Ben Norton

 

The sanctions that the United States has imposed on dozens of countries around the world, in an attempt to overthrow their independent governments, have only made the global coronavirus pandemic worse. But at the same time, some of these nations targeted by US economic warfare have taken the lead in the effort to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

 

In fact, the local government in the north of Italy, a member of the European Union and NATO, has officially requested medical help from China, Cuba, and Venezuela—all countries demonised by the United States and EU, which in turn have provided Italy with little support.

 

The Italian government lamented that “not a single EU country” has responded to its request for medical equipment—unlike China, which immediately helped.

 

And it is not just Italy; Britain and France and other European countries are also relying on China and Cuba to help them battle the contagious virus.

 

The northern Italian region of Lombardy has been particularly hard hit by coronavirus, with tens of thousands of cases and more than 1,000 deaths. The pandemic has devastated the region, which is the richest and most populous area in the country.

 

On March 15, Italy recorded 368 new deaths in just one day—more than the deadliest day in Wuhan, China, which successfully contained the virus.

 

In response to the crisis, Lombardy’s government requested that China, Cuba, and Venezuela send doctors and other medical personnel to help to contain the outbreak.

 

“We are in touch with Cuba, Venezuela, and China, who have made doctors available,” said Lombardy’s health minister, Giulio Gallera, in a press conference.

 

Havana’s embassy declared “Cuban solidarity with Italy,” and Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Ministry published a notice confirming Gallera’s request and announcing it will be sending “Cuban personnel specialised in dealing with contagious diseases.”

 

The local government in the major Italian city Milan has also relied on shipments of medical equipment from China.

 

A team of Chinese doctors along with 30 tons of medical equipment arrived in Italy on March 12.

 

European Union abandons Italy, after pushing privatisation of health systems

 

The European Union, on the other hand, has left Italy out to dry.

 

Italy’s ambassador to the EU, Maurizio Massari, published an op-ed noting that his country requested support through the body’s Mechanism of Civil Protection, seeking medical equipment to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

 

“But, unfortunately, not a single EU country responded to the Commission’s call. Only China responded bilaterally,” Massari wrote.

 

In fact the European Union has done the opposite of help. The European Commission, which leads the EU, called on member states to cut medical spending and privatise health services at least 63 times between 2011 to 2018.

 

The EU’s obsession with cutting and privatising state institutions has greatly weakened the continent’s health infrastructure, making it much more susceptible to deadly pandemics like coronavirus.

 

China sending million masks & gloves to France

 

China is shipping one million surgical masks and gloves to France as the EU member struggles to contain the coronavirus, with Europe becoming the new focal point of the global pandemic.

 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed the shipments on Wednesday, March 11, in an interview with France’s BFM TV. The first of two planes has already arrived via Belgium and a second will arrive on Thursday, he said.

 

China helps Serbia, Spain, Iran, Iraq, Africa 

 

Caught off guard by the EU’s ban on medical exports, Serbia found help in China as it struggled to prepare for the Covid-19 outbreak. Serbia received five million masks from China that it couldn’t get in Europe and an offer to send doctors to help tackle the disease, the Serbian president said, adding that it has become clear that European solidarity is a myth.

 

As President Aleksandar Vucic declared a national emergency on Sunday (March 8), he had some scalding remarks for the EU. The crisis has proven that European solidarity, only exists “on paper,” Vucic said, citing the ban on the export of medical equipment and supplies imposed by EU members to non-EU countries in response to the outbreak.

 

“Only China can help us in this situation”, the Serbian leader added, saying he recently wrote a letter to China’s President Xi Jinping “asking him for help and calling him a brother.”

 

China has also sent medical missions and shipments of supplies to Spain, Iraq and Iran. It has also sent medical help to several countries in Africa.

 

Beijing has been praised by the World Health Organisation for its efforts against the coronavirus. Authorities responded to the outbreak by building new hospitals in a matter of days and locking down Hubei province, which has a population of 58 million, to contain the spread of the disease.

