EDITORIAL
Coup Operations Against U.S., Italy, and Others Are Dangerous, But Blatant; Hit the British!
May 28 (EIRNS)—We’re sitting on a powder keg. In Europe, destabilizations are mounting. In Italy, the latest phase of blocking sovereignty and the will of the electorate occurred last night, when President Sergio Mattarella denied the ministerial roster submitted by the coalition of M5S and Lega parties—objecting to senior economist Paulo Savona for Economics Minister—and instead declared an ex-IMF austerity hitman, Carlo Cottarelli, as Prime Minister-designate, mandated to form a cabinet. When sent to Parliament, Cottarelli’s list will be rejected, prompting more chaos, and new elections. This is a coup, but the London-centered “financial community,” expressed by Handelsblatt, applauds Mattarella for blocking “populism.”
In Spain, a crisis is looming, as a no-confidence measure will be debated later this week, on the Rajoy government, which has demerits, but the danger comes from the lack of any positive program from anyone at all. The potential instability here particularly threatens those parts of the Iberian Peninsula which have been moving strongly with the Belt and Road Initiative.
In the United States, the Mueller/Russiagate Coup, though discredited by the hour, is still in operation and causing havoc in policymaking across the board. And all the while, the Wall Street/City of London monetarist system is cracking up, as shown by the recent emergency palliatives administered to Deutsche Bank, and the worsening situations of several national economies which are being slammed, as hot-money games blow out in Argentina, Brazil, and elsewhere.
The situation is very dangerous. But the blatancy of the “British” element throughout, creates a not-to-be missed opportunity, for action to strike the fatal blow. The London-centered financial and geopolitical power network is resorting to ever-more obvious dirty means to oppose the advance of the new world paradigm seen in the “New Silk Road.”
Our latest heavy ammunition is the May 26 LaRouchePAC “Memo to President Trump: Time To End the Special Relationship; Declassify All British Spawned Documents Concerning Your 2016 Campaign.” This Memorandum puts it all together. As it states, “The actual story … is that the British and their friends in the Obama Administration ran a full counterintelligence and information warfare operation against the American presidential campaign of Donald Trump, because they knew that Trump could win the election against Hillary Clinton, an uninspiring robot candidate, who had completely lost touch with any Americans not associated with the bi-coastal elites.”
President Trump himself reiterated in six tweets over the weekend, how Russiagate has turned into Spygate. For example, March 26, “This whole Russia Probe is Rigged. Just an excuse as to why the Dems and Crooked Hillary lost the Election and States that haven’t been lost in decades…#SPYGATE & CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.” Though he omits citing the British factor, Trump did make reference to it historically, in his May 25 speech at the Annapolis Naval Academy, saying that, “Our ancestors trounced the Empire….”
Now is the time for trouncing the Empire worldwide. The indications of what positive steps could look like, for the advent of a worldwide shared future of peace and development, come from Asia. Previews were given today from Beijing, of the June 9-10 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Qingdao, where President Xi Jinping will chair the sessions, host a state visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and welcome guest observer nations, including Iran. Two days later, there is the prospective meeting of President Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Italian President Snubs Voters, Names Ex-IMF Official as Prime Minister-Designate
May 28 (EIRNS)—After Italian President Sergio Mattarella last night rejected the ministerial slate of the M5S and Lega coalition, singling out senior economist Paolo Savona to attack as unacceptable to “world finance,” Mattarella then mandated an ex-IMF official, Carlo Cottarelli, as his designate for prime minister, to provide a proposed cabinet. Procedurally, this must go to the Parliament for approval within a few days, which will not occur. New elections loom, which could be in autumn.
Cottarelli, nicknamed “Lurch” for his similarity to the character from the Addams Family TV series, has been an IMF official. His training includes the London School of Economics. Cottarelli led a review of Italian public sector spending under the Letta (PD) government. His suggestions to cut 60,000 jobs from the public sector were too much even for Letta’s successor Matteo Renzi, who fired him. Cottarelli became known as “Mr. Scissors.” Recently he has been the source providing a figure of over €100 billion for the cost (and therefore new debt) of the M5S-Lega program.
