TEHRAN (FNA)- Joe Lambardo, antiwar and social justice activist, says the US sanctions block the targeted countries’ access to medications and supplies needed to fight with the coronavirus, and paves the way for spreading the killer virus to the other countries.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with FNA, the American activist said, "Coronavirus showed how criminal the sanctions are. They are just another form of war, but they are aimed at the people of a country, to try to get them to build an opposition against the governments the Wall Street and Washington do not like."
Lambardo further lambasted Washington's inhuman and criminal policy of sanctions, including on Iran, Cuba and Venezuela, lamenting that "there are 39 countries altogether which are being denied medications" due to the US sanctions.
Throughout the interview, the activist regretted that the US Administration does not know how to deal with the outbreak, and said, “Instead of doing dramatic national measures such as China did which now seems to have the virus under control, the administration is just allowing various state and local governments to do whatever they want.”
“Many of us are fearful that it is going to be one of the worst countries in the world for the virus, because our administration does not know how to handle it”, he added.
Joe Lambardo is a campaigner and coordinator of United National Antiwar Committee which organizes actions against US wars and imperialism throughout the country.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Q: The US President has voiced its concern over the US economy amid coronavirus outbreak in his country. Has the virus significantly affected the US economy?
A: Coronavirus outbreak has devastated the US economy. The US stock market, which in my opinion has never been a good measure of the US economy as it is based upon a lot of information that has nothing to do with the real economy, has fallen thousands of thousands points. Today alone it fell 3,000 points and went lower than it has been in many years. This is an indication of the economic effects of coronavirus in the United States.
Q: The US president sounds to be worried more over the economy than healthcare. What do Americans think about Trump’s policy to fight with coronavirus?
A: Coronavirus is pointing out the inadequacies of our own system. We do not have a universal healthcare system in this country, which is the richest country in the world supposedly. There are millions of people who are not covered by healthcare. About half of the families in the United States live paycheck-to-paycheck. If they lose their paychecks, they will lose their mortgages. They might not be able to feed their own families or get the medications they need. Will these people go to get tested if it costs them money? Will they be able to go to hospitals? People are worried and they think it is going to be very severe. That is indicated by the fact that if you go to super markets in the United States, you will see that goods are gone, and the whole supply chain is not working well. Also, people are losing their jobs, as stock market goes down. These layoffs are causing a vicious cycle and they do not even have the ability to resupply the shelves anymore.
Trump’s Administration likes to appear as it has everything under control; but, it really does not. They are interested in not doing a lot of testing, because that seems to bring the number down. But, you cannot isolate the cases, and it actually is going to increase the virus. It is just starting in the United States, and taking off very rapidly. Many of us are fearful that it is going to be one of the worst countries in the world for the virus, because our administration does not know how to handle it. Instead of doing dramatic national measures such as China did which now seems to have the virus under control, the administration is just allowing various state and local governments to do whatever they want. It is not making any national policies on this.
Q: Do you believe Trump, whose priority is US economy over Americans, may ever be concerned for the healthcare of the nations hit by the US sanctions?
A: Coronavirus showed how criminal the sanctions are. They are just another form of war, but they are aimed at the people of a country, to try to get them to build an opposition against the governments the Wall Street and Washington do not like. This is the case in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and many more countries. There are 39 countries altogether which are being denied medications. It is criminal during this pandemic. Not only it is criminal, it is counterproductive, as what we have seen from this virus, it does not stay within the borders of any countries, and if it is allowed to run rampant to any country, it runs rampant in all countries. It makes the sanctions crime against humanity, and the United States is perpetuating it.
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