 

Despite its efforts to step up and aid other hard-hit countries, China has faced a barrage of negative media coverage in the West, with Trump administration officials repeatedly referring to Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” and the “Wuhan virus” given the fact that it originated there in December.

 

Britain relies on Cuban help to dock coronavirus-infected ship

 

Cuba has been under an illegal US embargo since 1960—which every country in the world (excluding Israel) votes to denounce each year at the United Nations. But this blockade has not stopped the small country from developing the best health system in all of Latin America.

 

Even the United Kingdom, one of the richest countries on the planet, has relied on Cuban help to contain the coronavirus.

 

The British government asked numerous countries in the Caribbean to let the cruise ship MS Braemar dock in their port, after there were several reports of coronavirus among its more than 1,000 passengers.

 

CNN noted that “British officials launched an intense diplomatic effort to find a country willing to take the” infected ship, but were rejected by Barbados and the Bahamas.

 

On March 16, Cuba agreed to assist Britain, offering to dock the MS Braemar in a Cuban port and help fly the passengers back to the UK.

 

Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Ministry declared in a statement, “These are times of solidarity, of understanding health as a human right, of strengthening international cooperation to face our common challenges, values that are key to the humanist practices of the Revolution and of our people.”

 

US fights for control of potential coronavirus treatment and vaccine

 

While Cuba, China, and Venezuela—countries targeted by US economic warfare—are helping the world contain the coronavirus outbreak, Washington itself is working overtime to monopolise any potential treatments, so it can profit from them.

 

A California-based pharmaceutical corporation, Gilead Sciences, has developed an experimental drug that medical experts think could potentially treat coronavirus.

 

The Chinese government’s Wuhan Institute of Virology applied for a patent so it can produce this drug, which is called remdesivir. But the US company has been fighting tooth and nail to prevent Beijing from being able to manufacture it.

 

Why? Because Gilead Sciences’ stocks are skyrocketing, and investors are saying the corporation may soon be making a fortune.

 

The US government has also tried to bribe a German medical company that may be on the verge of developing a coronavirus vaccine.

 

President Donald Trump reportedly offered “large sums of money” to the German firm, CureVac, so that the United States could have exclusive rights to the treatment—which it could then sell to the rest of the world.

 

US sanctions prevent Venezuela and Iran from importing medicine and medical equipment

 

And while the Trump administration and US pharmaceutical companies are seeking to profit from the coronavirus pandemic, Washington is doubling down on its destructive economic warfare.

 

Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, gave a press conference denouncing Washington for preventing Caracas from buying medicine and medical equipment that would help it fight Covid-19.

 

US sanctions have also greatly hindered Iran’s effort to fight Covid-19. Hundreds of Iranians have died, with thousands more affected, and Washington has prevented the country from buying much-needed medicine and medical equipment.

 

Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, denounced the US sanctions as a form of “medical terrorism.”

 

“Efforts to fight COVID19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions,” Zarif added. “It is IMMORAL to let a bully kill innocents.” In a letter to Secretary-General António Guterres, Zarif called on the United Nations and member states to ignore the “inhuman US sanctions” on Iran and push for them to be lifted.

 

China has also forcefully spoken out against the US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. In a press conference on March 13, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Geng Shuang, condemned Washington’s blockade of Caracas.

 

“At a crucial moment in which the governments and peoples of all countries are fighting together against the epidemic of a new coronavirus, the American side, however, is determined to continue shaking the stick of sanctions against Venezuela, which is going against the minimum spirit of humanity,” the Geng said.

 

The Chinese government spokesperson likewise denounced US sanctions on Iran. Noting that Beijing had sent a team of medical experts to help Iran contain Covid-19, the Foreign Affairs Ministry added, “We urge the US to immediately lift unilateral sanction on Iran. Continued sanction is against humanitarianism and hampers Iran’s epidemic response.”

 

(Ben Norton is a journalist and writer. He is a reporter for The Grayzone, and the producer of the Moderate Rebels podcast, which he co-hosts with Max Blumenthal. We have edited the article using inputs from an article by Countercurrents Collective.)