November 2, noon: Chicago Press Conference and protest against the US blockade of Cuba

Wednesday,  November 2, 12 noon

Federal Building, 230 S. Dearborn, Chicago

On Nov 2nd and 3rd, the UN General Assembly will discuss and vote, for the 30th year, to oppose Washington’s world-wide sanctions against Cuba and any nation that trades with them. The vote last year was 182-2 to condemn these US hostile actions.

On the eve of that UN vote, local community leaders, Cuban-Americans, and elected representatives are holding a press conference/picket line noon Wednesday November 2 at the Federal Building to say “We stand with the world: End the U.S. Blockade and its Travel and Economic Sanctions against Cuba! Take Cuba off Washington’s List of State-Sponsors of Terrorism!”

Endorsers include: ANSWER, Healthy Hood, Party of Socialism and Liberation, Socialist Workers Party, Chicago Cuba Coalition, Chicago Anti-War Coalition, Southsiders for Peace, Chicago ALBA Solidarity, Justicia en Ayotzinapa Comité.

Alejandra Garcia: Cuba: Imagine What We Could Have Achieved Without the Blockade

Bruno reported that between August 2021 and February 2022, the blockade caused $3.8 billion in losses, a record amount for only seven months.

The country’s Gross Domestic Product, according to conservative estimates, could have grown by 4.5% in this period if these measures had not been applied. In the first 14 months of the current U.S. government of Joe Biden, the damages caused by the blockade reached $6.36 billion, which represents an amount of over $454 million per month and over $15 million per day.

Since this policy began to be applied six decades ago, the accumulated damages amount to $154 billion. “Imagine what Cuba could have done if it had had that money. Imagine the development the country could have achieved in all these years,” the Foreign Affairs minister stressed.

US Sanctions: A Weapon of War on Civilians — End Sanctions Now!

The US blockade against Cuba is one of several blockades the US has on other countries, the most severe being against North Korea and Venezuela.

The US has also imposed sanctions on about 40 countries. The US uses economic sanctions as a weapon against nations that choose a path independent of US global domination. Sanctions can take the form of blocking a nation’s financial and trade transactions, not allowing financial institutions to process them. The US can also freeze the assets of another country.

Sanctions imposed on a country are weapons of war by other means, a weapon of war against a civilian population. They are designed to destroy the economy of the targeted nation. The US even has increased sanctions in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

Sanctions hurt civilians, especially the most vulnerable – babies, children, the elderly and chronically ill – not governments. Their intent is to cause chronic shortages, deny access to finance, and cause capital flight. The US then blames the targeted government and claims it is responsible in an effort to foment a color revolution or justify “humanitarian intervention”. 

Sanctions – A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy

A project of the SanctionsKill CampaignAn anthology by social justice activistsDonate by credit card at https://iacenter.org/sanctions-book Everyone who donates $25 or more will receive a copy of the 200 page book: Sanctions – A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy.The impact of sanctions on more than 40 developing and formerly colonized countries, one third of the world’s population, was barely discussed in mainstream media for decades.  The vibrations of hyperinflation, chronic shortages, and economic dislocation in surrounding countries were ignored. U.S. sanctions from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe have devastated entire nations. The impact of sanctions on Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela creates enormous hardships.But now the sanctions on Russia and China have boomeranged. Supply chain chaos, shortages possibly leading to famines, inflation, energy instability, have shaken the global economy. Most countries of the Global South have refused to respect U.S. and EU legislation that damage their access to essential grains and energy.

The book: Sanctions – A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy is a project of the SanctionsKill Campaign. Using petitions, actions, webinars, fact sheets and reports, the Campaign seeks to expose the human cost of sanctions. The campaign has developed multimedia teaching tools that are included in this book.