• India’s Elections Help Tighten the Noose Around the British Empire
• Modi-Led Bharativa Janata Party Is Heading for a Sweeping Electoral Victor
• Mexico, Central America, UN Propose Regional Debelopment Program, Inviting Trump to Join
• Egypt Inaugurates Spectacular ‘Long Live Egypt’ Suspension Bridge Over the Nile
• China’s Top Legislator Li Zhanshu Talks of Belt and Road in Official Visit to Austria
• Theresa May To Step Down on Friday?
• Chinese Foreign Ministry Slams ‘Debt Trap’ Nonsense, Cites What African Leaders Have to Say
• Ukrainian Authorities Investigate Treason by Poroshenko in Kerch Strait Provocation
• Italian Journalist Blondet Covers Trump’s ‘Eisenhower’ Attack on Military-Industrial Complex
• Canadian Report Claims Small Modular Reactors Could Help Clean Up Alberta’s Oilsands

EDITORIAL

India’s Elections Help Tighten the Noose Around the British Empire

May 23 (EIRNS)—In India, virtually all predictions, except some from stalwarts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own BJP party, had said that Prime Minister Modi would lose his majority in parliament in the just-concluded national elections. But what happened was just the opposite: Modi swept the elections, winning a far bigger majority than before. The nay-sayers had pointed to some unsuccessful, unpopular measures Modi had undertaken, and to his failure to fully meet his goals for new jobs and for water, power and transportation infrastructure for India’s vast rural areas. But they knew absolutely nothing about a spiritual transformation which is churning among the hundreds of millions of India’s farmers. This change is probably related to their knowledge of China’s extremely rapid development from 1978, when it was poorer than India, to the highly-developed China of today. Other factors will probably appear over the coming days.

Both Modi’s stunning re-election, and even more the reasons behind it as cited above, strengthen India’s potential to act as part of the Four-Power Alliance with the United States, China and Russia, which Lyndon LaRouche has forecast could bury the British Empire forever by establishing a “New Bretton Woods” world credit system to replace the current London-centered monetary system.

At the same time, it seems hardly possible that Theresa May will still be Britain’s Prime Minister when President Donald Trump begins his state visit to the U.K. on June 3.  At best, she will only be a caretaker acting Prime Minister, standing by while her Tory Party moves through a procedure to replace her.  But even if that happens, it will not solve the problem either—and many worse outcomes are possible, as the British system of government continues to unravel with no end in sight. Even a general election will probably do nothing to slow its collapse.

The British cast their votes in the European Parliament elections today, but official results will not be announced until this Sunday, May 26, after polls close in the last EU countries to vote.  Exit polls are forbidden, but the last polls before the vote showed Nigel Farage’s three-month-old Brexit Party leading with 33%, Labour at 18.5%, and Theresa May’s ruling Tory Party at 11.8%, its worst showing in a national election since the party was formed in 1834.  British MPs expect to know the drift of the results tomorrow, Friday, May 24, and may force May to resign on the spot or announce when she will go.

As President Trump prepares to leave for London, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, has sent the President a very detailed open letter which advises him to request all the particulars of Britain’s involvement in “Russiagate” from the beginning, and everyone and every government with which they collaborated or communicated, and how.  He especially zeroes in on Joseph Mifsud—the FBI is refusing to turn over their information on Mifsud. Nunes is echoing LaRouche PAC’s long-standing demand that the British turn over everything they have on the attempted coup, which will complement Trump’s upcoming declassification of all U.S. materials, as the Washington Examinerreported today. (See also, EIR Daily Alert, Wednesday, May 22, 2019.)

The British forces, for their part, have connived to derail the U.S.-China trade talks, at least for now.  And before a scheduled second White House meeting on national infrastructure yesterday, Democrats who should have known better, held a meeting on impeachment, effectively cancelling chances for bipartisan cooperation for the general welfare.  Although President Trump has not only announced a Moon-Mars mission, but has become the first U.S. President to request funds for it from Congress—yet some Democrats, clearly not Kennedy Democrats, have seen fit to play politics with that request. Meanwhile, U.S. media are trying to black out President Trump’s space program, so NASA is reaching around the fake-news media with video postings on its YouTube channel, watched by millions, like Trump with his tweets.

