EDITORIAL
New Silk Road Comes to South America; Now for North America! LaRouche: ‘It’s in the Poetry’
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—In the countdown to the APEC Summit of heads of state this coming weekend in Lima, leaders of the countries where President Xi Jinping will make official state visits (Peru, Ecuador and Chile), are expressing their excitement at the prospect of what amounts to a New Silk Road coming to South America. This paradigm shift is implied also for North America, in last week’s momentous U.S. election revolt against the dead Wall Street/City of London system. The urgent task is to activate Americans to realize this potential.
Lyndon LaRouche, briefed on these developments today, stressed the necessity of the “poetry and music” involved. “We have a helluva job. But through the poetic principle, we can draw people into a deeper understanding of themselves, and what they can do.” There is no time for delay. The Glass-Steagall law must be reinstated, and the needed emergency and long-term measures taken for a reorganized banking system, credit issuance for a thorough economic build-up, and resumption of science.
Seen from abroad, some voices are coming out strongly on the new potential in the United States, even while it’s dangerously slow-going Stateside. Last week, the recently elected governor of Tokyo, Ms. Yuriko Koike (at one point, Minister of Defense in Prime Minister Abe’s 2007 cabinet, and for 23 years in the Diet) took note that Trump supports Glass-Steagall, so, Japan had better relate to that, because it is a “major tidal wave” of change.
On Nov. 17 in Lima, Peru—on the eve of the APEC Summit, Helga Zepp-LaRouche will be a featured speaker (via video, with live Q&A), at the 23rd National Congress of the Association of Economists of Peru. The Congress’ title is, “Bioceanic Train: Its Impact on the Amazon and the Economy of Peru.” The conference map shows a trans-oceanic, sea-and-land bridge originating at Port of Tianjin, China, going to the Port of Bayovar, Peru, then crossing the continent by train (via Pucallpa, Peru) to the Atlantic Ocean Port of Santos, at São Paulo, Brazil.
On the same day, President Xi will start his South American state visits, in Ecuador, where President Rafael Correa is exultant about the future. Correa said that Xi’s presence is “the most important visit of any head of state in the history of Ecuador.” Experts are discussing the productivity to come from Chinese collaboration to spur agro-industrialization, and end the syndrome of nothing but raw materials exports.
Today, President Xi and Donald Trump spoke by phone, on cooperation. Xi said, “I attach great importance to China-U.S. relations and am ready to work with the U.S. side to carry forward bilateral ties and to better benefit the two peoples and the rest of the world.” Trump, in response, is reported to have said there can be win-win results. “China is a great and important country with eye-catching development prospects.” The head of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Jin Liqun, took note today that a Trump advisor spoke favorably last week of the U.S. joining the AIIB. Jin also pointed out that, “The letter ‘A’ in the AIIB stands for Asia, Africa and America. They all start with [it] and that means the bank is for all of them.”
This evening, the U.S. Congress returned to Washington, D.C., after a seven-week election recess. They are long overdue for action on Glass-Steagall—in need of a tough and beautiful lesson in poetry and music!
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
President Xi Speaks with President-Elect Trump
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—President Xi Jinping spoke with President-elect Donald Trump by phone Sunday evening, during which the Chinese President congratulated Trump on his election. The Chinese President told Trump that as China-U.S. cooperation faces important opportunities and has huge potential, the two countries need to strengthen coordination, advance their respective economic development and global economic growth, and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples and promote the smooth development of China-U.S. relations.
“As the biggest developing country and the biggest developed country respectively, and as the top two economies of the world, there are many things in which China and the United States can and should cooperate,” Xi told the President-elect. “I attach great importance to China-U.S. relations and am ready to work with the U.S. side to carry forward bilateral ties and to better benefit the two peoples and the rest of the world.”
For his part, Trump thanked Xi for the congratulations and said that he agreed with Xi on his views about U.S.-China relations. “China is a great and important country with eye-catching development prospects,” Trump said, according to Chinese state media. “The United States and China can achieve mutual benefits and win-win results. I would love to work with you to enhance the cooperation between U.S. and China. I am sure the Sino-U.S. relations will achieve better development.”
