Activity of the Schiller Institute

Let a Garden Amidst a Million Gardens Bloom!

July 11, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General updates, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Our conferences

By Helga Zepp-LaRouche

This is Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s prepared text for her presentation to Panel I, “Peace in the World Through a New Security and Development Architecture for Each and Every Country: The Indispensable Strategic Autonomy of European Countries,” of the Schiller Institute’s July 8–9 conference, “On the Verge of a New World War—European Nations Must Cooperate with the Global South!” It was translated from the German and edited for EIR magazine. (Subheads have been added.)

Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche is the founder and leader of the Schiller Institute.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, dear friends of the Schiller Institute!

What a joy to welcome people from so many nations here in Strasbourg in person, after circumstances forced us to hold our Schiller Conferences only virtually for over three years! But we used this time well to bring together so many new forces worldwide, with which we can intervene together at this crucial moment in world history to create a new paradigm for the future of humanity!

Let me say it straight away: Even if our continent is in an existential crisis, we will not allow its demise. Rather, we will revive the best of what European culture has produced, and what is now buried under the speech balloons of a decadent counterculture and the barbarism of the diehards of the past, and we will bring that into the shaping of the New Paradigm!

Unquestionably, we are now in the most dangerous moment the human species has ever faced, as we are extremely close to extinction as a species on this planet, because that would be the consequence of a global nuclear war. And contrary to what the propaganda of the trans-Atlantic mainstream media claims, the danger is not due to “Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression” nor to “China’s increasingly aggressive imperial power grab,” but to the trans-Atlantic forces who are unscrupulously playing with nuclear fire, while attempting by all means to exert unipolar dominance over the world when it has long since been moving in a multipolar direction.

While the mainstream media in unison slander as a “Putin sympathizer” anyone who dares to think that history did not begin on Feb. 24, 2022, and while NATO and the U.S. government fund organizations that put people on lists that put their lives in danger, the nations of the Global South have very much gained an independent view of things.

The sixfold expansion of NATO to the East, coming a thousand kilometers closer to the borders of Russia, despite promises to the contrary, can be as little covered up as the efforts of the Northern “ATLANTIC” defense alliance to expand in the Indo-Pacific region as Global NATO. Above all, with the increasingly blatant and arrogant appeals with which representatives of the “rules-based order” demand that the whole world submit to their intrigues and their “indulgences” in modern garb (such as a carbon tax or CO₂ emissions trading), they have crossed the Rubicon. But by such means they hope to prolong the existence of the hopelessly bankrupt neoliberal financial system at least a bit longer.

We are currently experiencing a change of epoch, albeit not of the kind that Chancellor Scholz referred to on Feb. 24, 2022, which amounts to the militarization of Europe as a protectorate of the United States. Rather, we are seeing the end of some 500 years of colonialism, which the countries of the Global South are determined to finally shake off with the help of China and the BRI. For example, at the recent Global Financing Summit in Paris, President Ramaphosa demanded that the international community provide investments for the Grand Inga Dam project:

“Let’s get that done and then we will be convinced that you are serious with the promises that you make…. “

It is estimated that the cost today would be perhaps $120 billion, and that it would generate at least 44 gigawatts of electricity, which would have an absolutely revolutionary impact on the entire continent’s energy supply and economy.

More than 30 nations have applied for membership in the BRICS, which would then include the world’s most populous countries. The attempt, coming mainly from the U.S. and the UK, to “decouple” from China or to “de-risk,” as this foolish phrase has come to be called—when all these countries are closely linked with China—can only lead to economic suicide, or to an equally suicidal formation of geopolitical blocs, which would carry the seeds of a world war.

In the face of this tectonic shift of power, which occurs at most once or twice in a millennium, the European nations—but also America—must decide whether they want to cooperate productively with this emerging world order, or whether they (with NATO, the U.S., and the UK) will opt for total confrontation and the attempt to oppress the absolute majority of the human species. The decision between these two options will test, at the same time, our moral fitness to survive: Are we, as rational beings, able to give ourselves, together with the Global South, an order that guarantees the coexistence of us all and, as Leibniz would put it, allows the happiness of future generations? Or are we soulless human machine guns, hatefully directed only toward the destruction of the supposed enemy?

Nuclear War ‘Options’

This is not an academic question, as will become obvious in four days at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, at which the Hungarian government—thankfully— announced that Ukraine’s admission to NATO will remain out of the question for as long as the war continues, which should actually be self-evident. Now, however, there are recent statements by Berlin’s two leading think-tanks—Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGAP), both are close to the government—about possible security guarantees for Ukraine outside of formal NATO membership. Even if these are only ideas from think-tanks, and not necessarily the policies of the Berlin government, these papers deserve the closest attention, because their authors are typical of the so-called “experts” who speak non-stop on the talk shows, and in this way influence the views of the population.

It is not only in France that there has been a great deal of concern recently about Germany’s seemingly complete loss of all sovereignty (which was never very good), as could be seen in the German government’s lack of response to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

Now, it must be taken into consideration that the SWP, which advises the government, the Bundestag, the EU, NATO and the UN among others, was created on the initiative of the BND [Bundesnachrichtendienst, Germany’s foreign intelligence service], which, when it was founded under the aegis of the American occupying power in 1962, incorporated personnel from the military intelligence service Fremde Heere Ost and the Gehlen Organization. The SWP was initially based in Ebenhausen, a small town near Pullach, where the headquarters of the BND was located. The much larger DGAP (the German Council on Foreign Relations), 2800 members, was founded as early as 1955 in cooperation with, and modeled on, the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and the British Royal Institute for International Affairs, known as “Chatham House.”

In an SWP paper of June 29, 2023, entitled, “From ad hoc support to long-term security guarantees as a NATO member,” it is stated that there are two options, apart from full NATO membership, that would really guarantee Kiev’s security. The first is “demilitarization” of Russia by reducing its armed forces and arms industry to a level that rules out “offensive operations.” This would only be possible through “external shocks,” a clear defeat of the army, a renunciation by the leadership of its “neo-imperial understanding of its role,” which would require a change of regime, and the simultaneous denuclearization of Russia’s military potential. That, however, they say, is “currently unrealistic.” The second option would be for Ukraine to build up its own nuclear arsenal.

Just in case, the DGAP provided yet another option, circulating under the keyword “hedgehog,” as an animal symbolizing such a massive rearmament of Ukraine—into a super armory so to speak—that it would deter all future attacks. This includes the variant proposed by the chairman of the British defense committee, Tobias Ellwood, which envisages support from a coalition of the willing and a powerful task force, a Joint European Defense Initiative (JEDI). Germany’s Rheinmetall Group has already announced plans to build a modern tank factory and other weapons factories in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. defense contractors Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin sponsored champagne receptions at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, not least to celebrate the MoU [memorandum of understanding—ed.] that the world’s largest financial services firm, BlackRock, which manages $10 trillion in assets, landed with the Ukrainian government. JEDI is only intended to help bridge the gap; in the long term, NATO membership is indispensable. The goal is to anchor Ukraine irrevocably in the Euro-Atlantic structures. The priority, therefore, is to proactively communicate to their own populations the “meaning, purpose and goals” of NATO membership for Ukraine and to take action against institutions that claim to be part of civil society but are in fact controlled by the Russian state. For the record, we are not controlled!

What a nightmare! The largely destroyed Ukraine is to be transformed into a mega-armed country, a “hedgehog,” or rather into a permanent cash cow for the military-industrial complex on both sides of the Atlantic; it will become a “frozen” conflict that can be activated at any time, as a permanent crossing of the red lines defined by Russia which, in the meantime, is supposed to be “ruined” according to [German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena] Baerbock, or permanently weakened (according to [U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin, RUSI [the British Royal United Services Institute], [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg, etc.).

There’s not a single thought about ending the war through diplomacy, no peace negotiations, no positive vision for the Ukrainian people, and certainly not a peace order for the world as a whole! What an ugly, destructive spirit rears its head here, no human emotion influences the thinking, it’s cold as a robot which is steered by a worm-eaten algorithm!

A New Economic Order

But the arrogance that leads some to claim that they belong to the camp of the “good people,” and can therefore suggest the most horrendous things with impunity, also blinds them. The reality is by no means that the Russian economy is collapsing, quite the contrary. Economic growth in May was [when annualized] 5.4%, while Germany is officially in recession, and Russia was forced by the sanctions to build up many branches of production for its own benefit and redirect trade patterns from the West to Asia, where the momentum of the world economy is anyway.

The trans-Atlantic financial sector, on the other hand, is sitting on a bubble of 2 quadrillion dollars of outstanding derivative contracts—that’s a 2 with 15 zeros—which ultimately means hopeless systemic debt. Central banks are switching back and forth between QE and QT [quantitative easing and tightening—ed.] in apparent disorientation. But Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, takes the cake. He recently stated with utmost arrogance at the European Diplomatic Academy in Bruges, that Europe is a garden, while most of the rest of the world is a jungle that could intrude into it.

Such a point of view will find no sympathy among the 5,000-year-old cultures of the peoples of Asia, who together with the other countries of the Global South have long been putting into place a New World Economic Order—and where Mr. Borrell is now regarded as a comedian but not one to invite for a visit—or among the nearly 50 percent of German companies that are fleeing the country, due to the mismanagement of the German government and the unaffordable energy prices.

