What if we told you there are billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds available for countries in need and Congress is the only thing standing in the way of getting relief funds to people in need? Tell your senators and representatives to endorse legislation to free up these badly needed funds and help save lives!

Dear John,

Never before has our interconnectedness been so clear as now during the coronavirus pandemic. While it’s true that COVID-19 knows no borders, the virus has accelerated dire crises in many countries around the world. They are in desperate need to create stability.

There is a simple solution: we can get countries on the brink of disaster the economic aid they need NOW with no strings attached. But guess who’s been blocking this aid? Congress. They’re politicizing the aid because they don’t want Venezuela, Cuba and Iran to receive financing, even though these funds would stabilize their economies while the economies of many are in free fall.  

Tell Congress to issue this much-needed lifeline to fight COVID-19 and stabilize economies in developing countries!

The developing nations of the world have been requesting coronavirus-related aid in the form of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since mid-March. There are bills in the House and Senate that would instruct the U.S. representative at the IMF to vote to release the funds! Click here to urge your Senators and representative to endorse this legislation!

Having the IMF release COVID-19 relief aid should be a fairly simple step; it costs U.S. taxpayers absolutely nothing. While we’re usually critical of the IMF for imposing forced austerity, these COVID-19 relief funds are different and do not impose the sort of conditions that have been typical of normal IMF loans. The U.N. Secretary General, dozens of countries, over 85 organizations in the U.S. and hundreds of global leaders support issuing COVID-19 relief funds. For the health of life on the planet:  Tell Congress to issue this much-needed lifeline to fight COVID-19 in developing countries! 

Just as the pandemic has highlighted the need for a global ceasefire, it has made a globally coordinated response to COVID absolutely necessary. CODEPINK is proud to be part of the coalition demanding a global response to the pandemic. Learn more about this coalition and SDRs by clicking here. 

In solidarity,
Michelle, Teri, Leonardo and Medea

P.S. This week on CODEPINK’s WTF is Going on in Latin America and the Caribbean, Leonardo interviewed independent journalist Alina Duarte to discuss Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador’s first year and a half in office and his visit to the U.S. Check it out! And remember to Check out CODEPINK’s radio show that airs every Thursday at 11 a.m. ET!, this week we’ll be talking about Latin America.