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Held in Cuba

On the morning of December 10, 2008, Cindy Sheehan, Nelson Valdes,
Saul Landau, and I signed a declaration as the U.S. delegates to an
international conference assessing sixty years of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights sponsored by the Network of Networks in
Defense of Humanity.  Here is our declaration:

We celebrate sixty years of failure.  Human rights have been converted
from a noble goal into an instrument of foreign policy used by rich
and powerful nations against the poorest and weakest people of the
world.

In 2008, almost three billion people throughout the world suffer the
most basic privations. After sixty years of empty human rights
rhetoric, we demand that governments focus their attention on
fulfilling the promises of 1948.  We write this document on the
parchment of environment, which everyone shares, and has warned us all
to drastically change the ways in which mass production and
consumption take place.

1. The United States is a member of the commonwealth of nations;

2. Benefits accrue to those who cooperate with the global community
and view other countries as potential partners for the upliftment of
humankind;

3. Unfortunately, the leadership of the United States Government has
consistently been a disappointment to those of us who value the tenets
and the possibilities for humankind embodied in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights;

4. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the rights of
self-determination, the rights of women, the indigenous, and the
rights of association, expression, and resistance to protect and
preserve these precious rights;

5. Poverty, severe income inequality on one hand and greed and
over-consumption by a few, on the other hand, deny for far too many on
the planet universal application of the Universal Declaration;

6. Climate change, unsustainable agriculture, unbridled militarism,
terrorism with impunity, nuclear proliferation represent threats to
our planet and threats to humankind;

7. The current implosion of the engine of U.S. imperialism and global
capitalism contains the seeds of a new global order in which the
rights of humankind and the Universal Declaration can find universal
application;

8. The incoming Barack Obama Administration has a unique opportunity
to make a clean break with the policies of the past, including
installation of dictatorships, campaigns of invasion, terror, and
slander, torture, and occupation, and can build bridges of peace and
justice with dignity and respect to Africa, Latin America, and Europe;

9. Therefore, we call on the President-elect to put the United States
on a clear course of global fraternity by
a) invoking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
b)  rejecting torture and terror and demonstrating this by closing and
vacating Guantanamo and ceding to Cuba its rightful patrimony,
c)  ending the U.S. embargo,
d)  releasing the Cuban Five, and
e)  extraditing Luis Posada Cariles;

10. While this list is not exhaustive, it represents a much'needed
down payment on hope   and change.

11.  We will disseminate this document through our respective networks.

Signed:  Saul Landau, Cindy Sheehan, Nelson Valdes, Cynthia McKinney




Is Change on the Agenda?
Back to GP.org
=20
On January 20, George W. Bush's presidency will end.  President-elect Barac=
k Obama will take office, having been elected on a platform of "change".  M=
any Americans are eagerly waiting to see what the new Obama Administration =
will do; but we already know from his Cabinet picks that "change" is not re=
ally on the agenda.

Hillary Clinton, Obama's choice for Secretary of State, ran a hawkish campa=
ign and will continue her husband's aggressive pursuit of "free trade" agre=
ements which have undermined human rights and the American economy.
Robert Gates, Obama's pick for Secretary of Defense, is a carryover from th=
e Bush Administration, and has overseen continued human rights abuses at Gu=
antanamo Bay and elsewhere.
Rahm Emanuel, Obama's new Chief of Staff, is an extreme Zionist and hawk, w=
hose presence on Obama's staff, combined with Clinton's, undermines any ser=
ious potential for Middle East peace.
Tim Geithner, Obama's selection for Secretary of Treasury, has been heavily=
 involved in the ongoing bailout of financial firms, and began his career w=
orking for Henry Kissinger's firm.
These choices for the most critical of Cabinet positions make it clear that=
 the only "change" Americans can expect on the major issues of the day out =
of the Obama Administration are that different people will be in charge of =
selling out the poor and middle class.

And get this:  with an administration in place that is pro-war, pro-bailout=
, pro-nuclear power, anti-equal rights, and anti-universal health care, the=
 so-called "opposition" party in Washington will be the Republicans.  No "o=
pposition" party will have ever had it so good.  But, of course, we know th=
at come January 20 there will be one real opposition party:  The Green Part=
y.

