In defense of life over profit: Vaccine and public, free healthcare for all now!
INTERNATIONAL MANIFESTO FOR LIFE
The COVID-19 pandemic has universally put on display the contradictions of capitalism that put profit before people’s lives:
- The pharmaceutical companies are only concerned with their profits; they give the vaccines to the first who are willing to pay. Of all vaccines distributed to date, 75% went to the 30 richest countries, while 130 poor countries of the global south, still do not have access.
- The majority of governments took measures to protect the economy over the lives of people. Very few had the courage to mandate a complete halt in non-essential activities in order to stop the virus.
- Across the world people have no access to vaccines, employment, or income. They have been left without a future. This situation, when understood with regards to ethnicity and gender, is even worse for women, youth, Black people and Indigenous peoples.
- We are in a war against an invisible virus that impacts all of humanity and has already cost us almost 3 million deaths.
- US imperialism and its allies, are only concerned with geopolitical issues and the profits of their corporations. This is despite having ample economic, technical and financial resources that could be used to save lives.
- The US government does not miss any opportunity to maintain and increase its economic, commercial and financial blockades, especially against Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.
- In addition to this, it continues to promote a “new Cold War” against China, with hostile rhetoric against the Chinese government and people, imposing economic sanctions and persecuting Chinese companies, and spreading the lie that the Chinese state is to blame for the pandemic.
In light of this situation, we must pull together the efforts of all forms of social, popular, neighborhood and political organization across the world to support and demand the fulfillment of the necessary measures for the protection of the lives of human beings. From our organizations, agreeing with and amplifying the orientations of the World Health Organization (WHO), we propose the following measures:
- Free vaccine for all people. Guarantee ways to acquire the vaccine for all countries in the most just and equal way, removing the patents that make the vaccines in property of the private pharmaceutical industry. The vaccine is a common good of humanity.
- Complete halt on all non-essential activities in the countries where COVID-19 is out of control.
- Guarantee a basic income to all families, which ensures conditions of dignified life to the poorest families, who are those most affected by the pandemic, so that can organize their lives.
- Suspension of all public debts of countries from the global South owed to the countries of the North and their financial institutions.
- Suspension of all military activities, in all countries across the world, during the pandemic. This includes an end to police repression in response to mobilizations and families occupying houses and land. No more wars! We want peace and the vaccine!
- Create plans of productive activities for post-COVID-19 with the objective of galvanizing life throughout the world, based on employment for all and production of basic goods for a dignified life.
- Support programs for the production of healthy food for people and their local markets in all countries.
- Rebuilding and reorganization of the State with the implementation of public policies and laws that are responsible for social reproduction, in order to promote the decommercialization of life and the provision of public services and social protections to the working class.
- End all to unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States and its allies, that violate international law. These “sanctions” seriously affect people’s appropriate access to food, medicine, personal protective equipment (PPE) and even fuel, which are all fundamental elements to combat the pandemic.
- The WHO and the United Nations to assume their responsibilities, to access the financial resources in tax havens and put limits on the governments that do not respect the rules of democracy and the lives of their people at this moment of serious international public health crisis.
To condemn what is happening and to demand necessary transformations, we will take advantage of the week of April 7, Global Health Day, decreed by the United Nations in 1948 to:
Call on all people’s organizations, social and political organizations, collectives, campaigns and local, national and international entities of all countries, to help build the International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle from April 7 to 11, 2021, with the objective of showing our indignation with the current situation of the world, and at the same time, reaffirm our commitment to building a more just and equal world, where life is put before profit.
We are certain that united, we can advance our cause in defense of humanity.
Anti-Imperialist Greetings!