Cottarelli’s cabinet will be voted down by Parliament and, therefore, will take care of preparing early elections, which could be held in September-October. Political parties are already positioning for the campaign. In this context, the Lega is credited with over 30% of the vote by some polls. It is not clear whether the Lega will choose the same allies as in the last elections. There might be surprises.
The M5S and Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) have asked for an impeachment procedure against Mattarella. Lega head Matteo Salvini warned against being impulsive. Indeed, an impeachment procedure would take up a long time in Parliament and this would stretch the life of the technocratic government.
A Cottarelli government can do some damage, including approving decisions for the next EU budget at the June EU summit.
Another ECB Coup in Italy
May 28 (EIRNS)—What happened yesterday in Italy can be fairly described as a coup. The coup executor was State President Sergio Mattarella, but the string-puller is the European Central Bank.
Typical of the general media coverage, the German economic daily Handelsblatt applauds Mattarella: “Italy’s State President Did It Right—Forza Mattarella!” Handelsblatt talks about the political chaos which has dominated Italy for weeks, neglecting the chaos that has dominated Germany for months. “Sergio Mattarella has fully used the power of his office and the Constitution and has prevented a populist coalition in Italy.” (“Forza Mattarella!” is like a sports cheer: “Go Mattarella!”)
The daily Il Giornale reports a confidential statement by Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister (2014-2016) to a collaborator, saying, “In these days, Mattarella very much listened to Draghi and Visco,” referring respectively to the ECB president and Bank of Italy governor.
Mattarella’s own speech is the smoking gun. It was a mixture of beer talk and fake news delivered as a terrorist message. Here are the relevant passages:
“I shared and accepted all proposals for the ministers, except the Economy Minister. The designation of the Economy Minister always constitutes an immediate message, either a confidence or a warning message for economic and financial operators.
“I asked for that ministry, the indication of a prominent political representative of the majority, coherent with the program agreement. A representative that—beyond personal esteem and consideration—is not seen as supporting an often-manifested line that could provoke, probably or even inevitably, Italy’s exit from the euro….
“The uncertainty on our position in the euro has alarmed Italian and foreign investors and savers who have invested in our sovereign bonds and in our companies. The daily increase of the spread increases our government debt and reduces the possibilities for the government to spend for new social interventions. Losses on the stock market, day after day, are destroying resources and savings of our companies and of those who have invested in them, and outline concrete risks for the savings of our citizens and of Italian families.
“We must also watch the threat of strong increases of mortgage interest and for corporate financing. Many of us remember when, before the European Monetary Union, bank interest rates were almost 20%.
“It is my duty, in performing the Constitutional task of appointing ministers, to care for protection of Italian savings.
“…Membership in the euro is a choice of fundamental importance for the future of our country and our youth: If one wants to discuss it, he must do it openly and in depth, also because it was not an issue in the election campaign.”
Mattarella blatantly ignored a statement previously released by economist Paolo Savona and published by scenarieconomici.it, in which Savona made it clear that he would stick to the coalition program, which does not challenge Italy’s membership in the euro or in the EU.
This shows how terrified the European elites are; and you can expect that they will do anything to keep their power.
Spanish Congress of Deputies To Debate No Confidence Vote Against Rajoy This Week
May 28 (EIRNS)—The President of Spain’s Congress of Deputies Ana Pastor announced that the motion for a no-confidence vote, submitted by the opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will be debated in Congress on May 31 and June 1. The motion calls for the current government of Popular Party (PP) leader to be replaced by Socialist Secretary General Pedro Sánchez, who has promised to call new elections “in a few months.”
There are some obvious parallels with the Italian situation and the situation is rightly seen as another potential crisis for the Eurozone. While in Italy the debate is over the inequities of European Union and Eurozone policy, the debate in Spain has various aspects, one of which is the issue of Catalan independence, in which Sánchez is asserting that he could handle the conflict better than the Popular Party-led government.
Today’s no-confidence move follows last week’s conviction of 29 members and supporters of the Popular Party for corruption and fraud for running an illegal party slush fund. Although Rajoy was not among those accused, he did have to testify in the case, with the judge questioning his plausibility.
