ZEPP-LAROUCHE WEBCAST

In Collaboration with China, Africa Will Be a Powerhouse of the Future

This is the edited transcript of the Schiller Institutes’ September 6, 2018 New Paradigm interview with the founder of the Schiller Institutes, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, by Harley Schlanger. A video of the webcast is available.

Harley Schlanger: Hello! I’m Harley Schlanger from the Schiller Institute. Welcome to our weekly strategic international update, featuring our founder and President, Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

It’s really quite extraordinary how rapidly developments are taking place, both in terms of the consolidation of the New Paradigm around the New Silk Road, but also especially around the escalation that’s being conducted by the London-linked geopolitical networks that are out to stop that New Paradigm.

In the last few days, we’ve seen the release of Bob Woodward’s new fictional book, called Fear: Trump in the White House. And there is the Sept. 5 op-ed in the New York Times, supposedly by a top official in the Trump Administration, about an internal resistance movement in the White House, and a number of other things we’ll get to in the course of this program today. Helga, it’s clear from these developments that there is a fear that everything that’s been thrown at Trump so far with Russiagate is not going to succeed, but they’re going for the kill anyway, aren’t they?

Helga Zepp-LaRouche: I think Trump’s tweet in answering all of this is absolutely right, that he is winning. Now, to just look at what is happening: The Woodward book has already been refuted by both White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, both of whom are quoted in the book, and both of whom have said that what is said there is complete fraud.

Then there is the New York Times publishing an anonymous op-ed saying that there are many people in the administration working to undo the worst inclinations of Trump. This is not news. We have said from Day One that the neo-cons in the Trump Administration were working on every level to sabotage the policies of Trump, and in many cases, the reason Trump has not made the kind of progress he could have made, is due to these moles and this cabal.

So this is a typical operation, much like what was done in Italy many years ago, called “Operation Clean Hands.” It targetted corruption that was part of the postwar Italian political system—you do me a favor and I do you one—which was the Italian system. At a certain point, when the same forces now behind this present operation against Trump decided to dismantle all existing parties in Italy, they published everything. It’s not that these crimes were something new. A typical method of the British and other similar secret service organizations is to blow up their own operations when they want to go for maximum destabilization.

The publication of the Woodward book combined with the New York Times article is supposed to induce a paranoid response from Trump about who he can trust and who not (as if he were not already dealing with exactly that sort of problem). It was also designed to get people all worked up and insecure about Trump winning.

This is not just an isolated set of events in the United States. At the same time, Prime Minister Theresa May went to the British Parliament, claiming the British government has proof that the Skripal assassination attempt, and the subsequent attempt on two other individuals in England, is now proven to have been carried out by two Russian GRU [military intelligence] agents. She claimed that they arrived in England on March 3 and then went to try to kill Skripal. Afterward returning to a hotel in London—and Novichok was found in this very hotel. Then, according to May, they took a plane and went back to Russia.

This is ridiculous. British government officials say that they don’t even know the names of the two individuals, yet they say that they know that these two people are GRU agents. In the UN Security Council meeting called by Great Britain, the Russian ambassador refuted the British claims, emphasizing that there is not one single shred of evidence against Russia and that Russia has not been involved in any part of the investigation and Russia completely rejects it.

Planned False-Flag Chemical Attack in Syria

This goes hand-in-hand with the ongoing danger of a false flag operation in Idlib, Syria. Almost all of the remaining al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists assembled in Idlib, after all the other territories in Syria were taken back by the government. Now an offensive against those terrorists has begun by the Syrian armed forces, with some Russian support. The Russians had earlier presented proof, including to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), that the terrorist-supporting White Helmets and another British private security firm were involved in producing false evidence, that chemical agents were being shipped to two villages near Idlib. Teams are ready to film the suffering of the victims. The Russian government said they have proof that this is a planned fake-news event, a fabricated story.

The British government charged instead that it is the Syrian government that is planning to use chemical weapons in their attack on Idlib.