Hearing Borrell’s misplaced comparison to a garden, one is reminded of Scene X in Act II of Schiller’s play Don Carlos, when the Marquis of Posa, who sees himself as a citizen of the world and carries the liberation of Flanders from the Spanish yoke in his heart, confronts King Philip II, the absolute ruler of Spain, the empire on which it was said at the time that “the Sun never sets.”

Phillip says something very similar:

“Behold my Spain, see here the burgher’s good blooms in eternal and unclouded peace. A peace like this will I bestow on Flanders.”

And the Marquis answers:

“The churchyard’s peace!… And do you hope to end …

The universal spring, that shall renew

The earth’s fair form? Would you alone, in Europe,

Fling yourself down before the rapid wheel

Of destiny … Vain thought!”

The absolute majority in Germany, for example, has lost confidence in the government, and according to recent surveys, 79% are not satisfied with the government’s policies. Here in France, we have just seen what state the social fabric in this garden is in. No wall can be built high enough to protect the garden, Borrell says? Well, we see at the external borders of the EU, what these walls look like. Pope Francis described the reception camps for refugees in the border countries of Europe as concentration camps, which are surrounded by high walls topped with NATO barbed wire, and are repulsive enough to deter people from venturing in small boats over the Mediterranean Sea, which itself has long since been turned into a horrendous mass grave.

No, Mr. Borrell, this Europe is not a garden, it is a continent that competent politicians, such as Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, wanted to bring out of the rubble of the Second World War into a better future, and which a thoroughly decadent political caste, having thrown out the window its duty of peace, is now leading into a renewed catastrophe that threatens to far surpass the horrors of the Second World War.

And if large parts of the world outside Europe resemble a jungle, it’s because Europe has not developed Africa in the past centuries, but well-known families in the trans-Atlantic world have built their fortunes on the slave trade, drew profits from the opium trade, or are profiting from the modern successor of colonialism—the casino economy—in which the wealthy determine the rules of our oh-so-fantastically-organized rules-based order.

Or maybe other regions are a jungle because the trans-Atlantic interventionist armies took up residence there, as NATO did for 20 years in Afghanistan, during which time nothing was built, and then left the country in ruins. Or as in Iraq, where a country rising to modernity was bombed back into the Stone Age, and concerning which Madeleine Albright said the death of 500,000 Iraqi children was a fair price to pay for the right to continue ruining the country. And the list of why some countries of this world are not gardens could go on: Syria, Yemen, Libya, Haiti, etc.

But there is a way out. The nations of the Global South, whose existence was just recently discovered by the G7, and which represent the overwhelming majority of humanity, have long been shaking off the shackles of modern colonialism and creating a new international currency, new development banks, a new credit system. Over 30 countries have applied for membership in BRICS-Plus; the SCO, AU, ASEAN, EAEU, Mercosur and other organizations have moved to carry out their trade in national currencies. One hundred and fifty-one countries cooperate with China’s BRI [Belt and Road Initiative], which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary, and managed during that decade to make sure the term “developing countries” really does apply to the countries of the Global South.

Europe and the ‘Global South’

We in Europe, and even in America, have to give up the already doomed attempt to contain the rise of these countries by decoupling or “de-risking.” We have to replace confrontation, which in any case only benefits the military-industrial complex, with cooperation. Germany, France, Italy, and all other European nations must become part of the new paradigm in international relations; our middle class, now bankrupt under the old paradigm, can not only help build the Inga Dam, but realize the Transaqua project that will provide electricity to twelve more nations in Africa. We can cooperate with China to provide the entire Global South with a high-speed rail system, we can build ports and waterways, green deserts through large-scale desalination of seawater, and build new cities.

Yes, and while we’re at it, we can also modernize our own ailing infrastructure. Instead of enriching the defense industry and impoverishing the population, we can repair our schools, make the health care system functional again, intensify international cooperation on the ITER fusion project as a crash program in order to achieve commercial use of fusion energy faster, and we can spare ourselves all the pollution and the destruction of our landscapes with those unspeakable wind turbines. We can also rebuild Ukraine as a bridge between Central Europe and Russia as part of the new Silk Road.

To bring Europe, and America, onto this path, is our commitment. And let us remember what Posa said to King Phillip, and what we, together with Schiller, say to the many Borrells of today:

“Geben Sie die unnatürliche Vergöttrung auf,

die uns vernichtet!…

Sie wollen pflanzen für die Ewigkeit,

Und säen Tod? Ein so erzwungnes Werk

Wird seines Schöpfers Geist nicht überdauern…

“Geben Sie, was Sie uns nahmen wieder!

Lassen Sie, Grossmüthig, wie der Starke,

Menschenglück aus Ihrem Füllhorn strömen—

Geister reifen in Ihrem Weltgebäude,

Geben Sie, was Sie uns nahmen, wieder.

Werden Sie, von Millionen Königen, ein König!”

~ ~ ~

“Give up the unnatural deification that destroys us!…

You would plant for all eternity, and yet the seeds

You sow around you are the seeds of death!

This hopeless task, with nature’s laws at strife,

Will ne’er survive the spirit of its founder….

“Restore us all you have deprived us of,

And, generous as strong, let happiness

Flow from your horn of plenty—let man’s mind

Ripen in your vast empire—give us back

All you have taken from us—and become,

Amidst a thousand kings, a king indeed!”

Today, we no longer need a king, but as a variation on Posa’s words today,

let us say:

Let a garden amidst a million gardens bloom!

SCHILLER INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES: RELEASE OF 186 PROMINENT SIGNERS OF “URGENT APPEAL”

July 9, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General, Global Diplomacy, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, International Peace Coalition, Our initiatives (petitions, etc), World war danger updates tagged IPC

TO RESTORE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY’s PEACE MISSION, SPUR EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE COALITION

July 5, 2023 – In light of rapidly rising threat of nuclear war, the Schiller Institute releases the initial list of 186 prominent signers, from 55 countries on six continents, of Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s Urgent Appeal by Citizens and Institutions from All Over the World to the (Next) President of the United States!.

The appeal, issued May 17, calls for the Presidency of the United States to return to the peace policy of John F. Kennedy enunciated in his historic address at American University June 10, 1963. On June 10, 2023, the Schiller Institute (SI) accelerated worldwide diffusion of that speech on its 60^th anniversary with this international online conference: The World Needs JFK’s Vision of Peace!

The SI urges everyone possible to add their name to the appeal, and to bring it to the attention of every organization concerned with the welfare of mankind that they can. Total current signers are 1300, with translations into 7 languages. The aim is to reach 5,000 before the worldwide peace actions on August 6, the anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, from 100 plus countries. The Institute particularly encourages maximum viewings of the Kennedy speech itself, by individuals, schools, and all categories of other groups, in a spreading world awakening. Here is the full 27-minute Kennedy Peace Address; here, a 4-minute set of video highlights, with subtitles.

The circulation of the Urgent Appeal and Kennedy speech has spurred the formation of a rapidly growing International Peace Coalition, initiated by the Schiller Institute on June 2. The summary press release of its most recent deliberation, International Peace Coalition Charts a Path to the New Paradigm, begins: “On Friday June 30, the International Peace Coalition (IPC) held its fourth meetings with approximately 60 organizers from Argentina, Germany, Guinea, Nicaragua, Span, Sweden Switzerland, the UK, the United States, and other nations participating in the proceedings. The meeting could be best characterized as a strategy session on how to expand the IPC through various means of direct action such as street organizing, social media, political interventions, and classes, with the goal of not only preventing the immediate threat of global thermonuclear war, but laying the foundation for a durable peace – a New Paradigm.”

Please add your efforts to the urgent expansion of the Coalition’s work. Contact the Coalition at questions@schillerinstitute.org.

The conclusion of the Appeal, and initial list of prominent signers:

We the undersigned want America to be again the America expressed in that beautiful speech of JFK. We want the United States to be again a beacon of hope and a temple of liberty. We believe that this is the basis for “peace for all time,” as JFK said.