But recall the quatrain from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Modi-Led Bharatiya Janata Party Is Heading for a Sweeping Electoral Victory

May 23 (EIRNS)—Counting of India’s marathon four week-long Lok Sabha (Lower House of India’s Parliament) election that ended on May 19, has begun today. Although the final numbers will not be available before May 24, the trend shows the Indian population have rested their faith in the Narendra Modi government for another five years. In fact, the trend indicates that the Modi-led BJP and its smaller allies together could even better their performance in 2014. What is important to note is that the percentage of votes secured by the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) this time around, may surpass the percentage it had secured in 2014 when Narendra Modi had emerged as India’s prime minister.

Although the declaration of final results is hours away, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Modi congratulating him. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs website reported that during the telephone conversation, Modi and Abe agreed to meet at the G20 summit in Osaka next month. Modi has also invited Abe to visit India to attend the annual India-Japan Summit later this year.

China’s President Xi Jinping sent a letter to Prime Minister Modi earlier today congratulating him on the electoral victory of the National Democratic Alliance under his leadership, and stating the great importance he attached to the development of India-China relations and his desire to work with the Prime Minister to take the Closer Development Partnership between the two countries to a new height.

Another head of government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a tweet in Hindi saying, “these results are a testament to your able leadership in the largest economy of the world. We will continue to strengthen the deep friendship between India and Israel. Well done, my friend,” NDTV reported.

Mexico, Central America, UN Propose Regional Development Program, Inviting Trump To Join

May 22 (EIRNS)—In a May 20 press conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Alicia Barcena, head of the UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard presented a program for developing northern Central America and southern Mexico, as the only competent way to deal with the migration problem afflicting the entire region, including the United States.

President Donald Trump, López Obrador announced, has been invited to join this initiative, and has shown interest, as have other members of his administration. The hope, López Obrador said, is that an agreement can be signed with the U.S. to move forward with the program as soon as possible.

Ebrard put a $10 billion price tag on the program, to last a decade, through 2030. As López Obrador said in his remarks to the diplomatic community, UN officials, and other dignitaries, this program is a top priority for him, and he is hopeful that the United States, and Donald Trump, will participate and sign an agreement to become a partner.

Barcena described the program as a “paradigm shift,” one which emphasizes “human security” rather than national security, and focuses on creating economic prosperity, health, education, and jobs, so that people will want to stay in their nations, rather than leave. She called for a huge increase in social spending, to help alleviate poverty, and outlined a series of specific proposals, including energy integration to consolidate the electric interconnection between Mexico and Central American countries, lowering energy costs. Improving infrastructure on the Mexican-Guatemalan border, building a natural gas pipeline extending into El Salvador, and rail integration among the countries of the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) and Mexico, were among several of the proposals.

While the program usefully focuses on infrastructure building, energy and trade integration, rail connectivity, and making “social welfare” a top priority, if it is to succeed, it will also have to address the London-run drug trade, which now dominates the economy and social conditions throughout the region. In its published version, the program only takes note of the enormous violence in the region. AsEIR has emphasized, in addition to a program for regional industrialization, in which the U.S., China, India, Russia, and others should be involved, there must be a regional offensive to take on London’s Dope, Inc. apparatus in all its ramifications, in order to end the poverty and underdevelopment that feeds the drug trade and related migrant crisis.

Egypt Inaugurates Spectacular ‘Long Live Egypt’ Suspension Bridge Over the Nile

May 23 (EIRNS)—On May 15, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi opened a 67.3-meter-wide suspension bridge over the Nile, touted as the world’s widest, one of a series of mega-projects under the Armed Forces Engineering Authority designed to improve infrastructure and provide jobs. The bridge, which crosses the Nile just north of central Cairo, is a key link in a highway stretching from the Red Sea in the east to Egypt’s northwestern Mediterranean coast, and is meant to help reduce congestion in the capital, Reuters reported May 15.

At its widest, the Tahya Masr bridge, being called the “Long Live Egypt” bridge, has six traffic lanes in each direction and measures 67.3 meters (222 feet) across. A regional director for the Guinness Book of World Records present at the opening said that makes it the world’s widest suspension bridge. Around 1 million cubic meters of concrete as well as 1,400 km of steel wire for 160 suspension cables were used in its construction, according to a presentation given at the formal opening.