With your support, an invigorated Green Party can reach new heights in the =
number of candidates we run and elect in 2009 and 2010, candidates who will=
 be fighting the Democrats in control of Washington on issues that matter t=
o people:

Bringing our troops home.  The Green Party opposed the wars in Iraq and Afg=
hanistan before they began.  Now Obama wants to move troops from Iraq to Af=
ghanistan, without pulling the plug on either war, while simultaneously rat=
tling the sabres at Iran and Pakistan.
Demanding single-payer universal health care - now.  The Obama plan might w=
ell insure more Americans, but most of those benefits will go to the insura=
nce companies, not to the people who have been economically crippled by a c=
orrupt health care system.=20
Legalizing marriage for all people.  While the Obama Administration opposed=
 same-sex marriage, the Green Party remains in staunch support for extendin=
g equal rights to all people
Bailing out working Americans, not fat cat executives.  As unemployment ris=
es, the same corporations who have been responsible for costing so many Ame=
ricans their jobs whine about needing more money to keep their doors open. =
 Greens have long opposed corporate welfare and trickle-down economics as p=
racticed for the last 28 years, and want to see an end to free trade agreem=
ents and other mechanisms which pad executives' pockets at the expense of w=
orking Americans.
Insisting on a real green energy policy.  There is no place for mountain to=
p removal or nuclear power in a serious 21st Century energy policy based on=
 renewables and efficiency.  Greens have long understood this.  But Democra=
ts waffle because they receive so much cash from electric utilities and oth=
er corporations.
Without serious, sustained, principled opposition from the Green Party, the=
 Obama Administration will have a blank check to continue to push the "poli=
tical center" to the extreme right, just as Bill Clinton did.  The Green Pa=
rty needs your support to stand up for Americans and keep America from inch=
ing even closer to energy and economic catastrophes.

We can change the political landscape but not without your help.  Please gi=
ve generously today.  Click here to donate

Be the change you want to see in the world.
     -Mahatma Ghandi=20

Email: gphq at gp.org
Office: PO Box 57065 Washington, D.C. 20037 202-319-7191 or toll-free (US):=
 866-41GREEN





GP RELEASE Greens offer six steps for economic recovery
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@=
greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org

Greens offer six big steps for economic recovery

=E2=80=A2 Greens support workers occupying a factory in Chicago after layof=
f: bailout money isn't being used to help working Americans

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders said today that the incoming Obama Ad=
ministration and Congress should take six major steps to reverse the financ=
ial meltdown and restore financial security for Americans.

The steps include a Green public works program, aid for state and muncipal =
governments, expansion of mass transit, Single-Payer health care, a peace d=
ividend gained by ending the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and an en=
d to the wasteful war on drugs.

Green Party candidates running for local, state, and national office in 200=
8 promoted many of these ideas even before the crisis precipitated.  In Sep=
tember, Cynthia McKinney published a ten-point list of solutions and reform=
s in response to the Wall Street meltdown, titled "Seize the Time" (http://=
votetruth08.com/index.php/learn/mckinney-messages).

Greens expressed support for United Electrical Workers union members occupy=
ing a Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago after the plant was shut =
down and they were laid off with three days' notice and told they had no as=
surance of receiving severance and unused vacation pay.  The company's cred=
itor, Bank of America, received $25 billion from the government's financial=
 bailout package.  Greens said that the bank's actions, including refusal t=
o allow Republic to give workers 60 days notice (as required by law), demon=
strates how bailout money isn't being used to assist working Americans faci=
ng financial hardship.

Six Green steps for economic recovery:

(1) Enact a massive Green public works program, creating new living-wage jo=
bs in conservation (including weatherization and energy retro-fitting); cle=
an and safe energy technologies to replace fossil fuel and nuclear sources =
and create a carbon-free economy; repair and improvement of America's deter=
iorating infrastructure (especially water and sewer systems); and improveme=
nt of public schools and Green job training programs.

"The collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 was a result of the=
 neglect and starvation of funds for maintaining infrastructure that was bu=
ilt decades ago.  The ideology of privatization and hostility to 'big gover=
nment' is no longer tenable during the financial crisis -- the current Whit=
e House and Congress conceded as much when they began pushing for bailouts.=
  Public works programs built America, and public works, with hundreds of t=
housands of new Green jobs, is what America needs now for economic recovery=
," said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for Vice President =
(http://www.rosaclemente.com).

