Dear Emilio -

What a tragedy your country has suffered!  You and all your people are in
our thoughts and prayers.  Words seem so inadequate.  May our country and
others around the world rally to help you all at this time.  God be with you.

Betty Jean, The Tall One

At 08:45 PM 12/20/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Hola:
>
>This is not a shell related letter but I feel I must write it;
>
>I want to say thanks to all the Nations and to all the individuals that are
>helping my country, and the only place I have to say that is here.
>
>The rain season was terminated and we were in the beginning of the dry season
>when rain came; big rain; all the coastline has been damaged, but in the
>central
>part that was horrible; the north part of the Avila, the mountain over
Caracas,
>slipped down to the sea carriing several towns with it; 80% of the people
>working
>at the airport is missing; the cargo that was at the port was floating in the
>sea; La Guaira, an old colonial town is nowhere; in Los Corales, Naiguata, Los
>Caracas and other towns at the coast the debris piled to the third floor
of the
>buildings; yesterday the army was unable to reach La Guaira; I do not know
what
>they do today; the Navy, with helicopters, is evacuating people; they are
>trying
>to use landing boats, but the newspaper says that this is very dangerous,
>because
>the shoreline has changed and is changing; there in the mountain, they did not
>find the small town of Galipan, it slipped down; what they found was a 10
years
>child who had came from the coast; there, in Galipan, the flowers town,
was the
>house of Reveron, the beloved artist, a cultural shrine.
>
>They are sending the people to places where relatives live; we, in Merida,
have
>received sveral hundreds; one hundred babys and toddlers are with the nuns;
>these
>are unindentify. We expect more. They are in good hands; there are queues to
>give; it is a chant to god to see people so poor with some beans or some corn
>flour; they have taken off their mouth a morsel of food to give it to their
>brethen.
>
>It is expected that there are 15,000 to 20,000 deaths and 150.00 to 200.000
>without house. There are places that they are not looking for corpses;
they are
>going to declare those places graveyards.
>
>We are going to have a Happy Christmas.but with a cloud in the heart; the
>children do not know and Christmas is the children festivity; we do not
use the
>tree, we use the San Francisco 'pesebre';
>
>Happy Christmas
>
>Emilio Lspez
>Merida, Venezuela