This is the third time that the VPA and PPS have deployed personnel and equipment overseas to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.
Major General Nguyen Duy Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Relations under the Ministry of National Defense and Deputy Head of the VPA delegation, emphasized that this is a noble international mission, reflecting Vietnam’s foreign policy of being a friend, a trusted partner, and an active, pro-active, and responsible member of the international community. Alongside fulfilling an international duty, the mission also embodies Vietnam's deep sentiments towards Venezuela, a traditional friend of Vietnam.
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Members of the VPA contingent show their firm determination to successfully accomplish the international mission in Venezuela. |
According to Senior Colonel Mac Duc Trong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Deputy Head of the VPA delegation, both humanitarian disaster relief and U.N. peacekeeping are humanitarian and multilateral activities conducted in accordance with international law, often under extremely challenging conditions.
“Many members of the VPA contingent deployed for the earthquake relief in Venezuela previously served with Vietnam's Engineering Company and level-2 field hospital at U.N. peacekeeping missions. We are confident that the experience gained during U.N. peacekeeping operations will greatly contribute to the successful execution of this mission,” Sr. Col. Mac Duc Trong told People's Army Newspaper reporters aboard the aircraft.
The Vietnamese military and public security contingents also include numerous personnel who previously participated in similar disaster relief missions in Türkiye in 2023 and Myanmar in 2025. Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Search and Rescue Department and Head of the VPA delegation, noted that with lessons learned from those deployments, this time, the VPA delegation has brought additional modern equipment, increased the number of service dogs, and strengthened specialist search teams to detect and rescue victims as quickly as possible, by all possible means. The military medical team includes both physicians and surgeons capable of admitting, examining, treating, and providing free medical care and medicines to affected local residents as well as personnel operating in the disaster area.
“Our greatest and sole expectation is to save as many lives as possible,” Major General Pham Van Ty affirmed.
In contrast to the usually quiet atmosphere of long-haul overnight flights, the cabin aboard the aircraft carrying the Vietnamese military and public security delegations to Venezuela was filled with a palpable sense of urgency. Conversations among team members revolved around the catastrophic earthquake that struck the South American nation. Everyone made full use of the flight time to review plans and refine operational scenarios so that rescue operations could commence immediately upon arrival.
“Although the journey will take more than 20 hours, including refueling stops, we stand ready and are fully determined to begin our mission as soon as we arrive in Venezuela, because in any natural disaster, time is gold,” said Colonel Le Dac Phu, a doctor from Military Hospital 103.
Translated by Mai Huong