COVID-19 Statement

March 18, 2020

As COVID-19 spreads, and people around the world are reaching out to each other in many ways with acts of kindness and community,  the Anti-War Committee demands an end to U.S.-imposed sanctions, which are actively undermining the healthcare responses of other countries. These sanctions are often portrayed as “humanitarian,” but they are anything but.  They are methods of imperial domination rooted in the same racism the Trump administration has been peddling since it came into office. As the U.S.’ own dysfunctional healthcare system scrambles to respond to the virus, we demand money for healthcare, not for sanctions and war!

COVID-19 disproportionately kills the elderly, the poor, and those without access to treatment — the same populations that, in targeted countries, are most affected by sanctions. As of March 18, 2020, Iranian deaths have leapt to 1,135, which is 14.18% of all COVID-19 deaths worldwide.  Sanctions on its financial sector have prevented its healthcare system from importing needed medical supplies for years. It is no wonder that Iran is struggling, and sanctions will only exacerbate the crisis for its population.

Venezuela saw 40,000 deaths due to U.S. sanctions in 2018 alone. Now, thanks to these same U.S. sanctions, they face their first COVID-19 cases with a severely compromised medical system which cannot import needed supplies.

Zimbabwe, already barely able to respond to rampant cholera outbreaks in the wake of natural disasters, must now use its beleaguered healthcare system to somehow try to keep its population protected from COVID-19 despite facing the highest number of sanctions in all of Africa.

Italy, whose healthcare system and social safety net are some of the best in the world, has seen a death toll above 3,000 with especially sharp rises in the past 24 hours. And this is without any sanctions for Italy to contend against. It is inhumane that the U.S., by intentionally depriving other nations, has set up the conditions in sanctioned countries for the epidemic to worsen.  And given that we are facing a worldwide pandemic, it is also highly irresponsible since it is geopolitically tantamount to incubating the virus in these countries; it is abundantly clear that U.S. sanctions render much more difficult any meaningful attempt to stop COVID-19 at a global level.

The Anti-War Committee also fervently condemns the anti-Asian racism and Sinophobia which ignorant leaders have stoked across Europe and America. It is utterly outrageous that Trump insists on calling COVID-19 the “China virus,” when China has been one of the countries able to most effectively contain the virus, essentially building hospitals overnight in the first weeks of the pandemic and recently capping off its death toll at around 3,000. This is no small feat among a dense population of over 1.3 billion. If anything, the U.S. government should be building bridges with China now more than ever in order to collaborate on effectively combating COVID-19, but the Trump administration insists on racist fear mongering and Cold War posturing. With right-wing pundits like Rush Limbaugh pushing conspiracy theories that China is somehow using COVID-19 as a bioweapon, we must be even more vigilant than usual against anti-Asian racism.

End U.S. sanctions! Stand up against racism!

#SanctionsKill