venezuela is a longstanding member of our institution and a country that has consistently and meaningfully supported the people and nations of the Caribbean over many decades,” said CDB president, Daniel Best.