FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Volume 6, Number 177

EIR Daily Alert Service

P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390

• A Pregnant Moment
• Chinese and U.S. Negotiators To Meet in Washington in October
• Lavrov Says’Downward Trand’ in U.S.-Russian Ties Counters President Trump’s Intentions
• India To Extend $1 Billion Credit Line for Development of Russia’s Far East
• Official News Outlet Reviews Schiller Institute’s ‘Operation Phoenix’ for Syria Reconstruction
• Homeless Deaths in Los Angeles County Reach Epidemic Proportions
• Venezuela’s Juan Guaido Sets Up a ‘Government’ Run Out of Spanish Embassy in Caracas
• Hong Kong Executive Carrie Lam Clarifies Her Proposal for Ending Violence
• MoviSol Issues Statement on EU Regime Change in Italy

EDITORIAL

A Pregnant Moment

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—As colleges open up across the United States today, LaRouche movement organizers are finding a response there which most Americans would consider quite impossible. Are the campuses hotbeds of “political correctness,” self-censorship, and radical so-called “environmentalism”? They are. And most of the Democratic Presidential candidates endorse the insane idea of a “Green New Deal,” in part because of its appeal to the youth demographic.

The LaRouche organizers have been distributing Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s inspiring leaflet, “The Age of Reason Is in the Stars,” in which she seeks, in her words, to “rally the youth of the world to see that the climate-change madness is completely contrary to the true identity of man as a spacefaring species, which can, with space technology, attack any problem, including that of climate change.” https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2019/09/04/international-call-to-youth-the-age-of-reason-is-in-the-stars/

The response has been electrifying. Hundreds of youth are coming forward who want to discuss these ideas. Maybe the college students are not quite as brainwashed as some would like to believe—or hope. Campus organizing will intensify towards the International Days of Action across the world on Sept. 10 and 12, which will be followed by planetary observances of NASA’s “International Observe the Moon Night” on Oct. 5.

Similarly, the response of Americans of all ages in the street is not at all what past behavior or the media would lead one to expect. The United States is in total flux; great political shifts are underway whose outcome is still unclear. The old system has utterly failed; a new system is needed, and it is to be found in the late statesman Lyndon LaRouche’s ideas. Those who earlier supported him for years are continuing to come forward into the action of today. Others grasp as if intuitively that the Moon-Mars space program is essential if a future is to be insured for the United States and the world. The response bridges generations and overleaps partisan politics.

The LaRouche organization is pulling together a new political coalition in the United States which bridges generations. Regardless of problems or uncertainties, there is no one else who understands the way forward. The future will be defined in the coming hours and days.

U.S. POLITICAL & ECONOMIC

Chinese and U.S. Negotiators To Meet in Washington in October

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—Following their first telephone discussion since Aug. 13, top Chinese and U.S. trade negotiators agreed to meet in Washington in early October and to create positive conditions for dialogue. Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone on Sept. 5, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. A separate announcement by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said a deputy-level meeting would be held in mid-September to “lay the groundwork for meaningful progress.”

The call also involved Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang, and Ning Jizhe, the deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission. This is the first time that the latter two have joined the talks, which now include representatives of all the top economic institutions of China.

Spokesman Gao Feng for China’s Commerce Ministry told reporters that the phone call went “very well.” He emphasized that China opposes an escalation in the trade war, and will try to make “real progress” when they visit U.S. in October. He also expressed the hope that the U.S. will stop taking “wrong actions” against Chinese companies (such as Huawei).

Global Times and some other Chinese media directed attention to the phrase “real progress,” which they said China had not previously used in these negotiations.

South China Morning Post reports that Taoran Notes, a social media account affiliated with the state-run newspaper Economic Daily, commented that officials from both countries may address each other’s core concerns in the coming days.

China has insisted that a trade deal should be equal and balanced, including removing tariffs and agreeing on reasonable quantities of Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural and other products, SCMP reported. “The upcoming trend, whether it will develop in a positive direction or repeat [previous tensions], will probably be decided by [the Americans’ actions],” it said.

Meantime, Vice Premier Liu met with Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and David Perdue (R-GA) on Sept. 3. President Donald Trump said that China had requested the meeting and he had approved it.

Lavrov Says ‘Downward Trend’ in U.S.-Russian Ties Counters President Trump’s Intentions

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov once again commented on U.S.-Russian relations, or lack thereof, in an interview yesterday in Vladivostok with MIC Izvestia multimedia information center, TASS reported today. The full transcript of his interview can be found on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

After once again protesting the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and putting into question the future of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Lavrov said the Trump Administration has still not responded to any of the overtures Russia has made for dialogue on these issues.

