§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what levels and types of technical assistance and bilateral aid are given to Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, E1 Salvador, Belize and Mexico, respectively; and when was the last time a project for such aid or assistance was approved for Nicaragua.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe latest available figures by level and type of British aid are for 1986:
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Financial project Aid1 Technical cooperation2 Disaster relief Total (£000s)3 Costa Rica 11,016 522 — 11,538 Panama — 70 — 70 Nicaragua — 3 82 86 Guatemala — — 10 10 E1 Salvador — 47 193 239 Belize 2,314 865 — 3,179 Mexico — 686 117 803 1Includes investments made by the Commonwealth Development Corporation. 2 Includes personnel, training and equipment but not projects co-
financed with British voluntary agencies. 3 Totals may not exactly equal sum of individual columns as all figures are rounded. The last bilateral Government to Government aid provided to Nicaragua was in 1987 for sheets worth £600 for the Bertha Calderon hospital in Managua.
We have responded positively to appeals from various relief organisations including the International Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for their work in Central America including Nicaragua. Since 1985–86 we have contributed over £1.5 million. We also support small development projects in Nicaragua co-financed with British voluntary agencies. Thirty such projects have been approved since 1985–86. Nicaragua also receives aid through the European Community ($9 million in 1986) of which Britain's share is around 20 per cent.