The two also agreed to maintain close contact, establish a good working relationship, and meet at an early date to exchange views on bilateral ties and other issues of common concern.
Similarly, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking in Ankara, Turkey on Sunday, said, “We want to improve our relations under the Trump Administration.”
Chinese Ministry Says China Can Work with Trump on Infrastructure
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, speaking at the ministry briefing today, responded to a question regarding Donald Trump’s call for infrastructure investment. Geng said that China was willing to cooperate with the Trump Administration on all levels, including the area of infrastructure investment. “As for the specific areas of cooperation,” Geng said, “China takes a positive attitude to all areas that will benefit the two countries and peoples, including infrastructure.”
Trump Victory Implications Sink In in Some Quarters
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—“Where Mr. Trump might look for an early (and relatively easy) success however, may be in foreign policy. As ‘Nixon went to China,’ so Trump can go to Russia and China, and begin to treat them as normal nations with whom it is possible to find an intersection of interests (as well as areas of disagreement). This would be revolutionary. It could change the geo-strategical map. And as President Putin keeps repeating … the door is open (at least for now). Nothing is forever in politics,” wrote Alastair Crooke, senior British intelligence figure and former diplomat, on Nov. 12 in Consortiumnews.
Crooke is very clear on the global implications of “Trump’s Win—A Rebuke to the Elites.” The profound alienation of tens of millions of Americans from the liberal world, with its Davos rich and its “identity politics” (he describes the Congress for Cultural Freedom in all but name as its origin), portends more “political shocks” to European governments as well, he argues.
Former Reagan budget manager David Stockman (“10 Radical Revisions To Rid America of Bubble Finance for Good,” Daily Reckoning) and U.S. lawyer Rahul D. Manchanda (“What Donald Trump Needs To Do,” Eurasia Review), urge Trump to not “capitulate to the destructive policies of the Wall Street and Washington bicoastal establishment,” as Stockman puts it, by stopping the wars and reenacting the Glass-Steagall Act. Stockman’s number one proposal is that Trump adopt “a Peace Deal with Putin for dismantlement of NATO, cooperation in the Middle East, strangulation of ISIS by the Shi’ite Crescent”; fourth on his list is “a Glass-Steagall Deal to break up the giant financial conglomerates.” Manchanda writes that “one of [Trump’s] first orders of business should be the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act,” because the “cancer” of the international banks represents an “existential threat not only to the American people…but also to Donald Trump and his efficiency as President himself.”
From the international left, Ignacio Ramonet credited Trump’s victory, in part, to his call for Glass-Steagall, in a post-election column being discussed in places like Argentina.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Moscow: U.S. Must Rethink Its Afghanistan Policy
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—The absolute failure of U.S. policy in Afghanistan has been highlighted, over the past few days, by a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. base in Bagram that killed four Americans on Nov. 12; the subsequent closing of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul following the suicide attack; and the killing today of two more U.S. soldiers at Bagram by an improvised explosive device.
Moscow will be hosting consultations on Afghanistan among Russia, Pakistan, and China, next month, Zamir Kabulov, the director of the Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, reported today. Kabulov told RIA Novosti that it was in the regional stakeholders’ ”natural” interests to protect themselves from terrorist spillover, noting that containment efforts should take the form of an “Afghan-regional” project.
“We are discussing this with the Chinese, the Iranians, Indians, Pakistanis. There is work on specifics. For example, we are planning the next Russian-Chinese-Pakistani consultations in December. They will be held in Moscow,” Kabulov said.
