Venezuela will once again invest in the Matanzas Supertanker Base, half of whose fuel tanks were destroyed after the gigantic fire that lasted several days. Nicholas Maduro, reports Latin Pressannounced this Sunday that it will support the reconstruction of the damaged facility and that it has already instructed the Oil Ministry about it.
In an award ceremony for 43 firefighters and experts from the state-owned PDVSA sent to Cuba to mitigate the fire, the Venezuelan president reiterated his country’s solidarity with the island, from which he receives mainly doctors and military training in exchange for oil. since 1999.
“Cuba knows that it has our scientific, technical, engineering and worker support,” Maduro said in statements collected by the official Cuban news agency. “Get in touch with the Cuban oil and energy authorities to start the reconstruction design for the Supertanker yard in Matanzas,” he ordered.
“Get in touch with the oil and energy authorities of Cuba to start the reconstruction design of the Supertanker yard in Matanzas”
Both Venezuela and Mexico sent dozens of flights with personnel and material aid to help stop the flames, which went uncontrolled for five days, until the fuel in the depots was consumed.
The Cuban authorities have focused on extolling this aid, not yet provide the list of the 14 whom he continues to call “disappeared”the environmental consequences or the total cost of the disaster, which began on August 5, by the lightning strike according to the official version.
So far, the Government has only recognized two deaths: firefighters Juan Carlos Santana Garrido60 years old, and Elier Correaof 24, Of the 132 injured in the fire, 18 they are still hospitalized: four in critical condition, five serious and nine, with “care report”.
Although the industrial enclave of Matanzas where the Supertanker Base is located dates back to the 1980s, when it was built with money from the Soviet Union, the damaged warehouses are very recent, from 2012, and were just dug up with financial and technical support from Venezuela.
In a 2020 postSome specialists warned of the danger of storing fuel for more than two months, referring to the conditions in which the reserves kept by Petróleos de Venezuela are found, in tanks similar to those of the Matanzas Base.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