“Of course,” Lavrov said, “our relations with the U.S. are undermined. Unfortunately, this process continues. We are not begging to be friends. However, our proposals on how to improve bilateral relations have been repeatedly extended to our American colleagues, including during the meetings between the Presidents and at my meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, as well as with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton.”

He further stated that, “those proposals concern spheres of strategic stability, as well as economic, trade and investment cooperation, and cooperation between political analysts and civil society experts on issues that are important for bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.” Lavrov explained that Russia and the U.S. have “many common interests in the world, as well as many common responsibilities…. Unfortunately, despite intentions to normalize relations with Russia that have been confirmed many times by U.S. President Donald Trump and other key officials, nothing positive is happening at the practical level. The ‘downward’ trend continues. Our American colleagues continue to impose unilateral sanctions, without even trying to justify this. It contradicts the attitude that the U.S. President projects,” TASS quotes him as telling MIC Izvestia.

Lavrov also complained about the new sanctions the U.S. has imposed. “Our U.S. colleagues are trying to introduce unilateral sanctions without even bothering to explain some reasons—just for no reason at all. This contradicts the sentiment which is constantly being voiced by the U.S. President,” Lavrov said, insisting that Russia is “always ready to resume relations in the formats which the United States currently finds comfortable.”

He also had some harsh words for U.S. Democrats: “Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama, frustrated because the Republican candidate defeated the Democratic Party in full accordance with the U.S. electoral system, decided to slam the door and ruin … any mechanisms or channels of interaction between Moscow and Washington…. The fury of those trying to accuse the U.S. administration of clandestine ties with Russia, to find reasons to start the process of Donald Trump’s impeachment, shows that, despite the negative conclusions made by the Mueller commission, the Democrats have not backed down from playing the Russia card and are going to use it in the next election campaign, preparing for the presidential election in 2020.”

NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

India To Extend $1 Billion Credit Line for Development of Russia’s Far East

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—India will extend a $1 billion credit line to the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at the plenary meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum today in Vladivostok.

“India will provide a $1 billion credit line. This is an unprecedented case, this is our launching pad in the Far East. The government of India is very active in this region,” he said, TASS reported.

“We concluded 50 agreements worth $5 billion at this forum,” Modi elaborated, stating that the region has great natural resources and potential for active development. India now joins China, South Korea and Japan in the development of Russia’s most promising, yet one of the most scarcely-populated regions in the Russian Federation.

Official News Outlet Reviews Schiller Institute’s ‘Operation Phoenix’ for Syria Reconstruction

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—On Sept. 3, the Syria Times published a review of the 2016 Schiller Institute video “Operation Phoenix and the Rebuilding of Aleppo,” first shown during a Schiller Institute conference in Berlin in June 25-26, 2016, under the title “Creating a Common Future for Mankind, and a Renaissance of Classical Culture.” The author, Haifaa Mafalani, contacted EIR editor Hussein Askary, who has written extensively on Southwest Asia and Africa, a week before the review was published in order to obtain all EIR’s information on Operation Phoenix. The review, while mistakenly identifying EIR and the Schiller Institute as Swedish organizations, nonetheless captures the spirit behind Operation Phoenix and the necessity for the reconstruction of Aleppo, Syria for all mankind.

The review states that in November 2015, “a delegation of the Schiller Institute and the Syrian-Swedish Committee for Democracy travelled to Damascus to bring humanitarian aid to the war-torn country, but more importantly, to present to the highest levels of the Syrian government the Schiller Institute’s Project Phoenix for the Reconstruction of Syria. A year earlier, the same delegation was approached by Syrian officials on the Schiller Institute’s views on this subject.” It also cites the EIR 370-page special report “The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge” as an intervention into conditions created by both the Russian military intervention in Syria beginning in 2015 and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. “This report presents a realistic and urgently-needed vision of history’s greatest peace and development project, connecting continents and nations through trade and development corridors,” the reviewer writes.

After describing the various component parts of the Land-Bridge, the review concludes: “Not only Aleppo but all of Syria, with its people, culture and artifacts, represent a unique and living testimony to the co-existence and continuity of the different human civilizations. It is imperative on the world to defend and preserve it, and make it, when peace is established, the world capital for the dialogue of civilizations!”