As for the U.S., Kabulov said that the incoming Trump administration faces the “heavy burden of admitting mistakes and attempting to rethink its approach in Afghanistan,” 16 years after the U.S. intervention there. “That is why they will have to develop relations with regional states, which have a direct interest in the stabilization of Afghanistan. In other words, the Americans will have to readjust their relations with us,” Kabulov said, and confirming that the situation in Afghanistan cannot be successfully addressed without cooperation with Russia.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
China’s Xi Visit To Open New Area of Cooperation with Ibero-America
Nov. 13 (EIRNS)—There is great anticipation and excitement about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, Nov. 17-23, which both Chinese and Ibero-American analysts and diplomats say will usher in a “new era” in bilateral relations and expanded cooperation in a number of areas. As Ecuador’s El Comercio noted Nov. 12, China is especially interested in increasing its investment in industry.
In a Nov. 13 press conference, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Chao stressed that President Xi’s trip will strengthen “comprehensive strategic association with South America, so that together the two regions can jointly deal with their common challenges, promote common development and build a community of shared destiny.”
Xi will begin his tour Nov. 17 with a state visit to Ecuador, which President Rafael Correa has said will be “the most important visit of any head of state in the history of Ecuador.” He will then proceed to Peru, where he will have a state visit with President Pedro Pablo Kuczyinski and attend the Nov. 19-20 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, and then on to Chile for a state visit with President Michelle Bachelet. He is expected to sign a number of economic cooperation deals in all three countries.
Ecuador’s Ambassador to China José María Borja underscored in remarks to Xinhua that Xi Jinping’s visit to his country is a historic one. And, he said, China’s Belt and Road Initiative “will bring great opportunities for Latin American nations to build trade and economic ties with Central Asia,” Global Times reported Nov. 10. Also speaking to Xinhua, Peruvian analyst Miguel Rodríguez emphasized that Xi’s trip “reflects the relevance China gives its ties to Latin America. Our region is a priority for China. The Chinese act with blistering speed, knowing that time counts in international relations. China knows how to win over the world.” China “sees all Latin American countries as important,” said Rodríguez. As for Latin America, beyond commercial ties, “the region is also interested in Chinese technology in order to spur development and industrialization.”
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Li Baodong, during his trip, including at the APEC summit, Xi Jinping will seek support for his government’s proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), now considered particularly viable, given that Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has ceased to exist.
Economists Mobilize for ‘Bioceanic Train’ Congress in Peru; Helga Zepp-LaRouche Keynotes Nov. 17
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—The Ucayali chapter of the Economists Association of Peru, host of the Association’s 23rd National Congress, has released a lively one-minute video promoting the Congress to be held Nov. 16-19 in Pucallpa, Ucayali, whose principal topic is “The Peru-Brazil Bioceanic Train: Impact on the Economy of the Amazon Region and the Country.” The train project will be “the beginning of the great dream of an economic development corridor” for the entire north and west of Peru, the video spot declares. National and international guests will speak on Nov. 16-17, it announces, showing the poster for the keynote panel, with Helga Zepp-LaRouche clearly visible; the Transport Committee of the national Congress will participate on Nov. 18th; and the Economists’ Congress concludes on Nov. 19th with a summit of the governors of Peru’s Pacific Northwest departments, and an Investors Forum, with businessmen from China, Brazil, and Peru scheduled to participate.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche is delivering the keynote speech to the Congress via a recorded video presentation on the Nov. 17 morning panel, laying out the global perspective around the New Silk Road, and will then participate in a live Q&A session by videoconference. EIR’s chief correspondent in Lima, Luis Vásquez, will also speak on the morning panel, on “Economic Development Corridors and South America’s Integration with the BRICS,” and EIR’s David Ramonet will address the congress the next day (by Google Hangouts) on “The Role of Infrastructure in the Development of the Biosphere.”
The Dean of the Ucayali Economists, Roberto Vela Pinedo, sent the video out to economists around the country, accompanying his answer to a debate over how to answer critics, especially from youth, who say that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a neoliberal outpost. Peru is hosting this year’s APEC Summit, on Nov. 18-19. Vela Pinedo answered that “we hope that China brings us pivotal news for the country” around the Economic Development Corridor, whose main component is the Peru-Brazil Bioceanic Corridor, “the mega-project which will transform the destiny of our country, and principally the 11 regions of the Northern Route, whose essential details will be elaborated in the 23rd National Congress of the Economists of Peru.” Through the project, Peru will become “a connecting port between the Asia-Pacific region and South America.”