The bridge crosses the Nile’s Warraq Island, which has an estimated 100,000 residents, some of whom have protested against planned demolitions on the island and plans to develop it into a “modern residential community.” On an inspection visit to the suspension bridge last month, el-Sisi denied reports the island could be sold to investors and said the state could not forcefully evict residents, Reuters reported.

China’s Top Legislator Li Zhanshu Talks of Belt and Road in Official Visit to Austria

May 23 (EIRNS)— China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu, during his official visit from May 18-21 to Austria, met with President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, among others. He promoted bilateral ties and expressed China’s stance on upholding multilateralism and free trade. When meeting with Chancellor Kurz, Li said jointly building the Belt and Road has become a new growth point for bilateral cooperation. The two sides should adhere to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and continuously explore and tap the potential of cooperation, Li said, according to Xinhua.

Li, who is Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), urged the two countries to deepen cooperation in fields such as high-end manufacturing, energy conservation, environmental protection, ecological agriculture, tourism, and finance. Li also said two sides are expected to actively explore innovative cooperation in such areas as the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and 5G technology.

During his meeting with President Van der Bellen, Li said “maintaining multilateralism and free trade is the common responsibility of the international community. Unilateralism and trade protectionism are not in line with the world trend,” and that unilateral withdrawal and unilateral sanctions will not only harm other countries, but also harm the interests of the countries which take the moves, wrote Xinhua in its May 21 coverage.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Theresa May To Step Down on Friday?

May 23 (EIRNS)—According to The Times, British Prime Minister Theresa May will announce her resignation on Friday May 25, after British citizens vote in the elections for the European Parliament, which takes place today. The polls for the voting close at 11 p.m. With the Brexit postponed, the U.K. now happens to be the country that is first to vote. It is generally expected that May’s Tories will suffer a smashing vote loss and end up at the 12-15%, whereas Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party might get even 35-40% of the vote.

May presented a new plan for the Brexit earlier this week, saying that if the House of Commons backed her plan, they would be able to vote on a confirmatory new Brexit referendum. May’s move prompted criticism among lawmakers and officials, and in a spectacular move, House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom has resigned from the cabinet in disagreement over the Brexit with May. The Labour opposition has called for snap general elections.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Slams ‘Debt Trap’ Nonsense, Cites What African Leaders Have To Say

May 22 (EIRNS)—In an exchange with a reporter during today’s Foreign Ministry briefing, spokesman Lu Kang replied to a question about U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), who is said to be preparing the China Debt Trap Act to help “free” African and other nations which China has allegedly plunged into a “debt trap” and whose sovereignty China has threatened through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

A few weeks ago, Sherman also introduced the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Act of 2019, which includes a number of insane provisions to counter “China’s multifaceted challenges to the United States,” as a May 7 press release explained.

Lu Kang replied sharply that it appears that U.S. politicians can’t open their mouths “without accusing China of creating debt traps. I would like to advise them to listen to the response of the countries they are concerned about.”

Take the example of African countries, he said. President Hage Geingob of Namibia recently said in an interview that “Chinese loans, most of which are interest-free, only account for 2.6% of the Namibian government’s total debt. The loan agreements are reached through equal consultations with no political strings attached. Chinese investment is not limited to mega-projects such as airports and roads, but also covers important livelihood projects in education, health and agriculture.” The Namibian people, Lu Kang pointed out, know very well “who colonized and oppressed them, and who are their friends and treat them as equals.”

Then there is Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi, “who also said that it is those who keep lecturing on the debt issue, not China, that caused the debt problem in Africa,” Lu emphasized. And Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh “said that those criticizing the BRI have neither plans nor actions. Our confidence in the BRI and trust in China and Africa-China cooperation will not waiver because of the groundless accusations.”

So, Lu Kang concluded, “We would like to advise some individuals in the U.S. to offer some concrete help if they truly care for developing countries. If that is a tall order for them, they should at least keep a healthy attitude towards other countries’ efforts to help Africa’s development.”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Ukrainian Authorities Investigate Treason by Poroshenko in Kerch Strait Provocation

May 22 (EIRNS)—The State Bureau of Investigations in Ukraine has accepted for investigation a charge of treason against the former President, Petro Poroshenko, lodged by Andriy Portnov, who has been First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration under Viktor Yanukovych, deposed in 2014 in the U.S./British-orchestrated violent coup d’état. Portnov left the country with Yanukovych in 2014, going first to Russia, then to Vienna, Austria. He returned to Ukraine just days ago, preceding the inauguration of newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 20.

