As many of you know, Massachusetts Peace Action has joined with a coalition of groups across the Commonwealth, in support of national and international efforts, to oppose brutal economic sanctions imposed by the United States on 39 countries across the world. These harmful policies have been going on for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses. These sanctions won’t go away without public pressure from activists like you. Sign our letter to let the politicians in Washington know we demand an end to this disgrace.
The economic sanctions we’re talking about amount to nothing less than economic warfare. They are terrorizing millions of people around the world. They are a tool of regime change, designed to make populations suffer to the point that they depose governments who refuse to cooperate with the United States.
In the midst of a global pandemic, the Trump administration has doubled down on the disastrous sanctions policies. A letter signed by eleven US senators recognized that, while the US claims that it does not apply to medical supplies, “our sanctions regime is so broad that medical suppliers and relief organizations simply steer clear of doing business in Iran and Venezuela in fear of accidentally getting caught up in the U.S. sanctions web”. US policies are killing thousands of innocent people. Members of Congress who have supported sanctions in the past now have a responsibility to act.
The current COVID-19 pandemic highlights the precarious and, in some cases, critical state of the health infrastructures and economies of these sanctioned countries like Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea. Without immediate intervention, millions of people face severe economic hardship, infection, and death. This is a time for international cooperation and solidarity – not embargoes, blockades, and military threats.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called, “for the waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic.” Without public pressure on our representatives here in the United States, these policies won’t change. We’re calling for:
- Immediate public statements denouncing broad-based, destructive sanctions
- Actual emergency universal exemptions for humanitarian goods
- Protocols that monitor the impact and human cost of sanctions
- Support for Congressman Omar’s H.R.5879- Congressional Oversight of Sanctions Act, to prevent ’emergency’ sanctions imposed by the President