Initiating signer

Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany), founder Schiller Institute

Additional prominent signers

Daud Azimi	Afghanistan/Germany	Dipl. Ing. (Engineer); Board Member, Peace National Front of Afghanistan
Tse Anye Kevin	Africa	Vice President, State 55, Afrika
Enrique Juan Box	Argentina	Social communicator
Roberto Fritzsche	Argentina	Professor, Dep’t of Economic Science, University of Belgrano
Carlos Perez Galindo	Argentina	Lawyer
Rubén Darío Guzzetti	Argentina	Argentine Institute of Geopolitical Science
Gustavo Russo	Argentina	Lawyer; Professor of Juridical Sciences
Trudy Campbell	Australia	Northern Territory secretary, Australian Citizens Party
Christian Dierick	Belgium	Manager, Big Science Technology Club & Lead Energy Expert
William Lindo	Belize	Executive member, Peoples United Party
Edwin Alfonso De La Fuente Jeria	Bolivia	Former Commander in Chief of the Bolivian Armed Forces
Osman Vladimir Escobar Torrez	Bolivia	Human Rights Secretary, Bolivian Labor Confederation (COB)
Max Yecid Ibañez	Bolivia	Former Secretary of Grievance Resolution, National Federation of Electrical and Telephone Workers of Bolivia
Jairo Dias Carvalho	Brazil	Professor, Philosophy of Technology, Federal University of Uberlândia
Lilian Simone Godoy Fonseca	Brazil	Professor of Philosophy, UFVJM, Diamantina campus
Gabriel Tincani Ramos	Brazil	President, Union of Socialist Youth — Campinas
Renata Welinski Da Silva Seabra	Brazil	ESG Consultant; Former UNDP Executive Director for UN Global Compact Brazil; author, “A Regulamentação International Ambiental e a Responsabilidade Corporativa”
Julian Fell	Canada	Former Director, Regional District of Nanaimo
Dimitri Lascaris	Canada	Lawyer; Peace activist
Mario Guillermo Acosta Alarcón	Colombia	Scientist and writer; General Director, CIFRA (Space Lab City)
Fernando Duque Jaramillo	Colombia	Lawyer; Master’s degree in Political Science
Pedro Rubio	Colombia	Union leader; public policy analyst
Enrique García Dubon	Costa Rica	Economist
Enrique Ramírez Guier	Costa Rica	Biologistç consultant
Tom Gillesberg	Denmark	President, Schiller Institute Denmark
Pernille Grumme	Denmark	Actress; peace activist; former Chair, Artists for Peace, Denmark
Alcibiades Jose Abreu	Dominican Republic	University professor of mathematics, English and French
Alexis Joaquin Castillo	Dominican Republic	Presidential candidate of Alianza Nueva República. Lawyer; former Prosecutor of the National District
Ramón Emilio Concepción	Dominican Republic	Attorney at Law, Presidential Pre-candidate for the PRM party (2020)
Ramon Cruz Placensia	Dominican Republic	Former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD)
Luis De León Ferreira	Dominican Republic	President of Fuerza Boschista. Educator, university professor at Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD). Politician
Marino J. Elsevyf Pineda	Dominican Republic	Attorney at Law; notary
Enrique Garcia Frometa	Dominican Republic	Industrial engineer, master’s degree in public administration, appraiser and planner
Ramón Gross	Dominican Republic	Post-graduate Professor, Catholic University of Santo Domingo
Dantes Ortiz Nuñez	Dominican Republic	Historian; Professor of History, Autonomous University of Santo Domingo
Oscar Daniel Pérez Quiroz	Dominican Republic	Theologian and Psychologist
Domingo Reyes	Dominican Republic	Former professor of economics, Ph.D. in Higher Education
Rafael Reyes Jerez	Dominican Republic	Journalist; TV producer, “cara a cara”
Enrique Antonio Sánchez Liranzo	Dominican Republic	Lawyer, author, poet
Caonabo Suarez	Dominican Republic	Poet; Member of the Coordinating Committee of the Institute for Analysis and Conclusions (INAC), Dominican Republic
Patricia Merizalde	Ecuador	Founder and President, International Feminist Poetry Movement, “Women’s Flight”
Ernesto Pazmiño Granizo	Ecuador	Human Rights lawyer; university professor; former General Public Defender of Ecuador; former Vice-President, Justice Center of the Americas
Alexis Ponce	Ecuador	Rights advocate, National Association of Patients and Vulnerable Families of Ecuador
Napoleon Saltos Galarza	Ecuador	University professor; Member of Parliament (1996-1998), Quito
Jacques Cheminade	France	President, Solidarité et Progrès; former presidential candidate
Dr. jur. Wolfgang Bittner	Germany	Author
Joachim Bonatz	Germany	Vice President, East German Board of Trustees of Associations (Ostdeutschen Kuratoriums e.V.)
Dr. Ole Doering	Germany/China	Professor, Hunan Normal University, China
Johannes Posth	Germany	General Director, Deutsche Telekom in Ukraine, starting 1996; head, Ukrainian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center, 2002-2005
Dr. Rainer Sandau	Germany	Technical Director, Satellites and Space Applications, International Academy of Aeronautics (IAA)
Takis Ioannides	Greece	Ambassador of Peace, Hon. Dr Literature, historian, researcher, poet.
Dr. Maria Arvanti Sotiropoulou	Greece	Representative, Greek Medical Assoc. for the Protection of the Environment and Against Nuclear and Biochemical Threat (GMA), Greek affiliate of Internat’l Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
Raul Anibal Marroquin Casasola	Guatemala	Coordinator of the Citizen Observatory for Peace “La pupila del cielo”, San Cristobal, Verapaz, Guatemala.
Otto Rene Quiñones Carias	Guatemala	Former Legislator (1991-1993); President, Board of Directors of Alternate Deputies
Beatriz Solórzano León	Guatemala	Licentiateç Parliamentary Technician, Congress of Guatemala
Ahmadou Diallo	Guinea/United States	Senior Member, Guinean American League of Friends for Freedom In.
Mamadu Djalo	Guinea/United States	Secretary, Guinean American League of Friends for Freedom Inc.
Khemraj Ramjattan	Guyana	Leader, AFC (Alliance for Change)
Donald Ramotar	Guyana	Former President of Guyana
Oscar Abraham Lanza Rosales	Honduras	Industrial engineer, retired; columnist for La Tribuna, Honduras
Andrea Szegó	Hungary	Professor (ret.), economics
Dr. Balkrishna Kurvey	India	President, India Institute for Peace, Disarmament, and Environmental Protection
Maurizio Abbate	Italy	Chairman of ENAC, National Institute for Cultural Activities, Italy,
Angelo Aiello	Italy	Former sport director of AC Milan
Prof. Bruno Brandimarte	Italy	Professor (ret.), Applied Biophysics, Univ. of Rome, Tor Vergata
Renato Corsetti	Italy	Prof. emeritus; Chair, Progressive Esperanto Speakers
Jorge Flores	Italy	Poet
Liliana Gorini	Italy	Chairwoman of Movisol
Antonio Ingroia	Italy	Former candidate for Italian Prime Minister
Nicola Lista	Italy	Chairman, youth organization of MDC, (Movement in Defense of the Citizen)
Enzo Pennetta	Italy	Organizer, referendum to end Italian military aid to Ukraine
Vincenzo Romanello	Italy	Senior Nuclear Researcher and Project Manager, National Radiation Protection Institute (SURO)
Alessia Ruggeri	Italy	Trade unionist
Daisuke Kotegawa	Japan	Former Executive Director for Japan, IMF; former Japan Ministry of Finance official
Pastor James Adundo	Kenya	Christian Outreach Ministry
Pastor Amos Nyambok	Kenya	Christian Outreach Ministry
Pigbin Odimwengu	Kenya	Youth political party leader
Pastor George Outa	Kenya	Christian Outreach Ministry
Mohd Peter Davis	Malaysia	Biotechnologist; biochemist; architect; consultant, deep tropical agriculture; Visiting Scientist, University Pertanian (retired)
Chandra Muzaffar	Malaysia	Founder and Director, International Movement for a Just World (JUST); Co-founder, Saving Humanity and Planet Earrth (SHAPE)
Adam Ouologuem	Mali	Journalist, Mali/Washington D.C.
Angel Coronel Beltrán	Mexico	Former Research Profesor, Physics REsearch Department, University of Sonora (UNISON)
Maria de los Ángeles Huerta	Mexico	Former Congresswoman
Dr. Enrique López Ochoa	Mexico	Angiologic Surgeon; Professor of Angiology, University of Sonora (UNISON) School of Medicine
Tenit Alfonso Padilla Ayala	Mexico	Professor of Effective Communication, Technological Institute of Sonora
Jaime Varela Salazar	Mexico	Former Director, School of Chemical Sciences, University of Sonora (UNISON)
Alex Krainer	Monaco/Croatia	Author, “Grand Deception: The Truth about Bill Browder, the Magnitsky Act, and Anti-Russian Sanctions”
May-May Meijer	Netherlands	Chair and Founder, Peace SOS
C. (Kees) le Pair	Netherlands	Physicist (ret.), University of Leiden; Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Djamila le Pair	Netherlands	Freelance journalist; Free Assange activist
Mykeljon Winckel	New Zealand	Founder, Voice Media
Bolívar Téllez	Nicaragua	Lawyer and university professor, Nicaragua
David Ajetunmobi	Nigeria	Trade union leader, auto sector
Adeshola Kukoyi	Nigeria	Founder, Equilibrium Perspectives in Learning and Development/University of Lagos