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Tokyo Governor Expands on Trump’s Support for Glass-Steagall
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—Reflective of the global shift now in progress, is this item, spotted in a Japanese magazine, The Page, from Nov. 11. In an interview with Tokyo Governor Ms. Yuriko Koike, (who, at one point, was Minister of Defense in Prime Minister Abe’s 2007 Cabinet, and for 23 years in the Diet), the senior stateswoman—apparently spontaneously—raised the global topic of Glass-Steagall, in response to an otherwise mundane question about the local tax code.
“Let me also mention another financial topic,” Ms. Koike said. “During the presidential election campaign, Mr. Trump announced his support for reinstating the Glass-Steagall law, originally implemented under President Roosevelt, which deals with a long-standing conflict of interest between commercial banks and investment banks. I would like to take up this conflict of interest as a topic in our committee meetings and discussions, so that we will not be left behind on these major tidal shifts in the U.S.. Of course, Japan is Japan, but nonetheless, we should not miss out on such a big wave as this, as local/global competition is already intensifying.”
When briefed on this earlier this morning, Lyndon LaRouche exclaimed that this was “the first thing I’ve heard from the real world.”
SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Egypt Prepares To Build First Nuclear Plant; Trainees Going to Russia Soon
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy spokesman Ayman Hamza said today that in preparation for the construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant at Dabaa, it will send 1,711 engineers and technicians to Russia to be trained, according to Sputnik. The contract with Rosatom to build the first nuclear power plant could be signed next month, Sputnik wrote. “If the agreement is signed by the end of the year, the first group of trainees will be sent next April” to Russia, Hamza said.
In June 2014, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, facing a huge power shortage in the country, proposed building nuclear power plants. Receiving offers from Russia, Japan, and South Korea, he apparently accepted the Russian offer. What attracted Egypt’s attention the most is the offer from Russia’s state-owned firm Rosatom of a $25 billion loan to build the reactors. The Russian proposal stated that it would finance 85% of the project, with Cairo paying the remainder. Egypt will eventually repay the loan at 3% interest, over a 22-year period that begins in 2029.
Turkey’s Yildirim: Environmentalism Is ‘a Trap’ against Developing Nations’ Use of Nuclear Power
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim declared that environmentalism is an obstacle to developing countries. “The environmental issue is a trap. If you start developing and have an advantage over other countries when you make a strategic investment, or move in on their territory, they immediately activate environmentalists,” Yildirim said at the “Meeting of the City’s Architects” event in Istanbul.
Yildirim continued, saying that the destruction of history, culture, and nature should not be tolerated. “To maintain supply levels, we need a variety in energy. We should build three [nuclear power plants], not just one or two,” he stressed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a similar statement last week, and on Nov. 7, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak announced that the private sector had invested $5 billion in 2016 to build a total of 158 electricity generating plants in Turkey.
OTHER
Obama on an International Legacy Tour of Failure
Nov. 14 (EIRNS)—Clearly planned to be a global victory lap celebrating the continuation of U.S. global hegemony, with the presumed triumph of Hillary Clinton over Trump—Obama’s international trip this week will now be a spectacle of failure. He goes first to Greece, then Germany, thence to Peru.
In Athens on Nov. 15, Obama’s original, delusional plans—reminiscent of his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic Convention, done from an outdoor stadium—featured him delivering a legacy speech, in the shadow of the hills of the Parthenon, seen worldwide as a symbol for democracy. The venue is now changed, because of reported security reasons, to the Naxos Culture Center on the waterfront, with a much smaller audience.
Obama will be in Berlin Nov. 16, where leaders of the U.K., France, and Italy are to converge for a conference on confronting ISIS and global terror, much increased under his tenure. He will then dine with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, where the two will perhaps compare their retirement plans.
Finally, Obama will spend the weekend in Lima, Peru, at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where he will remember what could have been, meeting on the sidelines with the leaders of the 12 nations who signed onto the TPP, which now is off.
