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Dear Victoria,

Oxfam is publishing a ground-breaking, extensive report this week titled “Right to Live Without a Blockade: The Impact of U.S. Sanctions on the Cuban Population and Women’s Lives.” It focuses on the human dimension of this cruel, 60-year policy with concrete and personal examples of how the U.S. embargo has affected the Cuban population, specifically Cuban women, and how these effects have been magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To highlight the launch of this critical report, we will be broadcasting the webinar Right to Live Without a Blockade, The webinar will be viewable on CODEPINK’s YouTube page and on the New Good Neighbor Policy Facebook page. 

The stellar line-up of speakers includes Alena Douhan, United Nations Special rapporteur on the impact of sanctions on human rights; Elena Schwolsky, nurse, author and activist; and Elena Gentili, Oxfam Country Director for Cuba. The webinar  is being organized by the Martin Luther King Memorial Center in Cuba, Oxfam, and the Cuban Association of the United Nations.

The report “calls on the US government to immediately suspend those measures of the blockade that impede the timely acquisition of materials and inputs needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba—including for domestic production of vaccines and medical treatments.” Nowhere is this more evident than in the 20 million syringe shortage on the island. CODEPINK, in collaboration with The Saving Lives Campaign, Puentes de Amor, NEMO – The No Embargo Cuba Movement, The People’s Forum and Global Health Partners is raising funds to purchase syringes and other medical supplies to send to Cuba. If you haven’t donated already, please do so by clicking here. If you have, please share the link with your friends, family and social networks.

Finally, please sign and share our petition calling on President Biden to normalize relations and end the blockade on Cuba in advance of the June 23 UN vote, where the world will once again reject this crime against humanity.

In solidarity,
Medea