Call to Action for International Days of Action Against State Sanctions and Economic War, March 13-15, 2020

Sanctions Kill!  

Sanctions are War!

End State Sanctions Now!

State Sanctions are imposed by the United States and its junior partners against countries that resist their agendas. They are a weapon of Economic War, resulting in chronic shortages of basic necessities, economic dislocation, chaotic hyperinflation, artificial famines, disease, and poverty. In every country, the poorest and the weakest – infants, children, the chronically ill and the elderly — suffer the worst impacts of sanctions.

State sanctions, which are technically Unilateral Coercive Measures(UCMs), violate international law and are a tool of regime change. They are a crime against humanity used, like military intervention, to topple popular governments and movements. They provide economic and military support to pro-U.S. right-wing forces.

The United States and its dollar, though weakening, maintain economic domination across the entire world, especially the Global South. Under these conditions, sanctions have extraordinary power to kill and maim those who resist the hegemony of the United States and its partners in crime: Europe, Canada and Japan. 

More and more, the U.S. government applies economic sanctions against more than 30 developing countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Sanctions are now Washington’s weapon of choice. They are not an alternative to war. They are war, less obvious but just as deadly.

Because of its economic dominance and its 800+ military bases worldwide, the U.S. can demand all other countries participate in acts of economic strangulation. They must end all normal trade relations, otherwise they risk having Wall Street’s guns pointed at them. The banks and financial institutions that are responsible for the devastation of our communities at home drive the plunder of countries abroad.

By imposing Unilateral Coercive Measures, the U.S. is committing a crime against humanity as defined under the terms of the Nuremberg Principles. UCMs clearly violate the United Nations’ Charter, the Geneva Convention and other fundamental institutions and documents of contemporary international law.

During the opening of the UN General Assembly, representatives of many targeted countries raised Sanctions, Economic War and Unilateral Coercive Measures as major issues for anti-war, anti-imperialist and social justice movements to take up more strongly. The US and its allies kill not only through bombs and bullets, but through blockades, embargoes, trade restrictions and asset seizures.

Many organizations have been fighting Sanctions and Economic War for some time. Where there is oppression, there is resistance. NOW is an opportunity to combine our efforts to raise consciousness on this crucial issue. 

We encourage all possible mobilizations and educational efforts to be organized for the International Days of Action against State Sanctions and Economic War on March 13-15, 2020. It is our responsibility to take up this cause with the greatest unity possible, to aspire to new levels of coordination among all progressive, anti-war, anti-imperialist and social justice forces, and to build a movement to defeat State Sanctions and Economic War.