Fri 17 Feb 2023 – 7pm - Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way London, W1T 5DL
Cuba has survived the longest and most comprehensive set of sanctions imposed in modern history through the 61-year US blockade.
Venezeula has been subject to US sanctions since 2015, and they have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Venezuelans.
Join us to hear from diplomats, academics and activists about the devastating impact of these sanctions and to discuss the importance of international solidarity in opposing them. The event will include audio-visual materials and music.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, an early statement of US foreign policy asserting dominance over the Latin America. Today, the US uses financial and political mechanisms to assert control; financial and trade sanctions have become weapons of war.
Cuba’s socialist government protects the population from the impact of sanctions and, incredibly, has achieved human development indicators better than many rich nations. However, the Trump administration added over 240 new sanctions, actions and coercive measures in a ‘maximum pressure’ strategy that hoped to bring down the Cuban Revolution by generating scarcity and hardship. This coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, producing an economic crisis. Biden has kept most of these sanctions in place. Cuba is being suffocated.
Today there are 928 coercive measures enacted by the United States against Venezuela. Supported by international allies, these have blocked oil exports, cut Venezuela off from international loans and credit, and prevented imports of crucial food and medicines, leading to unnecessary suffering and death. Venezuela’s assets abroad have been stolen, including $1.4bn of gold bullion held in the Bank of England.
Solidarity activists are mobilising to demand an end to the illegal extraterritorial impact of US sanctions. The 1cent4Cuba campaign is using direct action to challenge non-US banks illegally imposing US sanctions against Cuba. Find out how you can participate.
Speakers include:
- Representatives from the Embassies of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Venezuelan Ambassador:
Rocío Del Valle Maneiro González
Cuban Ambassador:
Bárbara Montalvo Álvarez
Nicaraguan Ambassador Guisell Morales-Echaverry will also attend.
- Carolina Graterol, Venezuelan journalist and documentary maker.
- Helen Yaffe, Cuba specialist, University of Glasgow.
- Sam McGill, Rock around the Blockade. https://ratb.org.uk/
- A representative from Cubanos en UK. https://cubanos.org.uk/
- Will Jones, 1 cent for Cuba campaign. https://1c4cuba.eu/
- A representative from Revolutionary Communist Group.