PRESS RELEASE
LaRouche Visits Sudan
WIESBADEN, Germany, Jan. 20, 2001 (EIRNS)--"Peace Through Development Along the Nile Valley in the Framework Of A New, Just World Economic Order," was the title of a four-day conference held in Khartoum, Sudan, from Jan. 14-17, and co-sponsored by the Centre for Strategic Studies and the Ministry of Information and Culture, of Sudan, and the Schiller Institute and EIR.
The event marked a step forward in bringing together forces regionally, to establish peace through cooperation, among the nations of the Nile River valley. Thus, the participation of two Egyptians, from the University of Cairo Faculty of Economics and Political Science, along with the deputy director of the Ethiopia International Institute for Peace and Development, in such a seminar hosted by the Sudanese, constitutes a real breakthrough, on which we shall continue to build.
Lyndon LaRouche opened the proceedings on the first day, with a lecture on the perspectives for development in the framework of a new, just world economic order, and also keynoted the second day's session, with a paper on the New Bretton Woods. In his two addresses, and in a third, written document submitted as a paper, on the dialogue among civilizations, as the means to defeat projects for religious war, LaRouche presented an exhaustive overview of the global financial, monetary and economic breakdown crisis, its root causes, and the political significance of the incoming Bush team in the United States. From this standpoint, he then outlined the means to establish a new monetary system, and a totally new arrangement of political-economic relations among sovereign states.
The broad picture outlined by LaRouche, was filled in over the succeeding days, by numerous illustrious speakers. Prof. Sam Aluko of Nigeria joined with Uwe Friesecke of EIR to document the utter failure of globalization. The example of Nigeria, illustrated by Prof. Aluko, and also Prof. Ode Ojuwo, of the University of Jos, made the point, that one cannot compromise with IMF policies and survive.
The role of continent-wide infrastructure in the development of Africa, was presented in a series of speeches, ranging from the Eurasian Land-Bridge (presented not by EIR, but by Dr. Gabir Said Awad of the Cairo University) and its extension into Africa through Egypt (again, presented by Cairo University Prof. Hamdy Abdel Rahman), to Sudan's railway program, presented by the general manager of the Sudan Railways Corporation. Water development was the subject of a session addressed by the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, and a former Agriculture Minister, who is also a former ambassador to the U.S. They laid out the dramatic picture, of how the Nile River waters, if managed equitably and rationally, could enormously expand agricultural output, for Africa and the world.
The final session, dedicated to peace through development as the foundation for a dialogue of civilizations, focussed on the peace process in Sudan. Two Sudanese speakers, an editor of a daily paper and the secretary general of the state support fund, presented the government's achievements in the peace process. They were followed by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who raised the level of discussion, by introducing the precedent of the Peace of Westphalia, and its emphasis on the need to define foreign policy by the principle of love. She also developed the notion of the dialogue of civilizations, drawing on Cusa's ecumenical approach, and bringing in Confucius, as an example of a philosophy outside the Abrahamic traditions. In this session as well, the speakers from Nigeria and Ethiopia participated, contributing precious insight into the problems of peace-making, from their experiences with war and peace, in their own countries.
A full report of the conference, with texts of speeches, will be provided in an upcoming issue of EIR.
Attendance at the conference was characterized by high-level representatives from the political and economic life of Sudan.
