LaRouche Addresses Guatemalan
Economists on Global Crisis
Economist and U.S. Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. addressed the Guatemalan Society of Professionals of Economic Sciences on Nov. 13, in a two-hour videoconference which held all 70 persons present rapt with attention. Notables in the audience included people from the Guatemalan government, diplomats from Cuba, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, as well as economic professionals from three universities, other professionals, representatives of Guatemala's Indian community, and members of the Society. LaRouche concentrated on demanding that those present take responsibility for thinking big, and engaging their governments in the kinds of discussions required for establishing a new, just world monetary system, and reorienting the world economy toward physical economic growth, through such projects as the Eurasian Land-Bridge.
Guatemala's economy is in shambles, devastated by the global collapse in the price of coffee exports, and the demise of the United States as "importer of last resort." Half of Guatemala's maquiladoras—basically the country's only "industry"—have folded, leaving their employees stranded from one day to the next, and many of the other 50% of these slave-labor camps have put their workforce on furlough, hoping for an "upturn." The audience broke into applause when LaRouche said that the foreign debt of developing sector nations had been paid several times over, and were particularly thoughtful when he emphasized that responsibility for what the future will be, lies in their hands.
The day after the conference, the Society issued a press release, titled "In Videoconference With Guatemalans, LaRouche Says, 'Defend Sovereignty!' " Here is the full text:
"The president of the Society of Professionals of the Economic Sciences, Dr. Francisco Ramírez Alvarado, inaugurated a videoconference yesterday with the U.S. humanist economist Dr. Lyndon LaRouche, which was attended by high-level government representatives, diplomats, labor leaders, a former national university dean, delegates of various financial institutions, and Indian representatives. The event was held at the Hotel Intercontinental in Guatemala City, under the coordination of journalist Carlos Enrique Wer.
"In open opposition to those currents which have been imposing themselves upon the country, in asserting that sovereignty is already an obsolete value and that 'limited sovereignty' is the national contribution to globalization, Dr. LaRouche brilliantly presented the reasons why sovereignty and the sovereign state should prevail, not only as a means of achieving the common good, but as the only possibility for avoiding the expansion of war.
"The sovereign state is solely responsible for the common welfare, security, and the realization of those values which are common to the human race; when one rids oneself of the materialist manifestations which make one an egoistic being, the true nature of one's potentials in action enables one to visualize the future, not merely as the realization of one's own objectives, but of the objectives common to mankind as a whole, no matter the color, race, religion, or place of birth.
"Combining humanism with his enormous scientific talent, Dr. LaRouche declared that the collapse of the international financial system is inevitable, that the economies which depend on the United States as 'the importer of last resort' will be seriously affected, and that if an agreement among nations on the model of the post-World War II Bretton Woods agreement is not renewed, decline to levels of starvation and destruction will also be inevitable.
"In focussing on the problem of the foreign debt for developing nations, he declared not only the injustice of it, but the obligation to reject imposition of its immoral collection. He said that the debt has already been paid over and over again, and that the speculative way in which it has been managed, has forced countries to pay a debt which, at the same time, has limited the capacity of the states to meet their social and development commitments.
"The charge just made yesterday by the most prestigious French daily Le Monde, to the effect that the situation in the United States appears like an ongoing coup d'état against the republican institutions of the country, coincides with the charges made by Dr. LaRouche just a few days after Sept. 11. The invitation to the economists, that it is their professional responsibility to present his scientific recommendations for the reconstruction of the weakened national economy, recommendations which take the republican concept of the common good as their compass, had the effect of reviving those present at the event. The enthusiastic comments at the end of the presentation demonstrated this.
"The experience carried out by the Society of Professionals of the Economic Sciences opens new ground, for the use of modern technology, in presenting colleagues with currents of thought that enrich their knowledge."
