On Tuesday, November 2, join CODEPINK Congress as we learn about the urgent campaigns to unfreeze Afghan and Venezuelan assets, and what this has to do with paying Afghan teachers and freeing Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab.
This event will feature Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK and founder of Unfreeze Afghanistan;
Masuda Sultan, Afghan-American women’s rights activist and co-founder of All in Peace, a coalition to bring the longest war in American history to a peaceful end; and
Leo Flores, CODEPINK’s Latin American coordinator, who served as the Senior Political Advisor in the Venezuelan embassy in Washington D.C. from 2017-2019 and more recently participated in Venezuela’s Bicentennial Congress of the Peoples, which brought together social movements from around the world.
After the Taliban takeover in August, the U.S. froze nearly $10 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank. The International Monetary Fund froze the distribution of $450 million and the World Bank held back hundreds of millions in the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund. Meanwhile, Afghan teachers have gone without pay since June and hospitals are closing. The Afghan people can’t be blamed for the oppressive policies of the Taliban. Unfreeze the funds!
At the same time, with U.S. sanctions freezing billions in assets, Venezuela struggles to obtain food, medicine and spare parts vital for electricity and water. In a desperate effort at regime change, the U.S. government recently kidnapped Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab when he tried to circumvent deadly sanctions by appealing to Iran for help. Additionally, the Biden administration, like the Trump administration before it, insists on sabotaging peace talks between the Venezuelan government and the far right.
Capitol Calling Party
Join us as we take action to demand the White House unfreeze Afghan and Venezuelan assets to address the economic crises in both Afghanistan and Venezuela.
