Regardless, if elected president of the United States, I will do everything in my power to advance the cause of human rights around the world. First, the United States must lead by example, by respecting the human rights of our own people, freeing our own political prisoners, and addressing the anti-democratic and anti-environmental forces in our own society. I will also meet with Russian leaders, journalists, activists and members of civil society to discuss pressing human rights and environmental issues. As a member of the only American political party that refuses to accept money from corporations, I can serve as an honest broker for these critical discussions, because the Green Party's only agenda is to secure peace, justice, democracy, and a livable planet for all people, not to promote military and economic domination of other lands as both Democrats and Republicans have done.
In the America I grew up in, one of our greatest fears was war with the Soviet Union, which we knew could end in nuclear oblivion for both countries, if not the world. So it is frightening to see Hillary Clinton, who has enthusiastically supported bloody wars in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere, turn her belligerence toward Russia. Clinton supports a no-fly zone over Syria, which could push the US into an air war with Russia. More recently, Clinton accused Russia of hacking into the Democratic National Committee and even state election systems and warned that as president she would respond to "cyber attacks" with "serious political, economic and military responses." War between the US and Russia is a horrifying prospect that would be disastrous for Americans, Russians, and the planet we share. Yet we seem headed down that dangerous path with the belligerent and hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric we now hear regularly from Clinton and her supporters, both Democrats and Republicans.
Clinton's anti-Russian maneuvering will surely be used by Putin to justify further attacks on his political opponents as agents of the West, and Republican Donald Trump seems as uninterested in human rights as he is in environmental progress. What the Greens offer is completely different: we see Russians not as enemies to conquer or resources to exploit, but as members of the global community whom we must deal with. We seek principled collaboration to develop potential partnerships to create a world that works for all of us.
I hope that we can meet in the near future to discuss human rights and environmental issues in Russia and around the world. I am committed to supporting your struggle for human rights and a sustainable future, which is our struggle as well. I am committed to peace and dialogue between the American and Russian people. As the great Russian dissident and advocate against nuclear war Andrei Sakharov said, our strategy of peaceful coexistence and collaboration must be deepened in every way. It is my sincere hope that many more Russians and people of every nation will join our Global Green family so that together we can continue working towards a world that puts people, planet and peace over profit.
In solidarity,
Jill Stein
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