The Syria Times is an official publication affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Education. It describes itself as intending to become “a space for ‘continuous dialogue between media, government, citizens, civil society, expatriates and internationals in Syria.’ ”

The review is posted to Syria Times website on Sept. 3.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Homeless Deaths in Los Angeles County Reach Epidemic Proportions

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—Reflecting the culture of death deliberately imposed on many large American cities, the Los Angeles Times reported today that nearly three homeless people die every day in Los Angeles County, a rate now reaching epidemic proportions. “They are dying on sidewalks, along riverbeds, and in tents, parks, shelters, vehicles, motels and hospitals,” the Times reports, estimating that more than 1,000 homeless people will die this year in the county.

The deaths of homeless people, as a result of illness, addiction, accidents, suicide, and the “ravages of being unsheltered,” the Times adds, is nearly double the rate of deaths by homicide. Dr. Susan Partovi, who has been treating homeless people in Los Angeles for years, commented that “we know the research says that people who are what’s called rough sleepers, those who are living on the streets and not in a shelter or a car, are 10 times more likely to die than the regular population.”

The average age of the first 666 homeless people who died in Los Angeles County as of Aug. 25 was 51, which is well below the county’s average life expectancy of roughly 80 years. And, according to this report, bodies are found in virtually every corner of the county. In 2012, there were 407 homeless people who died in the county, and the rate has increased every year since, with 2018 reaching a record high of 921. In the first six months of this year, 525 homeless individuals died, which is 88 more than for the same period of 2018.

According to Brian Elias, chief of investigations for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office, “we’re seeing homeless deaths in areas where we didn’t see them five or ten years ago…. In a region of abundant wealth and world-class hospitals, people die penniless, they die in pain, they die alone.”

Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó Sets Up a ‘Government’ Run Out of Spanish Embassy in Caracas

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—On Aug. 28, Venezuela’s self-proclaimed “interim” president Juan Guaidó set up what is an attempted parallel government, calling it a “government center,” to be led by opposition figure Leopoldo López, a top operative of the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy. López, who has been holed up as a “guest” of the Spanish Embassy in Caracas since he escaped house arrest in early May, will operate the so-called government from the Spanish Embassy!

As Guaidó explained in his press conference, this so-called government is intended to “end the [Maduro] usurpation” as soon as possible, although it has no power. Guaidó named a number of other “ministers,” including current ambassador to the Lima Group, Julio Borges, who will act as foreign minister, along with others designated as economics and humanitarian affairs “coordinators.”

Coinciding with Guaidó’s Aug. 28 announcement, the same day the State Department announced it had set up a Venezuelan Affairs Unit (VAU) at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, to provide U.S. diplomatic representation to Guaidó’s “government.” VAU head, Chargé d’Affaires James Story, told the Venezuelan daily 2001 that the U.S. doesn’t seek a military intervention into Venezuela, but only a “peaceful, political and democratic resolution (of the crisis) based on Venezuela’s constitution.”

Since Guaidó is not Venezuela’s elected president, he has not been invited to speak at the upcoming UN General Assembly—the actual President Nicolas Maduro has been officially invited. So, Guaidó, who has been supported by the same “more than 50 countries” since he declared himself interim president last January—the number hasn’t changed—has been forced to organize a parallel event in New York, coinciding with the UNGA, and will pretend to speak as a head of state.

OTHER

Hong Kong Executive Carrie Lam Clarifies Her Proposal for Ending Violence

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)— In an attempt to clear up any misconceptions (or misconstructions) made by protesters and the media after her announcement that she would be withdrawing the extradition bill, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that the Hong Kong Legislature would be convened, not to discuss the proposal but to simply announce the action taken by the Chief Executive. “There would be no voting and no debate,” she said, but merely a statement by the Secretary of Security, who, for reasons of protocol, must formally call for pulling back the measure.

She also made clear that the decision to withdraw the bill was her decision, and not that of the Central Government. The Central Government was, however, informed of the decision, she said, and had expressed support for it, as it had supported her throughout the disturbances. “It was I who took the initiative to introduce the bill, and it was I who decided to withdraw it,” Lam said. With regard to the protesters’ demands for an independent investigation of police actions during the riots, Lam said she would rely on the IPCC, the Hong Kong watchdog commission which is responsible for investigating complaints about the police. She said she had appointed two more members to the IPCC and has also brought in five foreign “experts,” from the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

As for protesters’ demands to free those who were in jail, Lam said that the Department of Justice would deal with the individual cases in accordance with the rule of law. And with regard to the questions of universal suffrage, Lam said that universal suffrage is an “eventual goal” as stipulated in the Basic Law governing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) but that this would occur only in time. She also indicated that she would be initiating a broad policy of dialogue with citizens’ organizations to discuss some of the underlying problems that have plagued Hong Kong and its citizens, questions of housing, land use, and job opportunities.

