On Tuesday, November 2, CODEPINK Congress discussed 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
Featured Speakers:
- 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.
Take Action:
Sign CODEPINK's petition: Free Alex Saab!
Sign CODEPINK's petition to the Biden administration and the World Bank: release funds to pay Afghan teachers & health workers!
Check out Unfreeze Afghanistan!
📧 Email the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
📧 Email the State Department: https://register.state.gov/contactus/ContactUsForm
Please unfreeze billions in Afghanistan and Venezuela's assets held in US banks and use your influence to pressure the IMF and World Bank to unfreeze funds to address economic crises in both countries, where people are struggling to obtain food, medicine and care during a pandemic.
Pay the Afghan teachers who haven't been paid since June.
Stop sabotaging peace talks between the Venezuelan government and the right wing, and free diplomat Alex Saab.
