Jan. 16, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 137th consecutive online meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on Friday, Jan. 16, was a strong call to action, with participants from the historic emergency roundtable on Jan. 12 engaging in intense dialogue about the next steps to be taken. The meeting commenced with an update by Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who deplored the present situation as one where “might makes right, and international law is buried.”
Fortunately, it seems that the Iranian government has been able to defuse the imminent danger. Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the Jerusalem Post have revealed CIA/Mossad involvement in the anti-government demonstrations. Several countries in the region have intervened and asked the U.S. not to attack.
The European situation is tense. Trump has declared that he wants to “own” Greenland, and European leaders are warning that a U.S. military operation there would mean the end of NATO. A German court has ruled, without naming names, that the Nord Stream sabotage in September 2022 was carried out by a foreign state and its intelligence service.
Zepp-LaRouche emphasized the importance of the Emergency Roundtable Dialogue on Monday, Jan. 12, which was titled “It’s Worse Than You Think: The Implications of the Attack on Venezuela & How To Bring the World Back from the Brink”. The meeting produced a draft document with the name “Declaration of January 12” which is currently being reviewed by those participants of the roundtable and will be circulated shortly. She said we must demand from governments an immediate return to international law, and we must build an international civil society organization to step in when governments fail.
Peace and Development
H.E. Donald Ramotar, former President of Guyana (2011-2015), was one of the participants at the roundtable dialogue, and he offered some thoughts on the Declaration. He said that in his view, the economic proposals are important, but the emphasis must be on peace and stopping the danger of nuclear war. In response, Zepp-LaRouche said that decades of organizing have led the Schiller Institute to believe that the only way to successfully mobilize against war is by offering an alternative of economic development. In order to prevent another world war, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had intended the Bretton Woods System to be an engine for development, but those institutions were subverted after his death. Her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, had authored important economic proposals which were intended to complement the spirit of the anti-colonial Bandung Conference. Ramotar responded by saying he does not disagree that peace and development go together, and that his comments were more of a tactical nature; we must educate the people of the world on the entire spectrum of these ideas, but when we are addressing governments, a more narrow focus is sometimes more effective.
A Call to Activism
María de los Ángeles Huerta is a former Congresswoman of Mexico who also participated in the roundtable. She said that the return to gunboat diplomacy signals the collapse of the old paradigm and the potential for a new one, which must be characterized by sovereignty and interdependence. The Schiller Institute’s World Land-Bridge proposal is an example of what can be done.
Huerta proposed that we focus not only what states can do, but what we the people, organized internationally, can do. She called for the creation of committees that can break the media control and promote the plans like those of the Schiller Institute. The committees can act as watchdogs and whistleblowers, creating a counter-narrative and moving from being spectators of the collapse to being builders of the new order. She proposed the production of a founding video manifesto and a website with an interactive map of committees. The committees can approve and promote the January 12 Declaration.
Dr. Beatriz Bissio, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Postgraduate Program in Comparative History at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil, said, “We live at a moment in history where we can feel that great transformations are underway.” We all understand that the U.S. is a hegemonic power in decline, which is withdrawing from crucial arms control agreements, making it explicit that it is prepared to impose its views by force. She agreed with Ramotar that this is a “mafia-style state.” We cannot rely on the responses of the states, Bissio said, so we must organize civil society as Congresswoman Huerta proposes.
Turning to the issue of Venezuela, she said that Acting President Delcy Rodríguez offers an intelligent response within the constraints of what is possible when confronting a hegemonic power. The Trump administration seeks to expel China from this hemisphere, but almost every country in Latin America has an extremely important relationship with China, for trade and infrastructure building. The red lines that the Trump administration has crossed are not a novelty, but a continuation of a long-term policy.
The left has not been able to exercise as much influence as it had during the heyday of the liberation movements; socialism must regain its appeal as an alternative to capitalism. In Dr. Bissio’s view, the IPC offers ideas which can help overcome “the fragmentation of progressive movements.” She works with a number of leftist/progressive coalitions, as well as with the “Bandung Spirit” organization, which promotes Sukarno’s ideas today, including his call for a reform of the United Nations. She suggested that the UN be hosted by a nation, perhaps in Africa, which is “not contaminated by the Cold War.”
Her remarks were endorsed by moderator Anastasia Battle, who proposed that the IPC begin to collaborate with the organizations she represents and seek other such organizations with which we can collaborate. Bissio noted “this happy coincidence” between the goals of her organizations, and those of the IPC, and said that we need joint work to meet “the demands of this historic moment.”
Returning to the Issue of Economics
IPC co-moderator Dennis Small intervened to say that “this question of economics is being decided for us by reality itself…. One of the most devastating weapons which has already been deployed is financial warfare.” Sanctions against Iran and Venezuela set the stage for instability in those nations. Milei won the presidency in Argentina due to “total financial warfare” from the IMF and others, which created a de facto coup d’état, Small said. The biggest problem that Brazilian President Lula faces is the Central Bank of Brazil, which is run by Wall Street and the City of London, and has very high interest rates and won’t provide credit for development. Brazil is the chief regional target of the oligarchs.
Bissio agreed totally, particularly on the question of Brazil’s central bank. One of the tools of the imperialists is that the media, in a systematic way, attack Lula’s initiatives, using “so-called specialists in the economic field” to avoid exposing themselves as oligarchic agents.
Discussion
A participant submitted a humorous proposal for a novel, in which the U.S. is run by a lunatic, the U.K. by a zombie, and Germany by a werewolf, who changes at every full Moon. He said that it could be a bestseller. The IPC decided this was a fantastic idea, and it will be floated to a few authors for consideration.
A regular attendee sent a question about Peru becoming a target due to the importance of its Chancay port for trade with China. Dr. Bissio commented that the surprising veto by Brazil of Venezuela’s entry to BRICS must be understood as a consequence of the internal conflicts in Brazil. This error was partially corrected by a statement calling the seizure of Maduro a kidnapping. Dennis Small observed that the British rely on the tactic of “divide and conquer,” and therefore, we must respond with Cusa’s “coincidence of opposites.” Peru, he said, should watch out for Nord Stream-style sabotage of Chancay Port. Brazil and Peru must work together, even though they have different political ideologies.
Congresswoman Huerta and Zepp-LaRouche both called for an immediate push to set up a website and the activation of the proposed committees. Ramotar agreed, and added that because of the strategic importance of the U.S., we must support and promote the U.S. Presidential campaign of Diane Sare. The electoral victory of Mamdani in New York City shows what is possible.
In conclusion, Zepp-LaRouche and the other participants of the IPC were set to launch with a call for volunteers to step forward, the creation of various committees, and the establishment of a central website for organizing purposes.
EIR