MoviSol Issues Statement on EU Regime Change in Italy

Sept. 5 (EIRNS)—The following statement on the regime change in Italy was issued yesterday by Liliana Gorini, chairwoman of MoviSol, LaRouche’s movement in Italy. It is entitled “A Government Imposed by the EU To Prevent Elections and Impose More Austerity on Italy”:

The new Giuseppe Conte government, supported by the Democratic Party (PD), the Five Star Party (M5S) and the left party Liberi e Uguali, has been imposed by the EU in order to prevent elections and ensure a blood, sweat, and tears austerity budget, which Italian voters had clearly voted against in the European elections in May. For the fourth time in six years, the Democratic Party enters the government without being elected. Many wonder how this crisis erupted, and how Lega head, and former Vice Premier Matteo Salvini, “made it possible.”

In reality, the government crisis was decided before Matteo Salvini initiated it on Aug. 8, with the Five Star party and the Democratic Party vote in the European Parliament in favor of the new European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, which created an alternative majority in that body; and then again with the meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and Giuseppe Conte in Rome on Aug. 2. Not accidentally, this coalition against nature was labeled in Italy the “Ursula majority,” and the government program agreed on by the PD and M5S—in particular the so-called “Green New Deal”—is a copy of the program announced by Ursula von der Leyen after her election. Speculators and billionaires such as George Soros are pushing this program to save the collapsing financial system by creating yet another speculative bubble, after the derivatives one—of the so-called “climate bonds.”

The 26 points of the new “red-yellow” (PD-M5S) coalition are a reflection of this speculative bubble on behalf of “climate.” It’s no coincidence that point 9 of the 10 points which former Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said was “indispensable” after his meeting with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale, referring to banking separation, mysteriously disappeared from the program agreed upon with the PD, which now only vaguely speaks of “safeguarding savings.” The PD has always been the party of banks and speculators, and up until a few weeks ago, that’s how the Five Star party referred to it. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (PD), and his men in the Finance Committee, systematically sabotaged all motions for Glass-Steagall which have been introduced in the Italian Parliament, ever since Renzi met Angela Merkel in Florence.

Let’s not forget that banking separation, together with national banking, were both in the government contract between the Lega and the Five Star party which the EU blew away, and that Italy was the first G7 country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative last March, which drove the European Union to distraction, as it has always opposed cooperation with China on infrastructure projects in Europe and Africa. These three points—banking separation, national banking, and the New Silk Road—have been proposed with determination by the LaRouche movement and MoviSol over the last ten years, as Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche, emphasized at the conference “Italy on the New Silk Road” sponsored by MoviSol and the Lombardy Region in Milan on March 13, two weeks before the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Italy and China. That conference was also addressed by Michele Geraci, undersecretary to the Development Ministry, and main architect of this policy of cooperation between Italy and China.

The fact that the new Conte government was created to take orders from Brussels, was demonstrated also by the list of ministers, starting with Economics Minister and PD European Parliament Member (MEP) Roberto Gualtieri, who was very admired by the EU bureaucracy and openly praised by new European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, as “an excellent choice.” As Lega MEP Marco Zanni stated on Sept. 4, Gualtieri is among the authors of the fiscal compact and bail-in, which implies compulsory seizure of funds from bank accounts in order to save speculators. Luigi Di Maio, now Foreign Minister, will have to learn the correct name of Chinese President Xi Jinping (whom he called “Ping” during a visit to China), since China will continue to play a key role in the world economy, no matter what Brussels thinks. The only good news is that Danilo Toninelli, who had opposed the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail tunnel and all major infrastructure projects, will no longer be Infrastructure Minister.

A government born only out of the desire to prevent elections, knowing full well the PD and M5S would lose them badly were they ever to take place, will not last very long, particularly because of the contradictions between the two main parties making up that coalition. The Lega already announced it will be a tough opposition, and it still controls two main committees—the Budget Committee in the Chamber of Deputies and the Finance Committee in the Senate—so it can block government action or make it difficult.

One last consideration regarding the exuberance of the “markets” after the announcement of the deal between the PD and the M5S: If governments are made for the EU and the markets, instead of for citizens, what is the point of having ministers swear on the Italian Constitution at the Quirinale? It would be more honest to form such governments directly in Brussels and have the ministers swear on an OTC derivative or a climate bond.

Reach us at eirdailyalert@larouchepub.com or call 1-571-293-0935