Campaign Launched Against the Illegal Blockade of Countries and for Solidarity Among Peoples
On April 6 a petition and Twitter campaign was
launched by the Sao Paulo Forum calling for the
end of economic, commercial and financial
sanctions imposed on nations such as Venezuela,
Cuba and Nicaragua in the midst of the COVID-19
pandemic. The aim of the campaign is to get the
word out to the widest possible audience,
including to political authorities at different
levels, trade unions, solidarity organizations and
members of social movements.
Everyone is invited to take part in the following
program:
Thursday, April 9: First Twitter storm under the
hashtag #BloqueoNoSolidaridadSi
Duration: 10 am-2 pm EDT / 3-7 pm GMT
Thursday, April 16: Second Twitter storm under
the hashtag #BloqueoNoSolidaridadSi
Duration: 10 am-2 pm EDT / 3-7 pm GMT
Participants are asked to use the one hashtag
only and no others, as when multiple hashtags are
used, Twitter's algorithm treats it like spam,
reducing the effectiveness of the initiative.
Posts on other social media platforms are also
encouraged to help get the word out.
The petition in English, French, Spanish and
Portuguese can be found here.
Petition Against the Illegal Blockade of
Countries
and for Solidarity Among Peoples
1. We are experiencing an alarming health
situation worldwide with the SARS-CoV-2 and
COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Today April 6, almost one million people are
infected, with thousands of deaths in several
countries. Nobody had prepared for a situation on
that scale! Health systems in general were not
prepared and few countries were able to minimally
contain the initial number of infections and thus
prevent the collapse of their own system.
3. The general reaction was to order quarantines
and isolations to reduce the spread of the virus,
measures that have catastrophic consequences for
economies, which are not yet fully defined.
4. There is also an increase in xenophobic
positions, blaming a culture or country for the
emergence and spread of the virus.
5. In response to these positions, the Chinese
government's attitude was exemplary in cooperating
with Italy and other European countries to help
them contain the epidemic locally.
6. In the midst of these problems, some nations
that have already been the victims of unilateral
coercive measures have unsuccessfully requested
the lifting of sanctions in order to purchase
supplies, medical equipment and medicines for
their health system.
7. Nicaragua has suffered these sanctions for
years and now it does not even have the right to
obtain humanitarian aid.
8. In Venezuela, the government was willing to
buy supplies, but international companies refused
to sell it for fear of suffering some kind of
penalty or fine.
9. Cuba remains subject to the economic,
commercial and financial blockade imposed by the
United States, exacerbated by the current
aggressive escalation of that country's
government, which constitutes the main obstacle to
its development. In its constant example of
humanity and solidarity, Cuba once again offered
cooperation in the area of health to face the
pandemic and, upon request, sent Medical Brigades
to more than a dozen countries.
10. In view of the above, we, the undersigned,
request that the blockade, the unilateral coercive
measures and the sanctions applied against the
countries be completely lifted.
11. We hope that our voices can represent that of
millions of people who suffer unfairly in their
daily lives the political persecution against
their countries promoted by some governments.
Further information about the campaign can be
found here.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 11 - April 4, 2020
Article Link:
Campaign Launched Against the Illegal Blockade of Countries and for Solidarity Among Peoples
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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