Unfortunately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton both accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and warned him that if he were to move against Idlib, then this would have terrible consequences. It took former Senator Ron Paul to say that Americans should remind themselves that the people now sitting in Idlib, at the least the terrorist element, are the same forces that carried out the 9/11 attacks in the United States, and asked whether anybody wanted to have them replace Assad?

Trump Could Release All FISA Documents

This is wild, completely wild. The aim of all these operations is to get the necessary increase in the vote for Democrats, so that the Democrats could go for an impeachment, counting on some treasonous Republicans joining them in this effort. This is absolutely dangerous. I appeal to everyone to not fall for this trap—all the accusations against Trump have been fabricated. I’m very happy that the Freedom Caucus will have a press conference today, demanding that Trump release all the documents relating to the FBI requests to the FISA Court for surveillance, and all the notes exchanged by Bruce Ohr with respect to his relationship with Christopher Steele, and everything else.

That, in a certain sense, is the “nuclear option,” because Trump could turn the tables completely by publishing all of the documents and letting the people of the United States decide who are the criminals in this whole story, and who are not.

Schlanger: One element of the New York Times op-ed that I thought was a kind of marker of the defensiveness of this faction, was the phrase, “This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state.” What does that describe? It describes operatives inside the White House operating against President Trump’s agenda, which, of course, is what Trump has said from the beginning is the problem he has. And it’s not just the Democrats, but people in the Republican Party as well.

Last week I was in the United States, and had the misfortune of watching American television. It was nonstop coverage of the McCain funeral, presenting Sen. John McCain as the great hero, the bipartisan figure, the person who could bridge the divide. Not a single mention of McCain’s commitment to war, his pushing of the lies concerning Iraq. Remember, McCain had a role to play in the initial Russiagate case, in which he was one of the first people, I think the first Senator, to get a copy of the Christopher Steele dossier.

We now see the neo-cons and the neo-liberals coming together, moving to get rid of Trump. There have been two very important commentaries in the last few days pointing to the danger of war if they succeed. Helga, you’re very familiar with Willy Wimmer, a former top defense official in Germany, and also Paul Craig Roberts. Why don’t you give us a report on what they had to say?

Former Officials Warn of Collusion with British

Zepp-LaRouche: I find it very significant that two former government officials have spoken out. Willy Wimmer was the German deputy defense minister in the Helmut Kohl era, and Paul Craig Roberts had a similar post in the U.S. Treasury in the Reagan Administration. We have very interesting insights from two officials who come from an earlier era—based on completely different axioms, a completely different paradigm.

Paul Craig Roberts said that history demonstrates that these almost unbelievable provocations, now coming from the neo-con and British Empire apparatus, always lead to war. Patriots in Russia, he said, are now putting pressure on Putin, saying that he is too patient—this despite the fact that Russia, with its news weapons systems, probably has the capability to annihilate much of the West without much damage being suffered by Russia. Nevertheless, Putin doesn’t want to risk nuclear war—the consequences are unknown, and it would lead to enormous unprecedented destruction.

Roberts encourages Putin to be more forceful and say what will happen to the West if it comes to war. That is very useful, because I think people should really be aware of this—we are talking about consequences that potentially mean the nuclear extinction of civilization.

I’m very happy that Willy Wimmer warned of the danger of what would happen if Republicans were to join the Democrats for the impeachment of President Trump. He said that people should remember how absolutely tense the situation was in the Presidential election in 2016. If Trump had lost and people thought that there had been vote fraud, the whole situation could have erupted in a civil war. Wimmer further says that the great danger is, indeed, World War III—2018 may be the last year in which we have peace in Europe.

This is very important. I urge people to read these two articles. They are the total opposite of the mainstream media. Wimmer also says, if you listen to the commentaries on McCain’s death, you can see where the hearts of the European heads of government are, namely on the side of the war faction, with Obama and Hillary Clinton, that with the kinds of things they are saying, we would be right back on the war track should the drive for Trump’s impeachment succeed.

I think people should not take this lightly, just because war is not on the minds of many people. The British Empire is absolutely determined to press ahead. Wimmer calls it the “deep state.” We know it’s actually the collusion between what some call the “deep state” in the United States and British intelligence and the British government in the British Empire.