The PSOE only has 84 seats in the Parliament and would need to have the support of other parties in order to acquire at least 176 of the 350 seats in Congress of Deputies in order to form a government. The leftist Unidos Podemos (67 seats) and the Valencia regional party Compromís (4) are expected to support the motions, but it will give Sánchez only 156 votes. Sánchez is also seeking the support of several smaller nationalist and separatist parties.
The liberal Ciudadanos, the fourth-largest presence in Congress, while not supporting the PSOE-led motion, is calling for early elections and said it would submit its own no confidence motion if Rajoy does not call for elections.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
China Previews Plans for SCO Summit: Putin Will Make State Visit, Guest Nations Include Iran
May 28 (EIRNS)—Chinese authorities today previewed some of the plans for the June 9-10 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will take place in Qingdao, Shandong province. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at a Beijing press conference, made some observations, reported Xinhua, including that it is the first SCO summit since it was expanded a year ago to include India and Pakistan as full members; and it is the second major diplomatic event China will host in 2018, after the Boao Forum for Asia in April.
Besides the eight SCO member states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan), there will be four observer nations (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), six dialogue partners (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka), plus heads of various international organizations.
President Xi Jinping will chair the event. The plan is for a “Qingdao Declaration” to be issued after the summit, which will reprise the SCO development experience of the organization since its founding in 2001. Wang spoke of intentions for the summit to formulate new designs for enhanced development.
Wang pointed up the significance of the event, and the historical context. He said that the province of Shandong is the home of Confucius and Mencius, so it is one of the birthplaces of civilization. Today, “The Qingdao summit will lay out new plans to enhance the synergy of development strategies of member states, especially promoting the construction of the Belt and Road to lift regional economic cooperation.”
There will be three state visits on the occasion of the summit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will have a working visit, whose agenda is to include how to ensure mutual China-Iran projects are not disrupted, in the face of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, to which China was one of the six signers.
China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui today spoke about Putin’s visit at a press briefing. “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to China will become his first state visit after his re-election. It will also be the first meeting of the two state leaders this year. So, this state visit will become an important event for bilateral relations in the first half of the year,” he said, reported TASS.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold discussions and a joint press conference, Zhang said. “There will be numerous other bright moments as well. So, the two state leaders will take part in cultural events to share their opinions more substantially in a free and friendly atmosphere.”
Zhang said, “The sides will sign important political documents in order to sum up and map out new plans in the sphere of bilateral relations, determine areas of priority and goals of cooperation at the current and new stages. … Putin’s upcoming visit will demonstrate a special character and a high level of Russian-Chinese relations.”
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
EU Extends Sanctions Against War-Torn Syria
May 28 (EIRNS)—The European Union has decided to maintain its sanctions against “the Syrian regime,” because of its alleged “ongoing repression” for another year until June 2019, the European Council announced today. This involves an embargo on oil deliveries; of machinery exports including medical equipment, and of higher technologies in general; and the continued freeze against assets of the Syrian Central Bank in Europe. The ban on chemical substances includes pharmaceutical products. All in all, 259 individuals and 67 companies of Syria are included on the EU black list.
Polish Defense Ministry Proposes U.S. Set Up a Permanent Armored Division in Poland
May 28 (EIRNS)—The Polish Defense Ministry has proffered a proposal to the U.S. to permanently station an armored division in Poland and has offered to spend up to $2 billion to host it. Politico Europe reported yesterday, in what it calls “a sign of growing discord within the Polish government,” that the Defense Ministry sent its proposal to Washington without consulting the Foreign Ministry and even without the knowledge of Polish President Andrzej Duda, the country’s commander-in-chief. “The document did not require detailed arrangements with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the Defense press office said.
The Kremlin responded today. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Polish proposal does nothing to advance security and stability in Europe in any way. “On the contrary, these expansionist steps, certainly, result in counter-actions of the Russian side to balance the parity which is violated every time this way,” he said.
