President of Eritrea Urges for a New Financial Architecture
July 30, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—In what could be termed “a shot heard ‘round the world,” Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki took the opportunity in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg to put the truth on the table that “there is no Russia-Ukraine war ... this is a war declared by NATO on Russia ... but, not only Russia—NATO is for dominating the whole world!”
Afwerki was seated on one side of the table with his entourage of three representatives, and Putin sat directly opposite him, flanked by seven other Russian government officials and ministers.
He continued,
“They [NATO and the West] came up with this fantasy after the end of the Cold War—‘containing Russia’—containing any power, big or small, that challenged them—economically, culturally—they have to contain everybody...
“Ukraine is a sacrifice ... it is a victim.... NATO will spend billions, even trillions [to keep this war going] ... they have to defeat Russia to dehumanize everything ... it has declared war on Russia [in Europe], but has [also] declared war on the world for hegemony....
“To me, we’re now in the final phase.... NATO will not get out of ‘intensive care,’ Europe will not get out of intensive care ... these are systems which are crumbling—it’s only a matter of time.”
When he pointed out that the current financial system is “only printing money, printing money ... for nothing,” Putin chuckled and nodded in agreement, as he did several times throughout Afwerki’s remarks.
Afwerki then asserted, “We need a new financial architecture for the world.” He also described how Eritrea had been punished repeatedly by “sanctions, sanctions, sanctions,” even though it’s a tiny country without much power, but because NATO must contain and put down any country “that won’t bow down to them.”
“No, we need to start again. And I say that Russia must lead this strategy ... facing this declared war, a global war.... Everybody should come and join with Russia.” He said that we need a new strategy that will lead to peace and development.
“Russia should design a strategy, not that they have to do it alone. We can contribute ideas” for industry, agriculture, development.
NATO’s drive for hegemony goes historically back to slavery and colonialism, he asserted, and has intended to exterminate populations and grab land.
“We are at a crossroads; we are in a transition to a new world order. How do we design such a new order? How do we strategize?... Russia has an historic mission to play, on behalf of everyone in the world.”
He emphasized that he wasn’t trying to flatter Putin, but that this is a difficult crisis facing the whole world, and that Putin “is the leader of the show, he’s in charge.”
He laid out that Eritrea has the plans and programs for roads, irrigation projects, energy, railroads, etc., but doesn’t have the means to build up the country, even by mobilizing every single penny.
Russia must take the lead against this hegemonism by NATO, he concluded.
Putin and his ministers were listening intently throughout, nodding and taking extensive notes on Afwerki’s remarks.
As the Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov commented during the April 9, 2022 Schiller Institute conference, the Schiller Institute must play a leading role in the creation of such a new financial architecture.
