Global Exchange launched our first travel challenge to Cuba in 1990 under the Freedom to Travel campaign with the following three demands of the U.S. Government:

  • End the U.S. Blockade on Cuba;
  • End Travel Restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba;
  • Remove Cuba from the U.S. list of terrorist countries.

As you know all too well, after thirty years most of these demands remain in place. Tell Biden the time is now to end the blockade!

Recent protests over widespread food and medicine shortages in Cuba have drawn world attention, but the narrative we are hearing turns a blind eye to the brutal 60 year economic war waged by the US against the island. And as the news on these protests flood social media channels and public airwaves, Biden tweets his concern for the Cuban people and their suffering, all while continuing Trump’s strategy of economic warfare. The U.S. blockade against Cuba is designed precisely to create the shortages Cubans are now experiencing and to encourage social unrest on the island.

As the pandemic magnifies the devastation of the U.S. blockade, the blockade has in turn made it harder for Cuba to grapple with the pandemic. In July 2020, a UN special rapporteur concluded the blockade was “obstructing humanitarian responses to help the country’s health-care system fight the COVID-19 pandemic.” Among other things, the blockade stopped medical aid and money transfers from overseas companies and humanitarian organizations, denied Cubans the ability to use Zoom, prevented the country’s purchase of ventilators, and caused a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

If Biden truly cares about the Cuban people, ending severe shortages in food and medicine must be his top priority. Biden needs to end this erroneous blockade. 

Now is the time for U.S. citizens to ensure that the next many years of Cuba/U.S. relations will benefit the people of both countries and be free from the Cold War ideology which clouded our mutual self interests.

Cuba and the Cuban people have suffered too long. It is time to end the blockade and fully normalize relations with our neighbor! Take action with us today. 

Vigils for Global Access to COVID Vaccines & Treatments
Part of the Worldwide Call for a Fast & Comprehensive TRIPS Waiver Agreement to Help End the Pandemic

Current vaccine production will cover just 25% of the world’s population. While the world’s wealthiest nations are being vaccinated at increasing rates, developing countries are being left  without access to vaccines until possibly as long as 2024. The WHO has called this the global vaccine inequity a Vaccine Apartheid.

This must change!

An emergency waiver of “Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights” (TRIPS) at the World Trade Organization is a critical first step to enabling vaccines and treatments to be produced in as many places as possible, as quickly as possible.

The WTO will be making life-or-death decisions about ending patent protections for critical Covid vaccines – via a TRIPS waiver –  at their upcoming meeting on June 8.

Join a Vigil or Action and Make Your Voice Heard in Support of Global Access to Covid Vaccines and Treatments.

SAN FRANCISCO VIGIL
Wednesday, June 2 • 11:30am
Outside the Consulate General of Japan
275 Battery Street • San Francisco, CA
Contact: will@citizenstrade.org
RSVP FOR SAN FRANCISCO VIGIL HERE


ALBANY VIGIL
Thursday, June 3 • 5:00pm
Outside the Leo W. O’Brien Federal Building
1 Clinton Square • Albany, NY
Contact: george@citizenstrade.org
RSVP FOR ALBANY VIGIL HERE


CHICAGO VIGIL FOR GLOBAL ACCESS TO COVID VACCINES
Wednesday, June 2 • 8:00pm
Federal Plaza
230 S. Dearborn Street • Chicago, IL
Contact: blevenson@justiceisglobal.org


DALLAS VIGIL
Sunday, June 6 • 6:00pm
Outside the Consulate of Germany’s Dallas Office
17130 Dallas Parkway • Dallas, TX
Contact: bobcash@citizenstrade.org
RSVP FOR DALLAS VIGIL HERE


HOUSTON RALLY
Friday, June 4 • 11:00am
Outside the Consulate of Germany’s Dallas Office
1330 Post Oak Blvd • Houston, TX
Contact: ginnysmcdavid@gmail.com
RSVP FOR HOUSTON RALLY HERE


NEW YORK VIGIL
Thursday, June 3 • 5:30pm
Outside Pfizer’s Headquarters
235 E. 42nd Street • New York, NY
Contact: george@citizenstrade.org
RSVP FOR NEW YORK VIGIL HERE


SEATTLE VIGIL
Friday, June 4 • 8:30pm
Westlake Center
401 Pine Street • Seattle, WA
Contact: hillary@washingtonfairtrade.org
RSVP FOR SEATTLE VIGIL HERE


Have you lost a loved one to COVID-19?  If you’d like the name of someone you’ve lost to COVID read at vigils happening across the country, please share their name here.