<[link removed]>President Biden has ordered the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce to review whether sanctions are “unduly hindering responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Tell him to lift sanctions now!



<[link removed]>ACT NOW <[link removed]>



Dear John,



Imagine living in a country with a battered healthcare system, rising food prices, intermittent blackouts and a struggling economy. Now imagine that the pandemic has hit, and everything has gotten worse, especially since the Trump administration imposed even more sanctions to take advantage of the global health crisis. That’s the reality for the millions of people in Iran and Venezuela who face two pandemics: the coronavirus and sanctions.



As we’re finally starting to see the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, we might be seeing a ray of hope on sanctions. President Biden has ordered the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce to review whether sanctions are “unduly hindering responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.” 



Sign the letter to the Biden administration asking them to save lives by lifting sanctions immediately! <[link removed]>We will follow the Biden administration’s report on sanctions and keep you updated. 



This proposal by the Biden administration is a great step in the right direction in terms of understanding how sanctions harm civilians. Sanctions have been called “collective punishment” by U.N. experts, and they’ve been denounced by the U.N. Secretary General, the Pope, and people all over the world. It’s not just in Iran and Venezuela that sanctions have hindered the pandemic response, the list of countries includes Cuba, Yemen, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Syria, and more. 



U.S. sanctions had deadly effects even before the pandemic. In Iran, millions of cancer patients have gone without treatment because of sanctions. In Venezuela, an estimated 100,000 people have died due to sanctions. Both countries have had difficulties acquiring coronavirus-related medical supplies as a result of sanctions. It was cruel to impose more sanctions during the pandemic and it would be heartless not to lift them now.



Urge the Biden administration to fight the pandemic abroad by lifting sanctions! <[link removed]>



CODEPINK is part of two coalitions that work exclusively on the issue of sanctions, and we think that this initiative by President Biden is worth supporting. If certain sanctions are lifted because of the pandemic, it will open up political space to state the obvious: sanctions killed even before the pandemic. We plan on holding the Biden administration to account if it doesn’t carry out an objective assessment of sanctions and lift them. Sign our lift sanctions petition now! <[link removed]>



In radical solidarity,

Ariel, Leila, Michelle, Leonardo and the entire CODEPINK team



P.S. Interested in sharing your time to cultivate peace? Become a peacemaker  <[link removed]>and join us next month for a salon with Venezuela’s Vice Minister for North American Affairs Carlos Ron, where he will discuss the sanctions and the hybrid war on Venezuela.











-----

CODEPINK - 2010 Linden Ave, Venice, CA 90291, United States

This email was sent to [email protected]. To stop receiving emails: [link removed]

-----



Created with NationBuilder - [link removed]