Manuel Hidalgo	Peru	PhD in Accounting and Business Sciences; Professor at Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
Herman Tiu (Mentong) Laurel	Philippines	Founder, Philippine BRICS Strategic Studies think tank; TV and radio commentator; organizer, movement vs. new U.S. military bases in the Philippines
Leo Semashko	Russian Federation	Gandhian Global Harmony Association
Earl M. Bousquet	St. Lucia	Veteran Pan-Caribbean journalist/columnist; Editor, Voice of St. Lucia newspaper; President, St. Lucia-China Friendship Assoc.; Chair, St. Lucia Nat’l Reparations Cttee
Natasa Milojevic	Serbia	Political scientist; former Member of Parliament
Meshack Moxongo	South Africa	Leader, LaRouche South Africa
Princy Mthombeni	South Africa	Spokesperson, Africa4Nuclear
Ishmail Phali	South Africa	Member, LaRouche South Africa; member, Democratic Alliance – South Africa
Motutla Juda Phali	South Africa	Member, LaRouche South Africa
Hyung-Joon Won	South Korea	Violinist; Founder and Director, Lindenbaum Festival Orchestra; organizer, North and South Korean peace concerts
Juan Carrero Saralegui	Spain	President, Fundació S’Olivar; peace activist
Juan Jose Torres Nunez	Spain	Poet, published author, freelance journalist
Dr. George Mutalemwa	Tanzania	Global Peace Studies for Sustainable Development; Africa Peace and Development Network (Mtandao wa Amani na Maendeleo Afrika (MAMA)
Bishop Lubega Geoffrey Bob	Uganda	Minister
Ruslan Kotsaba	Ukraine	President, Ukrainian Movement of Pacifists
David Dabydeen	United Kingdom/Guyana	Professor; former Guyanese Ambassador to UNESCO and China
Bernie Holland	United Kingdom	Soka Gakkai International
P. D. Lawton	United Kingdom	Editor, African Agenda.net
Dr. Athar Abbasi	United States	Mayor (ret.), U.S. Army
Muhammad Salim Akhtar	United States	National Director, American Muslim Alliance (AMA)
Bernard Allen-Bay	United States	CEO, Project Funding Consultants; Vice President, Oklahoma NAACP
David Andersson	United States	Co-Director Pressenza IPA
Deborah Armstrong	United States	Journalist
Dr. Elena Bajenova	United States	Creator and Organizer, Anti-War Coalition Group, Arlington, TX; President, Russian International Culture Center
Col. Richard Black (ret.)	United States	Former Virginia State Senator and Delegate; former head, U.S. Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon
Kathleen Boylan	United States	Catholic Worker Movement, Washington DC
Lt. (ret.) Robert Branca	United States	Lt. (ret.) U.S. Naval Reserve
Ellen Brown	United States	Author, attorney
Malcolm Burn	United States	Host, “The Long Way Around”, WKNY Radio, Kinsgston, NY
Harry J. Bury	United States	Twin Cities Nonviolent; Association of U.S. Catholic Priests
Bob Cushing	United States	Chairman, Non-Violence Committee, Working Group for the Association of United States Catholic Priests (AUSCP)
T. Herbert Dimmock	United States	Founder and Music Director, Bach in Baltimore
Daniel Donnelly	United States	Libertarian Party, New York
Brian Earley	United States	Captain (ret.), U.S. Army
Trevor Fitzgibbon	United States	President, Silent Partner Inc.
Christopher Fogarty	United States	Friends of Irish Freedom
Graham Fuller	United States/Canada	Former Vice Chair, National Intelligence Council for Long-term Forecasting, CIA; writer; political commentator
David George	United States	Professor of Economics (Emeritus), LaSalle University
Jack Gilroy	United States	Pax Christi, Upstate New York
Bennett Greenspan	United States	Physician; expert in nuclear medicine; Past President, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)
Ephraim Haile	United States/Eritrea	Eritrean Cultural & Development Center (ECDC) , Eritrean Diaspora Boston
Joyce Hall	United States	Coordinator, Dallas Pax Christi, TX
Cathy Helgason	United States	MD ;Professor of Neurology. (Retired)
Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Dana Hicks	United States	composer, musician, minister
Liz Hill	United States	Liz Hill Public Relations, LLC
Diana Hope	United States	D & D Radio Show,”Delivering the Truth”, NYS, and Beyond
Ivan Jones	United States	Shop Steward, Local 783, AFSCME (retired)
John Jones	United States	Boston Ward 14 Democratic Committee
Frank Kartheiser	United States	Mustard Seed Catholic Worker, Worcester, MA
Bishop Reginald L. Kennedy	United States	President, Ministers Conference of Baltimore and Vicinty, MD
Dr. George Koo	United States	Chairman, Burlingame Foundation; retired business consultant, U.S.-China relations
Janice Kortkamp	United States	Citizen journalist, “American Housewife in Syria” podcasts
Igor Lopatonok	United States/Russian Federation	Documentary film director and producer, “Ukriane on Fire”
Jeff Mahn	United States	Nuclear Engineer (ret.), Sandia Labs, science educator at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.
Joseph Marcinkowski	United States	Pax Christi. Veterans for Peace; Houston Peace and Justice Coalition
Imam Radwan Mardini	United States	Interfaith leader, American Muslim Center
George McGowan	United States	Former Town Councilman, Lake George, NY; former Republican County Committee, Warren County, NY
David Meiswinkle	United States	Attorney-at-law; Past President and Executive Director, Lawyers Committee for 9/11 Inquiry
Suzzanne Monk	United States	Chair, Patriot Action PAC
James Moore	United States	Executive Committee- ATA, NSRAA, AKI (fisheries and aquaculture)
Darrell Nichols	United States	Bishop; Former President, NE Ohio NAACP; Former Vice-President, SCLC, Toledo, OH; Captain (ret.), U.S. Army
Nestor Oginar	United States/Macedonia	Retired Professor of English language and literature, New York; Representative, World Macedonian Congress at the UN; Leade, Macedonian Diaspora in North America ; Member, Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archepiscopy
John OLoughlin	United States	Author, “McDuff Lives! The life and untimely death of Thomas F. O’Loughlin, Jr.”
Jeff Philbin	United States	Nuclear Engineer, Technical Consultant, Independent Contractor
Cynthia Pooler	United States	Broadcast journalist, peace activist, NY
Earl D. Rasmussen, P.E.	United States	Lt. Col. (Ret.), U.S. Army; International consultant
Coleen Rowley	United States	FBI Intelligence (ret.); FBI special agent and intelligence expert; whistleblower and author
Stephen Salchow	United States	Violinist, violist; member, Solchow Bow Maker and Repair family
Diane Sare	United States	LaRouche candidate for U.S. Senate – NY
Martin Schotz	United States	Coordinator of JFK Peace Speech Committee, Massachusetts Peace Action, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
John Shanahan	United States	Dr. Ing. civil engineer; founder of website AllAboutEnergy.net
Paul Shannon	United States	MA Peace Action
John C.Smith	United States	Professional Engineer; Senior Project Engineer; PhD candidate, Colorado School of Mines
Steven Starr	United States	Professor, University of Missouri
Jack Stockwell	United States	Morning Radio Talk Show Host (1995–present), Salt Lake City, UT
Barbara Suhrstedt	United States	Concert pianist; President, Board of Directors, Framingham Lomonosov Association for Mutual Exchange (F.L.A.M.E.)
Dr. Mohammad A. Toor	United States/Pakistan	Chairman of the Board, P:akistani American Congress
Bob Van Hee	United States	Redwood County Commissioner, Minnesota
Zaher Wahab	United States/Afghanistan	Professor Emeritus of Education, Former Advisor to the Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education
Frederick Weiss	United States	Musician
Javier Araujo	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Bolivariano; former Councilman; current Alternate Councilman
Luisa Báez Catari	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	President, Diocesan Union of Confraternities, Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar of Guarenas, Miranda state
José Bustamante	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Sociologist
Reinaldo Cróes Arias	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Economist and public accounting professional
Andrés Ramón Giussepe Avala	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Former member, Latin American Parliament
Marco Antonio Hernández	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Social media organizer; Bachelor’s degree in education; professor
Alberto Mendoza Uribe	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Fundamaraisa Foundation
Emil Guevara Muñoz	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Former member, Latin American Parliament (2006-2011)
Thaidy Terán	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Coordinator, Music Ministry, Our Lady of Copacabana Cathedral Church, Guarenas
Kelvin Chifulumo	Zambia	Founder, Educating Girls and Young Women for Development (EGYD)
Munashe Chiwanza	Zimbwabwe	Civil Engineer

