Manitos Children’s Fund grows out of the decades old Latin America solidarity movement which has worked to change US policies toward Latin America for over 60 years. Because of our history we are most focused on the effects of sanctions on the children of Latin America, with Venezuela being the most targeted by illegal sanctions currently.
Democratic and Republican administrations have both issued sanctions against the democratically-elected government of Venezuela, but since taking office in 2017, President Trump has ratcheted up the pain factor with an aggressive attack on the Venezuelan economy. In August 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order imposing a full economic blockade on Venezuela.
It is not government officials who suffer when the US imposes illegal sanctions! It is children. It is the elderly. It is the sick. Sanctions target the most vulnerable sectors of society by raising the cost of food and preventing access to lifesaving medications. It is the sanctions themselves that create the crisis.
Sanctions are intended to make life unbearable so the people of the sanctioned country rise up and replace their leadership with someone the US supports. Unilateral sanctions are illegal under international law and are considered an act of war.
Even the Trump administration knows how cruel sanctions are, so the August, 2019 Presidential Order declaring the economic blockade against Venezuela provides an exception for “humanitarian aid.” Food and medicine are considered humanitarian aid so your support is perfectly legal and Manitos Children’s Fund fully complies with all laws and regulations to deliver the aid.
According to a study done by the Center for Economic Policy Research and economist Jeffrey Sachs, in 2017 and 2018 US sanctions contributed to the deaths of 40,000 Venezuelans who were unable to get medicines and medical procedures. Under the economic blockade, access to proper nutrition and medicine is becoming more critical by the day.
Children suffer the most as sanctions cause the poverty rate to climb because billions of dollars in oil sales are blocked and the country’s access to its gold reserves and assets around the world are frozen. The blockade prevents the Venezuelan government from importing food and medicine even though they can pay for it!
The Manitos Children’s Fund is working to protect children from the brutal impacts of sanctions.
The Manitos Children’s Fund works directly with Venezuelan groups to provide materials they require such as food and supplies for growing food, and medications. Where possible, we buy food such as black beans from Nicaraguan farm cooperatives affiliated with the farmworkers union ATC (Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo) You can help by making a tax-deductible donation today, or more importantly, by setting up a local committee in your place of worship or civic organization to raise money on an ongoing basis to feed the children and provide medicine to those who need it to survive. Learn more at ManitosChildrensFund.org.