Latin America and Caribbean Policy Forum, April 27th 2024
Friends
We need your help to push out this petition (see below), urging the US Senate to Vote No on S1881 - a bill that will place additional unilateral coercive measures/sanctions on Nicaragua. This Bill moved in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee after Nicaragua argued at the International Court of Justice to defend the Palestinian people from genocide. We have also just found out that it will no longer pass through the Senate's Banking Committee, where we would have had an opportunity to slow it down, but go directly to the full Senate for a vote. This could happen very quickly. We need to gather at least 1,000 signers to this petition in the next few days so that it can be delivered to Senators mid week. Please share widely through your networks and social media. Signers do not have to be from the United States - please share internationally.
It is tweeted here: https://twitter.com/SolidarityNica/status/1784295271662252276
Thank you for taking urgent action!
Thanks for your principled position against unilateral coercive measures, or sanctions, such as those that are causing so much damage in Cuba and Venezuela. We are saddened to see the U.S. Congress also ratcheting up sanctions on Nicaragua, where we have many family members and friends living in peace with improved healthcare, education, and rights. We do not want to see their quality of life diminished by more U.S. sanctions, which are so hard to remove once they are codified into law by Congress. Tell the Senate: Vote NO on Bill S.1881!
It’s urgent for you to act now to stop Bill S.1881 (the ill-named Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act), which would impose broad sector sanctions impacting hundreds of thousands of jobs in Nicaragua, and would forbid any U.S. investment in the country. This bill just passed its first committee—the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. We can’t let it go any further!
It is no coincidence that the bill, which had languished for 10 months, finally started moving just one week after Nicaragua argued at the International Court of Justice to defend the Palestinian people from the genocide in Gaza. We know that the U.S. Congress also threatened sanctions on South Africa for defending the Palestinian people back in January. We cannot let them get away with punishing countries for upholding their international obligation to prevent genocide. Don't let Congress Punish Nicaragua for Defending Palestine!
Some of Nicaragua’s critics even use racist tropes to accuse the country of aggravating the migrant crisis by allowing Haitians and Cubans to enter without visas, which it does to alleviate the humanitarian crises unleashed by U.S. intervention in those countries. Nicaragua should not be punished for helping the victims of harmful U.S. policies!
Sign here to demand that Congress respect Nicaragua’s right to self-determination without external interference. Instead, let’s thank Nicaragua for taking a principled position on some of today’s most urgent issues.
In solidarity,
Jill, Michelle, Natalia, Jenny and the Americas Without Sanctions team
Don't let Congress Punish Nicaragua for Defending Palestine!