The charge brought by Portnov is that Poroshenko intentionally provoked a confrontation against Russia when, on Nov. 25, 2018, he deployed Navy ships to pass through the Kerch Strait, through Russian territory, without following the necessary steps, and then refusing to stop when confronted by Russian ships. The strait is the entry between the Black Sea and the Sea Azov, separating the Russian mainland from the east coast of Crimea.

“Poroshenko’s actions were aimed at deliberately provoking the Russian Federation for retaliatory and easily foreseen aggressive actions in a tense situation, which caused losses in the inventory of the Ukrainian Navy,” Portnov’s statement reads.

TASS reported today that “Ukraine’s state investigation bureau confirmed on Tuesday [May 21] it had opened the criminal case related precisely to the Kerch Strait incident.”

The Human Rights in Ukraine website acknowledged the opening of the investigation, while claiming the investigation bureau will not follow through. It also claims that Portnov had been in touch with Vladimir Putin’s advisor Sergei Glazyev, and was involved in Crimea’s break from Ukraine following the neo-Nazi coup, and therefore should be tried for treason.

Crimeans voted in a March 16, 2014 referendum to reunite with Russia.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Italian Journalist Blondet Covers Trump’s ‘Eisenhower’ Attack on Military-Industrial Complex

May 22 (EIRNS)—Independent Italian journalist and blogger Maurizio Blondet has posted a long article in his blog Blondet & Friends, entitled in translation, “Trump Criticizes the Military-Industrial Complex. Is Something Changing?” First Blondet quoted from U.S. President Donald Trump’s May 19 interview with Fox News’ Steve Hilton (see EIR Daily Alert, Tuesday, May 21, 2019) and compared it to President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous Jan. 17, 1961 farewell address, in which for the first time, he names the “military-industrial complex” and describes its threat to the nation. Then Blondet writes: “This is an anti-Establishment and anti-Deep State discourse that Trump took on for the first time so openly—this, the man who chose John Bolton as an advisor—because he knows that his constituency voted for him in order to stop perpetual wars which are bleeding everyone, and that this constituency, exasperated, is looking at Tulsi Gabbard, his possible adversary in the coming Presidential elections.” Between the two, the success of their attacks on “the ‘war party’ indicates that something has changed in the increasingly exasperated American public,” he observes.

Blondet is happy that “la bella hawaiana,” whom he notes served in combat in Iraq, and holds the rank of major in the Hawaii Army National Guard (he mistakenly says she’s a colonel), is becoming more popular, despite the fact she has been blacked out by the mainstream media, since her 2017 trip to Syria, where she met with President Assad, and declared that Syria is no threat to the United States. Her 2.5-hour interview May 13 with Joe Rogan had 1.6 million viewers and at least twice as many have since downloaded the podcast. Now, he states, she may have real chances—maybe not in 2020, but in 2024.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Canadian Report Claims Small Modular Reactors Could Help Clean Up Alberta’s Oilsands

May 23 (EIRNS)—A report by Canada’s inter-governmental committee and industry stakeholders has come to the conclusion that small modular nuclear reactors could offer the capacity needed to provide largely “emission-free energy to oilsands facilities,” Engineering and Technology reported yesterday. “A nuclear power facility, like a [small modular reactor] would produce electricity, steam and hot water, and electricity, steam and hot water are needed to produce the oil from the oilsands,” said Axel Meisen, a senior adviser with government-funded Alberta Innovates, one of the groups behind the report.

Oilsands emissions per barrel have decreased in the past two decades, but as the industry has gone greener, its impact has begun to take up an increasing share of all oil and gas sector emissions in Canada—going from 16% of all oil and gas emissions in 2000 to 39% in 2016, according to Natural Resources Canada. The oilsands accounted for 10% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, CBC News reported yesterday.

The reactors are cheaper, and can be built out of standardized units created in factory and assembled onsite. Due to their size, they require less complex engineering for heat removal and smaller buffer zones than large reactors, while having enhanced safety features. Meisen said small nuclear plants could replace natural gas to power two processes—heating water for open pit mining, and creating steam for steam-assisted gravity drainage—as well as provide electricity to oilsands facilities, CBC News reported.

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