Schiller Rep Tells RIA Novosti: Attack on Russian Fine Arts Is an Attack on Truth Itself

March 5, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, Cultural renaissance updates, General updates, Media coverage of our activity, Music updates, World war danger updates

March 4, 2023 (EIRNS)–The renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has gone to hell and apparently intends to stay there. It has become a soldier in Global NATO’s black propaganda machine. RIA Novosti and other Russian media are reporting the story that the identity of many leading Russian painters of the 19th century—Ivan Aivazovsky, Ilya Repin and Arkhip Kuindzhi—whose excellent paintings hang on the museum walls, have had their Russian nationality erased from their paintings’ name plates. Their identities have been changed to “Ukrainian” or to other nationalities. Notices attacking Russia appear next to some of the paintings.

This Nazi-inspired policy of cultural ethnic cleansing is part and parcel of the West’s current forbidding of its scientists from participating in international conferences in Russia, the canceling of the concerts of Russia’s top Classical musicians and singers, and the false arrests and the destruction of the scientific careers of Chinese researchers working in America’s labs.

Quoted in RIA Novosti news service on March 3, the Schiller Institute’s Richard A. Black responded: “The beauty of mankind lies in the fact that it has developed a variety of different civilizations which differ in their language, their means of communication, and in fundamental ideas. Islamic, Western European, Chinese, Vietnamese—all civilizations have evolved for thousands of years, and have made unique contributions to the understanding of fundamental principles, fundamental truths—which, in essence, is the role of art. So, the imposition of lies by the U.S. authorities on an institution—such as the Metropolitan Museum—about leading examples of Russian civilization—this is a mockery of all culture, of all art and all science.” Black called the museum’s actions an attack on truth, “on an idea, on civilization, on the role that art and science play in civilization. This is an attack on American citizens, in order to continue to keep them uninformed, and to portray Russia as an enemy.” RIA Novosti concluded its article by reporting, “According to President Vladimir Putin, Western Russophobia is nothing but racism.” The article, in Russian, may be found here.

The article was also published by Sputnik Mundo, Sputnik’s Spanish-language site today, in full, changing it only to report that Black had made his statement to Sputnik.

Lift All Sanctions on Syria and End the U.S. Occupation

February 28, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Our initiatives (petitions, etc), Sanctions, Syria

Feb. 28—The LaRouche movement is circulating the following pre-release of the lead editorial of the upcoming EIR magazine, as part of an intense, concentrated effort aimed at members of the U.S. Congress, to break through the deafening wall of silence on the barbaric activities sanctioned by U.S. military forces in Syria, military forces which are in that nation illegally—illegally under U.S. law, and illegally under international law. The similarly illegal and barbaric sanctions against Syria must now be lifted.

Lift All Sanctions on Syria, End the U.S. Occupation

The sanctions against Syria can no longer be tolerated. Pax Christi USA joined several faith-based groups in an open letter asking “the Biden administration and Members of Congress to affirm the dignity of all persons by lifting sanctions, continuing diplomacy, and sending aid to those most affected in Türkiye and Syria.”

The Schiller Institute’s two-hour-plus live Feb. 21 webcast, “Syrian Sanctions Must Be Lifted,” is a powerful weapon of truth, directly addressing the fact that the sanctions and war, which have forced 90% of the Syrian population into poverty, go hand in hand with the military occupation of Syria by the United States, which must also end.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute; Vanessa Beeley, British independent journalist now living in Damascus; Marwa Osman, a professor, author and TV presenter from Lebanon; Col. Richard H. Black (ret.), former Virginia State Senator, and Chandra Muzaffar of Malaysia, leader of JUST (International Movement for a Just World) presented the scale of destruction inflicted by United States and its European allies on Syria since 2007.

After the devastating earthquakes this February, the necessity of the complete abrogation of the unilateral economic and financial sanctions by which the United States and European Union are blocking reconstruction—and now, even aid to that country—is imperative.

The call went out: “You must demand that the U.S. Congress lift the ‘Caesar’ Sanctions. This is collective punishment of the civilian population” of Syria. Moderator Dennis Speed noted that as the seminar was going on, Schiller Institute delegations were in Congress pressing for an end to NATO’s war in Ukraine and to the sanctions on Syria.

Action Beginning

In the U.S. House of Representatives, a “War Powers Resolution,” was submitted Feb. 21 by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to get all U.S. troops out of Syria. By law, that action is a privileged measure, which must be voted upon within 18 days. If it is voted up, the Biden Administration will have 15 days in which to implement the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The LaRouche movement is mobilizing to target Congress, which has blood on its hands, to pass this resolution, which will be an important first step in stopping the barbarism of sanctions in Syria, and worldwide.

Reports From Experts

Vanessa Beeley, speaking from Syria reported: “Syrians are resilient, they’re resourceful. And despite the fact that 90% of the population is below the poverty level, they have survived. Now, they have a terrible humanitarian tragedy, five million estimated homeless in Syria. Even in the northwest, which is under the control of Western-backed terrorist groups, it is a humanitarian tragedy. But the West is not helping. She underscored that sanctions are a part of the occupation of Syria, which has “three of its four borders controlled by hostile powers.” Moreover, she said, “The West is exploiting this tragedy to effectively kick start the war again against Syria, letting “humanitarian” aid in only through the Idlib crossings from Türkiye which al-Qaeda controls. She concluded, “What Syria needs now is for the sanctions to be lifted; but more than anything, it needs U.S. occupation ended …. [The U.S.] occupies the southeast in their Al-Tanf military base which also controls the Rukban refugee camp. It has established a 55-kilometer no entry zone around it, where it’s training and arming armed groups, including ISIS. So, end the occupation, please.”

Chandra Muzaffar emphasized, “The sanctions would be nothing without the occupation…. And occupation remains throughout South Asia.” Syria, he said, has become since 2007 a state which is not able to function as a state, because large parts of it are occupied by foreign powers and various groups backed by those powers. Syria had outdone many of the richer countries in Southwest Asia in providing both health care and education to all its people, equal rights and respect to women, tolerance in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. It is a victim of “U.S. hegemony,” he said, which must end. “We should be able to work together to bring about a world of development.”

Marwa Osman was very specific in suggesting to Americans: Go to associates or neighbors and raise some funds to aid the tens of thousands of Syrian victims of the earthquakes. Then contact your member of Congress and ask for assistance in sending those funds to people or charities in Syrian cities like Aleppo, and ask that Member to explain to you why that’s blocked, not possible, although the sanctions were supposed to be “suspended for 180 days” [the financial sanctions were not suspended]. Then demand that that Member change it. Even NGOs in neighboring Lebanon, Ms. Osman said, are afraid that they will be sanctioned by the United States and EU if they convey funds to Syrians across the border.

Col. Richard Black, who has made numerous visits to Syria, graphically described the nature of the terrorists supported by the U.S. government, stating that we have turned over large parts of the country to terrorists “who take selfies standing on the backs of innocent women. It is disgraceful! And now, we’re following up by taunting the people of Syria who are under this terrible earthquake devastation, and we’re taunting them about how they really should have gone the other way. They should have been on our side, and now they’re getting what they deserve is essentially what the State Department is saying:

“It is a disgrace! It is a horror! If the American people understood what is happening, this government would fall. This government could not exist in the United States if the American people were not shielded by this complicit media in the horrors that we have imposed on the Syrian people.

“It is a shame. I hate to see it, because I love my country. I want it to be a better place, than it was when I was growing up. And I have hope and prayer that it will become better, but we could certainly start by ending these obscene Caesar Sanctions that are imposing famine and freezing on innocent people.”

Faith–Based Groups

An urgent appeal was issued on Feb. 6 by the Middle East Council of Churches, an affiliate of the World Council of Churches, stating “We urge the immediate lifting of sanctions on Syria and allowing access to all materials, so sanctions may not turn into a crime against humanity.”

On Feb. 17, an open letter was released by a group of faith-based organization in the United States. The letter states in part:

“Therefore, we as a community ask Congress and the Administration to:

Lift sanctions in order to expedite aid delivery, open commercial access, and expand relief services to civilians in need.

Remove the 180-day sunset on the new General License for Syria.

Extend applicability for the newly adopted Global General License for material support in all of Syria.

Continue to communicate with Syrian and UN counterparts during the earthquake response, and work to open new border crossings for personnel to access Northern Syria.

Issue letters of comfort to financial institutions and aid organizations to help facilitate emergency assistance in Syria.

Coordinate the opening of banking channels to help NGOs and INGOs get aid to where it is needed; including family remittances.

Appropriate additional funds to USAID and UN programs to support Türkiye and Syria through the earthquake response and recovery.”

The letter was signed by the Alliance of Baptists; American Friends Service Committee (AFSC); Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP); Community of Christ; Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL); Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Mennonite Central Committee U.S. (MCC); National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; Pax Christi USA; Presbyterian Church (USA); The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC); and United Church of Christ, Justice and Local Church Ministries.

Take this Tragedy as the Opportunity to Lift All Sanctions Against Syria

February 7, 2023by Anastasia Battle in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Economic development updates, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Helga statement, article, transcript, Sanctions, Syria, Turkey

By Helga Zepp-LaRouche

PDF of this statement

Feb. 6, 2023 (EIRNS)—The recent double earthquake in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria is a terrible disaster which is generating a wave of emotion and empathy from around the world. The situation will likely worsen due to forecast weather of extremely low temperatures throughout the region, resulting in the collapse of weakened buildings due to the cold and frost, not to mention the immediate consequences to children, women and men who have lost everything.

Time is of the essence. We welcome an international response; in fact there are several countries that have already offered their assistance to the populations affected by the earthquakes. This being said, it is difficult to accept that the same disaster has a very different human impact on either side of the borders of Turkey and Syria. On the Syrian side, this tragedy is affecting a population that has been hard hit by years of war and sanctions imposed by the United States with other nations.

This situation confronts us, as Western nations, with our responsibility to uphold the values we claim to embody. Are we going to continue to apply the measures that we very well know have led to the unimaginable suffering, misfortune and death of innocent people? Or are we going to finally make the decision to lift these criminal sanctions? Don’t we know, after so many years of use, that the weapon of sanctions only hurts the people?

It is time for Western leaders to regain a minimum of moral fiber, by taking this tragedy as the opportunity to definitively lift all sanctions against Syria and, from then on, to organize the reconstruction of the country with those who are determined to contribute to it.

Mexico’s Journalists Club Honors Schiller Institute With “Freedom of Expression” Award

December 8, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Freedom of Press & Speech, General updates, Media coverage of our activity, Mexico, World war danger updates

Dec. 7, 2022 (EIRNS)–The national Journalists Club of Mexico today announced the results of its 70th National and International Journalism Contest, issuing their awards to the Mexican and international journalists, media and institutions chosen by a 20-person independent jury for their work in over 20 areas of journalism and freedom of speech. The annual contest has become an institution in the country, with increasing international attention. Julian Assange, for example, was issued an award for “Freedom of Expression” in 2019.