The 39-page document, composed in English, which Politico Europe links to, claims in its “Forward” [sic], that “Establishing such a force is necessary to present an unequivocal challenge and deterrence to Russia’s increasingly emboldened and dangerous posture that threatens Europe.” It states that the 2017 National Security Strategy published by the Trump Administration “identifies Russian aggression as a main threat to U.S. and global stability” and cites the 2008 Georgia war and the conflict in Ukraine as evidence of this. “As shown in Ukraine, Russia is capable of effectively deploying hybrid warfare through its annexation of Crimea, cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, and fueling separatists in eastern Ukraine,” it continues. “Russia is seeking to strengthen its political and economic relations with key European countries at the expense of U.S. national interests. An increased U.S. permanent presence in Poland will give America the strategic flexibility it needs to confront and deter these threats.”
The U.S. Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision requiring the Secretary of Defense to examine and report on the feasibility of permanently stationing a U.S. Army armored brigade in Poland.
Colombia Joins NATO’s Global Empire
May 28 (EIRNS)—Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced late on May 25 that Colombia would be formally joining NATO as a “global partner” this week. Colombia will be the first Ibero-American nation to join NATO in such an arrangement. The list of other nations in what NATO calls its “global partner” relationships, includes: Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
As a “global partner,” Colombia won’t be bound by NATO’s Article V mutual defense clause, but will be fully accredited in Brussels, and will be cooperating with NATO in areas such as cyber and maritime security, terrorism and links to organized crime. This holds special irony, since Santos was partner to the recent détente with the narcoterrorist FARC.
Colombia is in the midst of a Presidential election campaign, whose first round took place May 27; the next round of voting is on June 17. Santos praised the new NATO status, in generalities, in his TV address May 25. “Colombia benefits a lot from being an active part of the international community, many of the problems we face are increasingly global and need the support and collaboration of other countries for their solution.”
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Trump Hits ‘Rigged’ Russiagate and Spygate
May 28 (EIRNS)—Over the Memorial Day weekend, President Trump sent out six tweets May 26-27, hitting at the fact that Russiagate was rigged from the start. He did not identify the British involvement. Typical, on May 26, is: “This whole Russia Probe is Rigged. Just an excuse as to why the Dems and Crooked Hillary lost the Election and States that haven’t been lost in decades. 13 Angry Democrats, and all Dems if you include the people who worked for Obama for 8 years. #SPYGATE & CONFLICTS OF INTEREST!”
Another on May 26: “With Spies, or Informants as the Democrats like to call them because it sounds less sinister (but it’s not), all over my campaign, even from a very early date, why didn’t the crooked highest levels of the FBI or Justice contact me to tell me of the phony Russia problem?”
Today, Trump wrote: “We now find out that the Obama Administration put the opposing campaign’s presidential candidate, or his campaign, under investigation. That raises legitimate questions. I just find this really odd…this goes to the heart of our electoral system. Jonathan Turley on @FoxNews,” referring to the constitutional scholar.
Theresa May To Urge Trump To Stay out of London, Avoid Protesters on His July Visit
May 28 (EIRNS)—Britain’s The Sun tabloid reports that Prime Minister Theresa May will propose to President Donald Trump that when he travels to Britain on July 12-14, he avoid London and meet with May at Chequers, the prime minister’s summer residence, instead. May’s proposal, which is to be presented to Trump by U.K. Ambassador Sir Kim Darroch, also suggests that Trump take tea with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle instead of at Buckingham Palace. The Brits are also lining up a visit for Trump to Winston Churchill’s birthplace at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The Sunwrites that all three places are on large estates from which protesters can be kept far away and out of sight.
Chelsea Clinton got in on the act this weekend, commenting that, if she lived in Britain, she too would be among the anti-Trump protesters. Her royalist explanation is that Trump—the President elected by the people—has “debased” what it means for her to be an American.
SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Xi Jinping Makes Case for China To Become a Leader in Science and Technology
May 28 (EIRNS)— President Xi Jinping addressed the opening of the 19th Meeting of the Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 14th meeting of the Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in the Great Hall of the People today. He returned to a leitmotif of his thought in urging his listeners to spare no efforts in transforming China into a major contributor to world science and technology. Underlining the importance of the “two-wheel drive” of the Chinese economy in scientific and institutional reform, he said that China’s scientists should direct their efforts toward pushing for major breakthroughs in science and technology, daring to overcome all obstacles and gearing the research and educational system to promoting creative talents. China’s scientists “must dare to take the road that no one traveled before,” he told the 1,300 people in the audience. “They should not be complacent or self-important, and should be bold in attacking difficulties, pursuing excellence, winning victories, and actively seizing technological competition and the commanding heights of future development.”
