Date: Jan 15, 2021
Authors: Lisa Haugaard, Antonio Saadipour Sellés
With the incoming Biden administration, we have a precious opportunity to not only roll back Trump’s harmful policies in Latin America and the Caribbean but also to advance a truly just approach that partners with the peoples of the Americas. Here’s your first chance to say that’s what we want!
What’s Going On?
On Tuesday, January 19 at 2:00 PM, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) will host a confirmation hearing for Antony Blinken. What the senators say in this hearing can have a crucial impact on the Secretary of State’s agenda and inform his policies in the region.
What You Can Do
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is formed by Senators James E. Risch (ID), Bob Menendez (NJ), Marco Rubio (FL), Ben Cardin (MD), Ron Johnson (WI), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Cordy Gardner (CO), Chris Coons (DE), Mitt Romney (UT), Lindsey Graham (SC), Chris Murphy (CO), John Barrasso (WY), Tim Kaine (VA), Rob Portman (OH), Ed Markey (MA), Rand Paul (KY), Jeff Merkley (OR), Todd Young (IN), Cory Booker (NJ), and Ted Cruz (TX). If either of your senators is on this list, call their office and encourage them to urge Mr. Blinken to steer away from the past administration’s misguided efforts and adopt policies that build towards peace, justice, and equality. Find your senators here.
Sample script:
“I am calling on Senator ____ to ask the nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during the confirmation hearing, if he will be willing to launch a new policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean that truly uplifts the rights and supports the needs of the people of the region. This would mean an approach that fully restores the right to asylum and protects the rights of migrants; builds a constructive relationship with Cuba, starting with an end to all restrictions on travel; supports peace in Colombia; provides humanitarian aid to address poverty and inequality, the pandemic, and climate change, rather than security assistance; and stands not with corrupt elites but with human rights defenders at grave risk throughout the region, including environmental, indigenous, and afrodescendant, LGBTQ and women activists, who are working to protect their communities and the planet. These are the principles our country should uphold and protect. Thank you for your time.”
If neither of your senators belongs to this committee or you are unable to make a call, please consider sharing our tweet to help get the message across!
For the past four years, we have had to fight against assaults on the rights of migrants and asylum seekers and a foreign policy that cared little about the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. But change could be on the horizon—if we make it happen. Help us find our way there!