"We're encouraged that President-elect Obama intends to launch a public wor=
ks program along these basic lines, but we hope Congress and his own admini=
stration don't undermine and dilute such a program out of traditional Democ=
ratic and Republican loyalty to corporate interests and fear of being label=
ed liberal or socialist.  It's time to follow the lead of the Green Jobs Fo=
r All movement," Ms. Clemente added.

(2) Bail out financially ailing towns, cities, and states before bailing ou=
t private corporations: millions of public sector and contractor jobs depen=
d on the fiscal security of municipal and state governments.

Greens noted that municipalities and states are businesses that drive state=
 and local economies throughout the US.  They also provide the social safet=
y net that millions of working people need during the current crisis.

(3) Jumpstart our country's mass transit system, giving people an alternati=
ve to cars while saving them money and providing jobs.

"Making autos more efficient will only get us part way toward solving our e=
nergy and climate challenges.  We need to get people out of their cars alto=
gether.  Communities need the ability to provide local solutions for mass t=
ransprotation: new trains, subways, light rail wherever they fit," said Wes=
 Rolley, co-chair of the Green Party's EcoAction Committee.

(4) Enact a Single-Payer/Medicare For All national health plan, providing e=
very American with coverage and removing the burden of health care from sma=
ll and large private businesses.

"The skyrocketing cost of health care under our private health care system =
has created much of the economic instability as businesses struggle to prov=
ide workers health benefits.  If President Obama and Congress have the poli=
tical will to resist the power of the insurance, HMO, and pharmaceutical in=
dustries that siphon their profits off America's need for health care, the =
relief that Single-Payer will be a huge economic boost," said Sanda Everett=
e, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

Single-Payer would cover all Americans regardless of income, employment, re=
sidence, age, or prior medical condition, allowing choice of health care pr=
ovider, and costing working people far less than they now pay for private c=
overage.  In 2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article=
 estimating that Single-Payer could cut health care costs by $350 billion a=
nnually (http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf).  Greens sharply c=
riticized Barack Obama during the election season for rejecting Single-Paye=
r out of concern for health insurance companies.

(5) End the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The staggering expense of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions and occupatio=
ns haven't only cost American, Iraqi, and Afghan lives.  It also ate up tri=
llions of dollars away that could have been spent on human and environmenta=
l needs.  If we call home our troops right now, we can divert the money nee=
ded for military occupations to Green public works and other programs to ju=
mpstart the economy -- a new peace dividend," said Starlene Rankin, co-chai=
r of the Lavender Green Caucus.

The Green Party opposed both wars from the beginning and has criticized Mr.=
 Obama's plans for delayed and partial troop withdrawal from Iraq and for s=
ending more troops to Afghanistan.

(6) End the war on drugs, which wastes billions annually, hasn't curbed dru=
g use, and ruins lives by incarcerating nonviolent offenders (mostly young,=
 African American, Latino, and poor white) at further government expense.

"The war on drugs is America's longest and costliest war.  With Afghanistan=
 providing the world's biggest poppy crop, it's one of the main reasons the=
 US is fighting a war there," said Cliff Thornton, co-chair of the Green Pa=
rty and co-founder of Efficacy, Inc. (http://www.efficacy-online.org), whic=
h promotes major reforms in drug policy.

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron has estimated that legalizing cannabis woul=
d save federal, state, and local governments $44 billion a year in enforcem=
ent costs (http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html).  Governments =
could collect another $33 billion in revenues by taxing cannabis as heavily=
 as alcohol and tobacco.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
=E2=80=A2 Tally of Green election victories http://www.gp.org/2008-election=
s/election-results.html
=E2=80=A2 Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-n=
ews.php
=E2=80=A2 Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:=
 http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
=E2=80=A2 Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
=E2=80=A2 Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
=E2=80=A2 Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

"The financial meltdown requires far-reaching Green solutions, say Green Pa=
rty leaders"
Green Party press release, September 23, 2008
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=3D107

"The Auto Bailout Shows the Failure of Corporate-Government More than the F=
ailure of Detroit: And Solving it Presents Opportunities for a New Economy"
By Kevin Zeese, OpEdNews.com, November 21, 2008
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Auto-Bailout-Shows-the-by-Kevin-Zeese-=
08112\1-683.html=0A=0A=0A