Chris Barrow
speaker
910 appearances
7 recordings
1 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 26 Jun
Chris Barrow’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 6 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 2.
Appearances
The United States has pledged to contribute $150 million in aid and to supply two military ships, transport planes and helicopters to help with relief efforts.
But how all that pans out will be closely watched.
Until last year, it would have been the aid agency USAID that responded to a disaster like this.
But as part of spending cuts masterminded by Elon Musk, many of its employees were dismissed and those left were absorbed into the State Department.
Rebecca Bill Chavez was Deputy US Assistant Secretary of Defence under President Barack Obama.
I asked our Washington correspondent, Hal Griffith, whether the American aid is a significant amount.
I think it is compared to some other nations.
Whether it will be enough, I doubt.
It will be the only amount that they will need to spend.
As you said, a total of $150 million.
Now, $50 million of that will go towards NGO spending in the area, partly to the World Food Programme, to International Medical Corps, to Samaritan's Purse, people who have a presence already, and then a further $100 million contributed to the UN fund.
which is coordinating the international response.
So while it is a start, I'm sure more will be needed globally, but certainly there may be even an expectation that the White House will be prepared to spend even more in the coming days.
Yeah, I imagine that in Caracas, with the US having intervened so strongly at the beginning of the year and removing Nicolas Maduro, that they would be looking to the United States to say, come on, we're sort of deferring to you now.
Yeah, when you consider the US took control of domestic politics in Venezuela in January and then control of its oil sales since then, then perhaps there's a need here.
for the U.S.
to be seen domestically, to be stepping in and owning this and responding to the disaster.
Now, for his part, the Defense Secretary, Pete Hexer, said that when lives of our friends are on the line, America moves.
So clearly casting this as a relationship, a friendship and a bond between the two countries where they can call on each other.
And we know that Secretary of State Rubio spoke to the interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, in the hours straight after the
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