Latin American countries have expressed over the past days their solidarity with those affected by hurricane Katrina in the United States and offered assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims.

Katrina, which reached Category 5, the maximum on the Saffir-Simpson scale, swept the US states of Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississipi early this week, leaving at least 228 people dead.

Material losses could reach 25 billion US dollars, according to estimates by insurance firms.

Mexican President Vicente Fox on Thursday sent a radio and television message to his US counterpart George W. Bush, mourning the heavy losses of lives and property caused by the natural disaster.

According to the Mexican authorities, about 100,000 Mexicans in the US were affected, 60,000 of them in New Orleans alone.

Venezuela, a country whose government has repeatedly clashed with the Bush administration, also offered humanitarian relief to the affected states.

The assistance offered by the government of President Hugo Chavez would amount to 1 million dollars in cash through the petroleum firm Citgo, a branch of Venezuelan state-run petroleum company PDVSA.

Meanwhile, the governments of Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay took similar actions.

Lamenting the devastations, Bolivian President Eduardo Rodriguez said he hoped that the United States would recover from this calamity.

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos on Friday expressed solidarity with the people and government of the United States while the Paraguayan Senate issued a declaration in support of the North American country.

In Central America and the Caribbean, El Salvador, the only country with a military presence in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition, said it will send a military contingent to the United States when the government deems it necessary.

Salvadorean President Antonio Saca on Thursday ordered that ordered ordered that a force similar to that in Iraq be prepared for "reconstruction, medical, engineering and security tasks."

In Panama, a telephone line was set up to provide information to relatives of Panamanians living in areas hit by Katrina.

The Dominican Republic and Honduras will send missions for rescue tasks to the United States.

Cuban President Fidel Castro offered Friday to help the United States, his longtime enemy, by sending 1,100 doctors and medicine to treat the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Some 100 doctors could board a flight to Houston, Texas, as early as Friday and 1,000 others could arrive Saturday and Sunday, Castro said in a radio and television address.

Cuba would also send 26.4 tons of medicines.

"Cuba is ready to help immediately," he said. "We offer concrete things, doctors to the site of the tragedy, which is exactly what is missing now.

The United States has imposed an economic embargo against the Communist country Cuba for four decades.

Source: Xinhua