Today, the Schiller Institute received the Club’s award for “|`Fostering freedom of expression from the academic realm’, for its contributions to historical and geopolitical analysis for understanding global changes, from a multi-disciplinary standpoint of critical thinking, warning of the consequences of the violence and imbalances which affect the concert of nations and world peace,” the master of ceremonies explained. This was one of only five international awards conferred by the Journalists Club. Another 30 or so awards were presented to national journalists in different areas.

The awards ceremony, held in the association’s historic headquarters in Mexico City, is quite an occasion, and was attended by the President of Mexico’s Press Spokesman, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, and diplomats from various countries, as well as many journalists and media and their families and friends. Ramírez Cuevas was greeted by an ovation when announced, and he gave President López Obrador’s greetings for the occasion.

After the Schiller Institute’s award was announced, a short video-recorded message of greetings and appreciation from Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche was played (with Spanish subtitles), as the Institute’s representative in Mexico, EIR correspondent Gerardo Castilleja, accepted the award on her behalf. Zepp-LaRouche explained that she could not attend personally to accept the award because she was number one on the Ukrainian hit list, expressed her great appreciation for the honor bestowed, and spoke of the international leadership role Mexico is playing, and can play in rallying the world against nuclear war and for peace.

The tone for the spirited meeting was set by the Club’s Secretary General, Celeste Sáenz, in her opening speech, in which she issued an impassioned call to build the fight against the grave threats to freedom of speech afoot in the world. There is war ongoing against truthful journalism, organized by the great media and neoliberal international powers, she charged. Independent journalists who refuse to surrender to their demands are excluded, but have begun setting up their own outlets (several of which were given awards later).

This is “a real war … with real victims.” Journalists are being killed, some caught in the crossfire of the conflicts in the world — but some deliberately assassinated, as in the case of Ukraine, she said. Journalists and academics are being put on a blacklist “by the Ukrainian government and Western intelligence and spy agencies who seek to assassinate” them. When the selected targets are assassinated, their photos on the list are then crossed off, she specified. “This is disgraceful. After the Second World War, we thought that we would not see this again.”

She cited the terrorist assassination of Russia’s Darya Dugina last August 20 as exemplary of this policy, and slammed the policy of censorship carried out in the name of “freedom of speech,” as seen in the “centers for countering disinformation” which impose that policy.

The Club then gave a posthumous award to Dugina, which Russia’s Ambassador to Mexico, Viktor Koronelli, received in the name of her father, Alexander Dugin. A brief video message from Dugin was then presented.

‘Soloviev Live’ Interviews Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Ten Principles

December 8, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Germany, Global Diplomacy, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, World war danger updates

Dec. 7, 2022 (EIRNS)–Wednesday Dec. 7, 2022—Vladimir Soloviev aired a 21-minute interview with Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Dec. 7. {Video version of this interview is here: https://disk.yandex.ru/d/6gNnbGKzVoMQLA }

VLADIMIR SOLOVIEV: Well, unfortunately, that’s about my German, so if you don’t have anything against it, we’ll try English. I’m sorry for being late a couple of minutes. You know, those Russians, they’re never good on time. There’s always a problem with Russians being good on time! [laughter]

I have to say: I was quite impressed with your very tough point of view, (should I say that?) very revolutionary. Definitely not mainstream of current European political ideas. How come? It looks like the Dawn of Europe, the book that was written more than a 100 years ago, suddenly comes true. What are we facing right now? And what should be done, in order to save the world?

HELGA ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Well, I think the problem is that we are, as some of the Russian officials have stated recently, we are already at a state of war between NATO and Russia, and many people in many countries are extremely worried that this may lead to nuclear war. And if it would come to that, I don’t think it would be a limited nuclear war. I think regional war, the use of only tactical nuclear weapons, I think this is all ruled out. And if it comes to the use of only one single nuclear weapon, it would have the danger of a global nuclear and that would mean the annihilation of civilization.

And for me, I think you have to start with that: This is why I have suggested principles, 10 principles for a new international security and development architecture, which is drawing very much on the example of the Peace of Westphalia which ended 150 years of religious war in Europe. And I’m really fighting very hard to put this on the agenda before it is too late.

SOLOVIEV: So, what are those 10 principles? And what makes you think that current political power in Germany, but basically in U.S.A.—we realize that; whatever is there right now in Germany, it’s just a reflection, it’s just another projection of American point of view—that they will hear you? That you won’t be punished severely for your point view. Because now it’s not—it’s impossible to talk about the freedom of speech and the freedom of philosophical ideas in Europe.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: I know it’s not allowed, and you are being ostracized immediately, and worse. But I think we are in a situation—I mean, this is not a tenable situation. Germany, for example, has lost all of its sovereignty with the present government, at least concerning certain ministers. We are running against a collapse in Germany: The economic situation is absolutely devastating. The result of the sanctions, which Germany imposed against Russia, on orders practically of the United States, is boomeranging, and the blowback is threatening the existence of Germany as an industrial nation. So this will become apparent in the next weeks and months.

And I think we are in an epochal change: It’s not just a war between the West and Russia, but the result of the policies imposed against Russia in particular, have led to a counterreaction: The entire Global South is in a revolutionary spirit to establish a just new economic order, and this is a revival of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was already on that course in the 1970s, and now I think it is unstoppable. You have the emergence of a completely new system, which is the BRICS, the SCO (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization), the Eurasian Economic Union, all of these countries are reacting to the policies coming especially from the British and the United States, and they’re forming a new world economic order.

Some people may think it is enough if you have a multipolar world; the unipolar world is definitely over. But I am of the opinion that even multipolarity is not sufficient, because it still has the potential of a geopolitical confrontation. So this is why I think the most advanced proposal to overcome that in the present world comes from President Xi Jinping, who is talking about the “shared community of the future of mankind.” My 10 principles are basically an effort to elaborate principles how we can get people to understand what the new paradigm is, in which we have to move. That is a very deep philosophical conception: I’ve been working together with my late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, on that for the better part of the last 50 years. So I’m convinced that this is resonating with what the world right now urgently needs, which is a new conception—the question, really, is can we as a human civilization give ourselves an order which allows the long-term survivability of our species? So this is the biggest challenge to our intelligence you can have. And since I’m—and that’s the 10th point of my 10 principles—I’m convince that man is fundamentally good, and that the evil in the world is the result of a lack of development.

So I’m confident. I think the danger is incredibly big, but on the same time, I’m also extremely optimistic that a solution to this present calamity can be found.

SOLOVIEV: So what are those 10 principles? What are they? How dare you bring those 10 principles to the world of Schwab! Who is saying that humanity is a disease, and it’s better to be without humanity for the world! So how come that, nowadays, you’re coming with basically, let’s say “humanitarian tradition” of understanding humanity? Instead of modern liberal, Nazi view, where basically humanity should be destroyed?

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Well, I think the present world order, in large part suffers from the problem of oligarchism: That is not a new phenomenon. You had empires, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian Empire, the British Empire, which in one sense still exists, and these forms of government were based on the idea that you have a small, powerful elite, sometimes the aristocrats, sometimes the financial elite, and that they have all the privileges and rule over backward masses of people. That system is the origin of what a former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, calls the “green delirium,” which is the idea that we are living in a world of finite resources, that you have to have management of scarcity, and all of this.

But that’s not the real universe. The good thing is that man is different from animals, because we are capable of discovering universal principles about the physical universe. This is called scientific and technological progress, and when we apply that progress in the production process, then it leaves to an increase in the living standard, the longevity of people. So, I think we have reached the point now where the evolution of mankind is at a point where we have to adjust the political and economic order to the actual lawfulness of the physical universe, if we want to survive. That is not a new idea: That was actually a philosophical conception in Europe, it was called “natural law.” You have the same idea in other cultures. In India, for example, it’s called “cosmology,” where basically politics is supposed to implement the lawfulness of the cosmos. You have the same idea in Chinese philosophy, with the “Mandate of Heaven.” So in all great cultures, you have the idea that there is a higher lawfulness which we have to respect, or bring about destruction.

So I think we are in a very optimistic change of an epoch. I would call it that mankind is about to reach the age of adulthood.

SOLOVIEV: [laughs] That is very optimistic, should I say! But by reaching the age of adult, we have to face quite new challenges. One of them is that Europe is basically put in an Iron Curtain, by trying to recognize Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism” state, they are just cutting all possible ties that have been left, and it’s leading us to a completely new scenario. Europe without Russia is basically a very small place!

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Right now, the mainstream media and the major political parties, as they are represented in the European Parliament, which made this resolution about Russian being a terrorist state, that is the surface. And if you only look at the mass media, you get the impression that that is everything there is. But we are organizing people: Look, there are demonstrations in all European countries, to end the war, to have a peaceful negotiation, use diplomacy already, and many people are demonstrating in east Germany, in Belgium, in France, in Italy, even in Great Britain. So I think, this is a very dangerous moment, obviously, but I think that as the crisis will become bigger, and you have hyperinflation, the energy prices, the food prices, I think we are heading towards a very big moment of decision. And what the Schiller Institute is trying to do, is we are organizing international conferences, which have to be virtual because of the still existing pandemic conditions, and we are trying to bring together people from all over the world.

