US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Chile Tuesday to personally offer her country's help for victims of last week's devastating quake.
"Your leadership and the extraordinary efforts of your government and the people of Chile are responding with resilience and strength," Clinton told Chilean President Michelle Bachelet in the presence of reporters, dpa reported.
"We are so grateful for what Chile did in Haiti. Your rescue teams were among the very best in the entire world. And we want to help Chile, who has done so much to help others," Clinton noted.
She arrived at a Chilean Air Force base along with US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela.
Valenzuela was born in Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city and the one worst-hit by Saturday's quake. He left Chile at 16 after another quake, the so-called Great Chilean Quake of 1960, destroyed his school along with much of Concepcion.
The party was welcomed at the airstrip by Bachelet and her Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez, as well as by the US Ambassador to Chile Paul Simons.
After her private meeting with Bachelet, whom she defined as her "friend," Clinton was also set to meet with conservative businessman Sebastian Pinera, who is to take over the Chilean presidency on March 11.
Clinton's visit had been planned before the quake, in the framework of a Latin American tour that already took her to Uruguay and Argentina. Later this week, she is set to travel to Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
The United States has offered to help Chile recover from the quake, which measured 8.8 on the Richter scale, and a subsequent tsunami, which together claimed more than 700 lives.
"The United States is ready to respond to the request that the government of Chile has made so that we can provide not only solidarity, but specific supplies that are needed to help you recover from the earthquake," Clinton said.
She noted that she was contributing 25 satellite phones that she had been carrying on her plane, although Chile had requested 62 and the rest would be forthcoming.
Washington would also be sending water purification units, a field hospital with the capacity to perform surgery, along with autonomous dialysis machines and other medical supplies, Clinton said. Electricity generators and portable bridges would also be forthcoming, among others supplies, she added.
Bachelet again explained that her government wants to assess the situation and identify specific needs before calling for aid.
"Our objective is that cooperation will exactly meet and respond to our needs, our most urgent needs," she said.