This is the time to really defeat this. The first step would be to publish all the materials on this affair. It is very important for Americans to vote, and to organize others to vote for the candidates who have been loyal to Trump and for whom Trump has campaigned, rather than holding back because Trump, or some of these candidates, are not perfect on all matters. We need to intervene with our programmatic ideas. Right now, the world is on the verge of a financial crash. The danger of a massive financial blowout is now looming. Trichet, the former President of the European Central Bank, said we could have a blowout much worse than 2008 at any minute; look at the reverse carry trade in the emerging markets; we’re sitting on a global powder keg.

So now is the time to mobilize. Sign and circulate our petition for the United States, Russia, China, and India, and possibly Japan, to organize a New Bretton Woods conference. Only if we change the agenda completely can this situation be turned around.

Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

Schlanger: Let me emphasize the war danger one more time. The charges in the Skripal affair and the possible false-flag chemical attack in Idlib province are types of maneuvers the British Empire forces have done before. Why are they trying again? Why is the Skripal case reemerging? Because they’re driving for war, and as Wimmer and Paul Craig Roberts said, that’s their only option, their only alternative.

The better alternative for mankind was clearly demonstrated in a conference in Beijing, which we talked about last week. The summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has now taken place. Helga, I would say it was quite an amazing success. What do you have on the final outcome of this conference?

Zepp-LaRouche: In my humble opinion, the FOCAC conference will go down in history as the official ending of colonialism—because of the kinds of agreements between China and the nations of Africa. There were almost 50 African heads of state attending. Only five heads of state did not go, for one or another reason—they sent their prime ministers instead. There was such a high-level agreement between China and the African continent, and China and individual countries, that I think what Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa said, puts it in a nutshell: He said, the “golden age of China-African relations has begun.” And he said that the accusation that China is luring the African nations into a debt trap is completely ludicrous, the notion that China is pushing a new neocolonialism is ridiculous.

Africa is now free, and African nations can choose which partners are in their best interests.

This is a completely new tone. And one has to also note the irony that the debt trap argument is coming from the old colonialist forces and the media of those colonial powers that continued colonial looting of Africa for centuries. Those are the voices now freaking out about Chinese “neocolonialism.” No one in Africa thinks this is true. Every single head of state who spoke at the FOCAC conference praised the fact that it was with Chinese help that their respective countries now have the chance to develop, in a very short period of time, into modern countries with a good income for their general populations—the exact and total opposite of colonialism.

I think this FOCAC conference was a watershed. It will open up even more possibilities for other countries to join in, as we see such a possibility developing in Italy. Italy is a good exception to the stupidity rampant in Europe. Michele Geraci, Italy’s Undersecretary of State for Economic Development, attended this FOCAC conference with the China task force he helped develop for the Italian government. Italy is one shining example of a Western country saying, let’s join hands with China, to develop Africa. Others instead say they have to have a counterplan. I think it’s stupid. We should just really realize that this is a world-historical opportunity to bring the world into a new paradigm of cooperation—people and nations should join rather than sticking to old, geopolitical positions which are untenable anyway.

This FOCAC conference is extremely good. Many bilateral deals were made between Egypt and China. China will invest massively in energy development in Egypt. Similarly, deals were struck between China and Nigeria, China and South Africa, and with many other countries. So, I think this is really the beginning, as Ramaphosa said, the beginning of a new “golden age.”

A Turning Point in History

All the aspirations of all those countries, which were rejected for such a long time, are now on a positive and good footing. People should really follow these events. Read the African newspapers—they’re full of praise.

The editor of the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit wrote about the FOCAC meeting that it was the colonizer and the colonized, and then he went on to say, “The British at least brought infrastructure to India!” [laughs] This is really funny—it shows you, first of all, whose song he is singing, namely that of the British Empire. Just ask the Indians what they think about what British marauders did for them. Listen to this very important speech given by an Indian Member of Parliament, Dr. Shashi Tharoor—actually in Britain—blasting the crimes of the British Empire against India. The two Opium Wars against China, what all the colonialist powers did in Africa has not been forgotten.