I have initiated something which is called—I should explain—Friedrich Schiller, after whom the Schiller Institute is named, had the idea that there must not be contradiction between patriots and world citizens. So, given the fact that the danger of nuclear war makes everybody, instantly a world citizen, because the whole world is challenged, so I’ve called for a world citizens’ movement. And since I was born in Trier—which some people may recognize the importance of that—I have called for “World Citizens of All Countries, Unite!” [laughs] in which I find a certain irony.

But many people have responded. We’ve had three conferences already with many sitting and former parliamentarians, and former ministers and Presidents from Latin America, who have issued a call to all parliamentarians and elected officials of the world to join this movement, and fight essentially for these 10 principles, and a new security and development architecture.

SOLOVIEV: So you are still an optimist? Do you still think that humanity is going to survive?

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Oh, yes! You know, obviously, the danger is enormous, because if it comes to nuclear war, there will not be even an historian left to investigate the reasons why it came to this point. So I’m not unaware of the incredible danger. But I believe that the majority of the world is already creating a new system: The BRICS countries already have a GDP which is higher than that of the G7. And you saw at the recent G20 meeting, despite incredible pressure, the majority of the countries of the Global South do not want to change sides! Even the Trilateral Commission, which is really—not exactly my kind of organization—the Japanese representative of the Trilateral Commission just recently said, telling the United States and Great Britain, do not force us to choose sides between China and the United States, because if we are forced, we will choose China. This came from Japanese Trilateral Commission members!

So the spirit is really not—people do not want this geopolitical confrontation any longer. And I think there is a tremendous chance—look, Modi, who will chair the G20 in the coming year, just wrote a very beautiful statement, where he echoed essentially what I’m saying, that there are people who say that man is evil, but he says, no, the fact that there are so many aspirations in religion and philosophy that man is fundamentally good. And I think that with the leadership of India in the G20, you will see that the Global South will have a much great voice.

And we are trying to convince people in the United States and in Europe to join with that new system, rather than trying to oppose it. And, OK, maybe that will not function, but I’m optimistic that it’s the only choice: Because we have to get the United States and Europe to cooperate with the countries of the Global South and China. If the United States and China, which are the two largest economies of the world, are not working together, then no problem of the world can be solved. On the other side, if we succeed in showing that there is an advantage for everybody, to solve poverty—I mean poverty should be eliminated! It is the biggest violation of human rights you can imagine. So, all I want to say, is that what we are proposing is actually in cohesion with the wishes and desires of the world population.

SOLOVIEV: Well! But how can you imagine those guys in U.S., in U.K., in Germany, giving up the complex of superiority, where they still consider the other part of humanity, according to Kipling, half-beast, half-humans, as in the burden of the white man? So how can you imagine Americans suddenly recognizing that they’re not the chosen nation? They won’t count it! They don’t want to do it! No one ever gave up the complex of superiority before being defeated. There is no brain to apply to: Look at Biden! There is no {brain} to apply to! There is a number of stereotypes! And that’s about it.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Yeah, but look, Josep Borrell from the EU made this incredible statement that the EU is a beautiful garden…

SOLOVIEV: Yes, surrounded by jungle.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: And that made him the laughingstock of the whole world!

SOLOVIEV: But he is an idiot! And he represents the diplomacy of the EU! What kind of idiot right now represents the EU as the top diplomat? That’s annoying!

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Yes. But, in a certain sense, you have to laugh about it, as many countries of the Global South are doing.

The countries of the developing sector are right now in a mood where they recognize that this is the effort to keep the colonial order. But that is not—Look, all of these countries have a different tradition. The United States, for example, made their independence in the War of Independence against the British Empire. And the Constitution of the United States was the first real republic in the history of mankind, and if you look at the principles of Benjamin Franklin, of George Washington, of John Quincy Adams—John Quincy Adams said exactly what we are saying today, that you need a partnership of perfectly sovereign republics and the United States should not go out and look for foreign monsters. And then, Lincoln had the same idea. Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he designed the Bretton Woods system, it was meant as the first priority to overcome the underdevelopment of the developing countries. Even Kennedy had a beautiful idea about the role of technology would solve all the poverty in the Third World. So there {is} a tradition in the United States which is completely different. The problem with the United States right now is that they have adopted the model of the British Empire as the basis to rule the world in a unipolar world, in a unipolar style. But that is not the whole United States! The people of the United States are essentially good. It is what some people call the “MICIMATT”—you know, Ray McGovern—

SOLOVIEV: Right.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: It’s the military-industrial complex, plus the Congress, plus the media, plus Silicon Valley, but that is a small minority. They look like the all-powerful force right now, but I think this other tradition of America is there, and we are trying very hard to make a revival of the best traditions of the United States.

SOLOVIEV: I hope that you succeed. I hope you succeed! Unfortunately, our time is running out. And excuse my smile: The reason is that my wife’s name is Olga Sepp [ph], so when I see Helga Zepp, I feel like I’m talking to a relative, should I say! [laughter]

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: That’s funny!

SOLOVIEV: Yes, that’s quite unusual. And, I love what you’re saying! And I love your very sweet, idealistic, but very thought-through, based on the belief that human are better than they are.

The only minor thing is: The Founding Fathers of the United States, after all about democracy and “human rights,” shall we say, so they all owned slaves. So, their definition of free men, were only for WASPs, and that’s what makes us Russians being so careful when we’re dealing with the West—the definition of every word. You have to be sure that you understand words in the same way. In any other case, we’re running into problems all the time.

It was a pleasure, and I to continue our discussions in the coming future.

Zepp-LaRouche on CGTN: “Fostering Cooperation in a Fragmented World”

January 19, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Agriculture, BRI - Belt & Road, BRICS updates, China, Economic development updates, Education, Finance, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Germany, Global Diplomacy, Healthcare, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, New financial order updates, Power & Energy, Railway projects, Space updates, World Land-Bridge updates, World war danger updates

Jan. 18, 2023 (EIRNS)–CGTN today published on its English-language YouTube channel (which has about 3 million subscribers) a 14-minute video commentary by Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, on the occasion of the Davos World Economic Forum. CGTN’s introductory blurb asked the question: “How should world leaders work together in a volatile situation? Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and president of the Schiller Institute, to explore these talking points.” The video can be found here.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche:

The world economic forum has given its annual meeting the title “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” and shortly before the Forum published their Global Risk Report, in which they present the results of the latest Global Risk Perception Survey. In that, they consider the current crisis, then the expectation of what many experts think will come out in the short term (two years), the most severe in the long term (ten years), in terms of the economy, the environment, society, and those geopolitical and technological risks that could become tomorrow’s crises. Then they consider how these different crises could evolve into a “poly-crisis” by 2030.

Concerning the methodology used to come to their evaluations, they report that they interviewed over 1200 experts from academia, business, government, the international community, and civil society between September 7th and October 5th, 2022. In other words, this Global Risk Report is not based on scientific methods, but rather on an Aristotelian method to arrive at the common denominator of the opinions of selected experts.

While there will also be attendance from countries of the Global South, who may try to set different accents, the World Economic Forum represents a good portion of the top global corporate establishment; and they clearly try to continue to push their agenda, which is an acceleration of the Great Reset, that they have been pushing before. It completely leaves out the optimistic perspective, for example, of the circa 150 countries working with the Belt and Road Initiative and their optimism that through investments in infrastructure, agriculture, industry, and international scientific cooperation, etc., most of the problems they insist will dominate the next years can be overcome.

Instead, there is a lot of talk about “progressive tipping points” and “catastrophic outcomes,” which are all designed to motivate the assembled business leaders and beyond, to adopt the program fitting the financial interests of the main financial players of the neo-liberal system. For example, in the section called “Natural Ecosystems; past the point of no return” they write:

“Human interventions have negatively impacted a complex and delicately balanced global natural ecosystem, triggering a chain of reactions. Over the next ten years, the interplay between biodiversity loss, pollution, natural resource consumption, climate change, and socioeconomic drivers will make for a dangerous mix.

“Given that over half of the world’s economic output is moderately to highly dependent on nature, the collapse of ecosystems will have far-reaching economic and societal consequences. These include increased occurrences of zoonotic diseases, a fall in crop yields and nutritional value, growing water stress exacerbating potentially violent conflict,” etc., etc.

The deep Malthusian pessimism reflected in such a statement makes clear that this report is more a program of their intent than a scientific prognosis. Because of human interventions, the world population has increased from a few millions after the last Ice Age to 8 billion. If there will be a fall in crop yields, then [it will be] only because of the Green demonization of modern agriculture. And if there will be a violent conflict, then only because the necessary development of new fresh water resources will be blocked by the Malthusian environmentalist agenda.

Economic Risks in 2023

Unfortunately, I think that 2023 will see an escalation of the financial and economic crises. The central banks have tried to curb inflation by raising the interest rates rather rapidly. Then, as we could see for example in Great Britain, they had to suddenly go from quantitative tightening to quantitative easing again, because of the danger of a chain reaction of over-indebted firms; thus going back to the inflationary money pumping. Since the tendency towards hyperinflation is the result of ever more monetarist policies going for profit maximization at the expense of physical economy and the reckless liquidity injections following the systemic crisis of 2008 by the trillions of dollars, euros, and pounds, only an end to the casino economy could solve the problem.