Xi also referred to some of the drawbacks in the Chinese system, in which scholars are evaluated by the number of papers they write or patents they submit. “Through reforms, changes in the one-sided practice of using papers, patents, and funds as talent evaluation, standards must not allow scientists to tie their hands and feet to ‘red tape,’ and must not allow scientists’ energy to be delayed by endless reports and approvals.”
Xi also stressed the importance of providing sufficient resources for the scientists for their own livelihood and encouraging a healthy competition in achieving results.
And similar to the message he delivered at the 19th Party Congress, he said that China must open up more. “It is necessary to participate in global scientific and technological governance, contribute Chinese wisdom, and strive to build a community of human destiny. Independent innovation is innovation in an open environment,” Xi said. “We must not close the door to it. Instead, we must gather the energy of the four seas and borrow the power from all eight points of the compass. We must deepen international exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, promote independent innovation at a higher starting point, proactively allocate and actively use international innovation resources, strive to build partnerships for win-win cooperation, and jointly cope with future development, food security, energy security, human health, and climate change. While focusing on these common goals, we will at the same time benefit other countries and people while promoting our own development and promote balanced growth on a global scale. We must adhere to a global perspective to plan and promote scientific and technological innovation, actively integrate into global science and technology innovation networks, increase the level of opening up in our national science and technology plans, actively participate in and lead international scientific plans and projects, and encourage Chinese scientists to initiate and organize international scientific and technological cooperation programs.”
OTHER
Jacques Cheminade Sent Message to Macron in St. Petersburg, via RT France Interview
PARIS, May 28 (EIRNS)—On May 25, while French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at length in the context of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Jacques Cheminade, long-time French associate of Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, was the invited guest of RT France’s evening news program.
Prior to the interview, the RT anchor woman had aired an ironic exchange, in which the Russian President asked Macron if he wanted Russia’s help to make Europe more secure? Putin was obviously amused at the furious reactions of his European counterparts over Trump’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the six-nation 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
RT asked Cheminade whether Putin’s question to Macron made him smile. Cheminade replied: “I think we have to see the whole situation from above. It is a good thing that Macron went to the Petersburg Forum in Russia, and he talked about sovereignty, cooperation, strong multilateralism, and independence, and stated that he wants to create a base of trust with Russia.”
Cheminade continued with determination, “But, I think the first basis for trust, is to lift the sanctions. France must, of its own initiative, say it will lift the sanctions against Russia.”
Cheminade and the interviewer then covered several topics, ending with this exchange:
RT: Last question. Do you think France is trying to make a great split by trying to be both on the side of the U.S. and reaching out to Russia?
Cheminade: I think the moment of choice will come for Emmanuel Macron on the two fundamental questions, the two subjects he should have discussed with Putin. The first is a new international economic order. Everybody knows that the present order is going straight towards collapse, to an extremely grave crisis, a financial tsunami. What must be done is to establish a win-win system with the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU] and with China. The role of China can be fundamental because China espouses what it calls in its tradition, tianxia, an inclusive policy of mutual development which represents the future for all. And in that sense, we can go with China and Russia towards that future, without being anti-American. We must tell Trump: You said that relations with China and Russia should be good, and that that was good for Russia, for the U.S., and for the world. Then do it, not the opposite.
Trump is under the influence of a staffers pushing him to behave like a warhawk. So one of the missions we must take up, is to say that, in the very short term, President Trump and President Putin should meet, to be clear about what the U.S. wants to do. Because one time he says one thing, the next time another; one day he meets Kim Jong Un, the next day it’s cancelled, and now it’s on again. So we must be clear about all that, and clarity demands that we have a long-term economic plan, including in its effects of mutual development in countries such as Syria, which have to be rebuilt. It’s all fine and good to talk about a new Constitution or about elections, very fine, but if there’s no reconstruction, it won’t function.
Furthermore, we need a policy of cooperation with Africa so that it becomes a new China. Russia, China, and France must put the U.S. in front of its responsibilities. They either join, or if they want to go against, then it won’t work.
