Clinton takes phones to Chile, vows more help

March 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a small dent in Chile’s growing needs after a massive earthquake, handing over 25 satellite phones Tuesday while promising more in the country’s capital.

“We stand ready to help in any way that the government of Chile asks us to. We want to help Chile who has done so much to help others,” Clinton said during a brief visit to Chile that took her nowhere near areas with heavy damage. She spent most of her time at an undamaged area of the airport.

Clinton toured an area of the airport where tea, flour and other supplies were being loaded into boxes for shipment to parts of the country where supplies are short.

Meeting with the country’s president-elect, Clinton said she is sure Chile is handling the disaster well. She said there has been no discussion of sending U.S. troops to help distribute aid or keep order, as was done in Haiti after the far-more-deadly earthquake there in January.

Clinton gave one of the donated phones directly to current President Michelle Bachelet, who had said shortly after Saturday’s pre-dawn quake that her country did not need much help from other nations. That changed as the magnitude of the disaster became clear — power, water, food and medical care are urgent needs in the country’s second-largest city, Concepcion, and along a coast hit by both the quake and a resulting tsunami.

The United States has pledged additional help, including a field hospital with surgical facilities that Clinton said is “ready to go.”

The U.S. is sending more satellite phones, which work in areas where land lines and cell-phone towers are out of commission. Chile identified the phones as a high priority, Clinton said.

Also on the way are eight water-purification systems, generators, medical equipment and supplies. Other donations could include mobile kitchens, temporary bridges and helicopters.