This is liberation: This is really a turning point in history. The news media in the United States did not publish one single word about this summit. In Germany, coverage was very negative for the most part. There was only one objective TV report about it, which one has to note as an exception.

Form your own opinion: World-historical changes are taking place, for the good and for the better. Western Europe and the United States should join this—it is a very happy potential for all of humanity.

China Developing, not ‘Debt-Trapping’ the World

Schlanger: To help form your opinion on this, you can go to the Schiller Institute’s website to get the report that we’ve written on the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa, and also a new paper that we’ve just posted, refuting the argument about the so-called “debt trap.” While we’re speaking of infrastructure, let me mention a new report put out by the OECD on the deficit in infrastructure in the advanced sector countries. I think they’re talking about somewhere between $80 and $90 trillion that will be needed by 2030. What did they conclude?

Zepp-LaRouche: The report says that $71 trillion in investment is needed, but then a banking analyst said, no, it’s $94 trillion. Thirty million km of roads need to be repaired or built—this is 40 times the round trip from the Earth to the Moon. And there are 1.1 billion people without electricity and 1.5 billion have no access to fresh water.

This has to be remedied. At the FOCAC meeting in Beijing, it became clear that there is a complete coherence between China’s Belt and Road Initiative; the UN Agenda 2030 that aims at eradicating poverty, which agenda was heavily influenced in the recent period by China; and the African Union’s Agenda 2063—the 50-year perspective Africa gave itself in 2013, when it released this plan. It is a very, very ambitious plan.

All the African leaders stressed that this is not anybody else’s wish, this is Africa’s wish—that Africa should become a fully modernized continent, leapfrogging many technologies to world-class, state-of-the-art ones, eradicating poverty, transforming their societies into ones of good, middle-class income. Africa is now on that road to success. I find it, again, absolutely unbelievable that you have something accomplished which everybody said they wanted, including lefties—those who had expressed grave concern for the people of the third world—but they are not yet joyfully joining in, in spreading the knowledge of this summit throughout Europe and the United States. The truth is that they don’t care! Instead, many of them have sided with the FBI and the CIA and the Department of Justice against Trump.

There’s something wrong with the thinking of such people, something has happened to all of them.

Let me challenge you, our audience: Join the Schiller Institute, help us spread the information about China and Africa. Make sure that the mobilization for the midterm elections in the United States is on the right path. Because, as Willy Wimmer correctly says, the fate of the world hangs on those midterm elections.

North Korea and the Singapore Model

Schlanger: One perfect example—and this will be the final point we get to today—is North Korea. The opponents of Trump keep saying, “There’s no change, it’s not going to work.” You, Helga, have laid out very beautifully the idea of the “Singapore model” representing a new option for humanity. We have the report from Kim Jong-un today that he is completely committed to denuclearization during the time period Trump is in office. So again, Helga, we see the difference between a positive approach, the Singapore model, and those clinging to the same old paradigm of war, regime change and chaos.

Zepp-LaRouche: Well, yes. And then in a few days, maybe less than two weeks, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea will go to Pyongyang and will discuss with Kim Jong-un denuclearization and cooperation. This is also very, very important to keep in mind. The Singapore model demonstrates that you can turn every crisis into its opposite, by deciding to concentrate on the interest of the other—win-win cooperation—and uplift the whole discussion to a New Paradigm.

That all can happen. We have so many positive developments—the transformation of Africa, the resolution of the Korea conflict—there is much reason to be optimistic about defeating the British Empire’s antics in Syria, provocations in the Skripal poisoning case, and its impeachment drive to unseat President Trump. All they have to offer is negativity. And I think people should not allow themselves to be drawn into that. Mobilize right now: It’s probably the most important time of our lives to do so.

Schlanger: Anything else you want to add, Helga?

Zepp-LaRouche: No. I think that is it.

Schlanger: OK! We covered a lot. And we’ll be back next week, with next week’s Schiller Institute webcast. Thank you for joining us.