What should be put on the international agenda is the reintroduction of a Glass-Steagall banking separation, which puts the commercial banks under state protection, but forces the investment banks to straighten out their balance sheets on their own without taxpayer money. Then, each country must create their own national bank, because credit creation must be under the sovereign control of the governments. These national banks must then cooperate to create a new credit system, which is only devoted to investments in projects serving the common good of the people. There are already efforts going on in this direction among many countries of the Global South — also, to create a new international currency.

While it is very difficult to predict the exact time when the systemic crisis of the neo-liberal system will come to a head, it cannot be excluded that the decision to have a complete reorganization of the international financial system could force itself on the agenda in this year of 2023.

Geopolitical Conflict Triggering a Chain of Reactions

Right now, unfortunately, the crisis over Ukraine — which is not a crisis between Russia and Ukraine, but between NATO and Russia — is accelerating in a dangerous way. I think it is extremely urgent that a diplomatic solution is found quickly to end the war. There are various efforts, like Pope Francis has offered the Vatican as a venue for negotiations, and I and a group of Latin American legislators have written an open letter to the Pope to mobilize people around the world to support this idea. We are also asking people to sign that letter. Also, President Lula from Brazil has been asked to mediate by several countries from the Global South; and also President Erdogan from Turkiye has made some efforts.

I think all of these proposals should be merged, because too much is at stake. But, I think because the crisis around Ukraine is so dangerous, the initiatives made by President Xi Jinping with the Global Security Initiative, together with the Global Development Initiative are probably the most important angle to solve the crisis. The Global Security Initiative is really a proposal for a new international security architecture, and obviously that must take into account the security interests of every single country on the planet for it to work.

I am aware that right now it does not look very likely that the countries of the so-called West would be willing to discuss such a new international security architecture, given the fact that NATO is trying to become Global NATO, and Japan and Great Britain have just signed the so-called “Reciprocal Access Agreement,” and the US, the UK, and Australia have signed the AUKUS pact. But the BRICS countries already have a higher GDP than the G-7; and 17 countries of the Global South are applying for membership in the BRICS. So, they are in the process of representing the vast majority of the human species. And the countries of the Global South have made it quite clear that they don’t want to be drawn into a geopolitical conflict between the West on the one side, and the China and Russia on the other side.

I think it is therefore quite possible that in the course of 2023, the financial crisis erupts even more dramatically, and that that will be the right moment to put the combination of the Global Security Initiative and the Global Development Initiative on the international agenda. I think President Xi is very right that security can only exist if there is development. So, I am sure that the vast majority of the countries who are striving to overcome the relics of colonialism, and who really want to develop into become modern and prosperous countries, would support such an intervention.

And then hopefully, the countries of the West can see that it would be in their best interest to cooperate with the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Global Risks in the Next Two Years

There are policy initiatives which can overcome the inflation by reorganizing the financial system, by addressing the root causes for the crisis. The excessive profit orientation at the expense of the physical economy clearly did not work. And what the World Economic Forum calls the geo-economic confrontation can be stopped the moment these CEOs recognize that win-win cooperation with the majority of the countries in the world would also be in their best interest; since to cooperate with growing markets with billions of people with growing buying power is for sure better than to go bankrupt in a crash. And the best way to cope with natural disasters and extreme weather events is to invest in basic infrastructure, water management, and scientific and technological progress in order to develop the technologies to have early warning systems, secure housing construction, and other means of adaptation.

Disagreements on Cybersecurity in Major Countries

There have been various attempts to have agreement between major countries on cybersecurity. There was an agreement for example in 2013 between Russia and the United States to establish a secure phone connection, and a working group to mitigate cybersecurity threats. In 2017, in light of the allegation of election interference made against Russia, Trump and Putin agreed to create a cybersecurity unit to prevent election interference and other cyber threats. Trump praised it as a big step forward, but was forced to backtrack only 12 hours later, due to massive pressure from Congress and the mainstream media. Then, in preparation work for the 2018 meeting in Helsinki between Trump and Putin, Russia offered the United States cooperation in the field of preventing cyberattacks on critical infrastructure — power plants, water supply and transport management systems, hospitals, banks, and so on. The corresponding provision was included in the joint statement of the Presidents of the two countries prepared by the Russian side for adoption at the summit in Helsinki. While the summit between the two Presidents worked well, all hell was unleashed against Trump afterwards by the same forces, and the agreement was not signed.

At this point, the trust between the West and Russia and China is at an historic low point. Under these circumstances, an isolated agreement on cybersecurity seems very unlikely. Therefore, a great vision is required on how a solution can be put on the table which addresses all the major problems together, such as a new, just world economic order based on such concepts as the Global Security Initiative in combination with the Global Development Initiative.

I think that we have reached a point in the history of mankind where we really must get serious about the international order of relations among nations, and how we can organize them in such a way that we can self-govern as a species which is gifted with creative reason. In an existential crisis, [such] as the one we are experiencing right now, and which is very likely going to get much worse, it is not the amount of money one owns that counts; but it is the quality of political leadership of exceptionally wise and moral men and women who have the ability to shape the future for the benefit of all humanity.

In Davos, there will be a great number of billionaires, millionaires, and hangers-on to power. It will be very interesting to watch if they are also up for the larger job required.

Russian Academy of Sciences Linked Sites Publish Schiller Institute Paper on Prospects for a Fusion Energy Economy

December 3, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, BRICS updates, Economic development updates, General updates, Media coverage of our activity, Power & Energy, Russia

Nov. 26 (EIRNS)—Websites associated with Russia’s Institute for Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAS) have just published the address, titled, “Prospects for a Fusion Energy-Based Economy for the BRICS Nations and Partners,” by Richard A. Black of the Schiller Institute. The address was given at the Oct. 25-26 conference on “Scientific-Technological and Innovative Cooperation of BRICS Countries,” organized by the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research. The conference heard an address also on Oct. 25 by Helga Zepp-LaRouche on prospects and principles for a new international credit system, as designed by Lyndon LaRouche. The Russian websites which have published the paper are “Greater Eurasia: Development, Security, Cooperation” and “The Club of Subjects of Innovative and Technological Development.” The INION of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which published the speech, is a section of the RAS. Taras Muranivsky, who headed the Schiller Institute in Moscow for many years until his death in 2000, was associated with that section of RAS, and Lyndon LaRouche had addressed it in 1994.

Over a Million Mexicans March in Support of AMLO’s Government

November 29, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General, General updates, Mexico, Our initiatives (petitions, etc), World war danger updates

Nov. 28, 2022 (EIRNS)–President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called a march in Mexico City on Sunday, Nov. 27, to which he would give a report on his government, four years in. An estimated 1.2 million Mexicans turned out, according to the official report by the (pro-AMLO) head of the Mexico City government, Claudia Sheinbaum.

It was a real show of force by AMLO against the neocon-led destabilization of his government. The crowd was very large and very festive, full of mariachi bands and people doing traditional Mexican dances as they marched, with delegations from around the country participating with their signs identifying their city or region. The slogans chanted were simple: “AMLO, you are not alone;” “It is an honor to be with Obrador;” and “Mexico is my party.”

The Schiller Institute was present, using the occasion to advise Mexicans of the nuclear war danger facing the world. As people gathered for the march to start, organizers gave megaphone briefings and distributed 2,000 leaflets next to their very big banner reading, “Citizens of the World: Unite. Stop Nuclear War! For a New World Economic Order. The Schiller Institute,” which they then carried as part of the march. While some were taken aback by the Schiller Institute’s message in the midst of this great fiesta, many people listened carefully to the briefings and were happy to take a leaflet. Many took videos and photos of the banner.

Unlike the march organized against him by the ultra-right opposition three weeks before, which saw perhaps 60,000 in a rich area of the city, when AMLO began his hour and a half speech, Mexico City’s giant Zocalo central square was full. The President began by noting his happiness that the majority of people participating in the march were young people. He reviewed his administration’s efforts, in particular, to “put the poor first,” and push aside the oligarchy’s grip on the government.

The President told the march that Mexico’s foreign policy is one of “non-intervention, self-determination, cooperation for development, and the peaceful solution of disputes; we act on the basis of the ideal of universal brotherhood.”

He also delivered an implicit warning to the rightwing opposition being mounted against him. Mexico is a “sanctuary of freedom” and the right to freedom of speech and dissent today, he said. “For example, here, in Mexico City, a few days ago, without any obstacle, the most famous personalities of the world’s ultra-right held their summit here.” He then added: “We never again wish to apply Article 33 of the Constitution, and we do not want anyone to call anyone a pernicious foreigner.” He did not say, but everyone knows, that Art. 33, which states that “foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country,” grants the President “the power to expel from national territory any foreigner, according to the law, after a hearing.”

Page 4 of 27First...«345 »...Last

Lift All Sanctions on Syria, End the U.S. Occupation

Action Beginning

Reports From Experts

Faith–Based Groups

By Helga Zepp-LaRouche

Recent posts

language