LaRouche Addresses Swiss,
Italian Leaders on
Chance To Solve Crisis

Democratic Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche visited Switzerland and Northern Italy on Oct. 9-12, organizing industrialists, EIR readers, and youthful supporters to see how Europe can intervene to help solve the global economic and political crisis—at a time when most Europeans are deeply dismayed at the present imperial course of U.S. foreign policy. "It is an irony of history, that the greatest achievement of mankind come as a response to the worst dangers to mankind," LaRouche began his Oct. 9 talk in Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. He then elaborated on the dangers, why they have arisen, and the solution which is found uniquely in the approach of the American System, which he represents.

LaRouche's visit to Switzerland was his first formal address in that bank-rich nation, and it reflected the qualitative increase in his intellectual influence in that republic. His invitation came from the prestigious "Club 44" of la Chaux de Fonds, which has previously hosted such figures as Pierre Mendes-France, François Mitterrand, and Valery Giscard D'Estaing. The cultural director of the Club noted that the address was taking place "in a period of history where men of vision are needed and so few are found."

In northern Italy, LaRouche addressed an international conference on information technology and poverty in Vicenza, and a group of supporters in Milan, where the Solidarity Movement, the association of the LaRouche movement in Italy, is headquartered. In addition to discussing the prospects for solving the economic crisis through the New Bretton Woods and Eurasian Land-Bridge, the Presidential candidate emphasized his campaign's influence and strategy in the United States, against California Gov.-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Cheney cabal in Washington.

As LaRouche has frequently explained to his supporters in the United States, trips such as these are an essential part of building the basis for a future positive foreign policy for the United States, especially in the midst of the growing hostility toward the United States due to the Bush Administration's current policy.

The View from the Alps

LaRouche's invitation to Chaux de Fonds, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, created quite an uproar, including a slander in the most prominent francophone newspaper of Switzerland, Le Temps, on the day he arrived. (Its author, U.S. correspondent Alain Campiotti, showed his true credentials by writing an editorial in the same issue praising Schwarzenegger.) In addition, some in the local banking community pressured the Club to cancel the meeting, and some people threatened to send provocateurs. But the organizers refused to cave in to such heavy-handed tactics.

LaRouche spoke on Oct. 9, on the financial and economic breakdown crisis, as well as his solution for getting out of the mess (see transcript, below). The question period was extremely lively, with questions on the Mideast, the cultural crisis in the world, terrorism and the American role in Sept. 11, the World Trade Organization, and how to change America for the better, especially with the LaRouche Youth Movement.

LaRouche stressed to the participants that they and their republic must take responsibility for making the world a better place. In private, many observed that they had never seen a man so concentrated on his sense of mission. Supporters who had been reading LaRouche's writings for years, were delighted to finally see him "in real life." Some Swiss "federalists," while praising the depth and quality of LaRouche's views, found that he put "too much emphasis on the nation-state."

Italy at a Crucial Conjuncture

On Oct. 10-12, LaRouche travelled on to Italy, where he went on the record with his exposure of the "beast-man" policy represented by the election of Schwarzenegger in California. Against the "beast-man" faction, LaRouche presented the unique role of his Presidential campaign.

This is LaRouche's second visit to Italy this year, at a time when Italy chairs the European Union presidency. Facing the Italian presidency, which ends Dec. 31, are now the critical phase of the "Tremonti Plan," a scheme for financing infrastructural projects in the EU; as well as the consolidation of Franco-German opposition to the pre-emptive war policy of the U.S. government.

LaRouche's intervention in the strategically key industrial centers of Milan and Vicenza was therefore intended not only to assert leadership on national policies, but also to influence the EU at a moment of strategic re-orientation on both its economic and security policies.

In Vicenza, the center of the export industry of northeastern Italy, LaRouche spoke at a seminar with supporters as well as at a meeting of the International Strategic and Scientific Institute (ISIES), a think-tank connected to the local Chamber of Commerce. The newspaper Il Giornale di Vicenza announced the visit with an article stressing LaRouche's role as an economist and his opposition to the policies represented by Dick Cheney.

"The American economist," the newspaper wrote, "will present his proposals for reorganizing the international financial system and rebuilding the world economy, known as 'New Bretton Woods' and 'Eurasian Land-Bridge.' " LaRouche, the paper explained, "is second only to former Vermont governor Howard Dean, in the list of American Democratic candidates with the largest popular support. LaRouche, however, represents a current of thought adversary to the one represented by Dick Cheney. Founder of an international political movement working to solve the crisis of productive economy in Europe and the United States, LaRouche proposes to abandon post-industrial policies, which opened the gates to deregulation and the domination of financial speculation over the real economy."

During the seminar on Oct. 10, where mainly local entrepreneurs and economics students participated, LaRouche explained the recent California developments and the significance of the deployment of "beast-man" Schwarzenegger, as well as discussed questions related to his Land-Bridge program and his conception of physical economy, including the issue of relationships with China under current World Trade Organization regulations. China's dumping of low-cost products is a hot issue in Italy, a phenomenon due to the WTO-promoted looting of China's labor force on the coastal area. Italian industry must be defended, LaRouche said, but at the same time Italy should cooperate with those tendencies in China which want to develop the mainland, mainly through technology sharing and infrastructural investments.

Such issues, along with other political, historical and cultural matters, were discussed also in private meetings between LaRouche and leading local entrepreneurs who support his views.

The next day, LaRouche addressed the ISIES meeting, which was on "Information Technology for Development." Other participants included EU representative Harry de Backer, as well as political authorities from the Veneto region, government advisors, and entrepreneurs.

In Milan on Oct. 12, LaRouche addressed about 60 friends and supporters in a three-hour speech and discussion. Here, again, LaRouche picked up on the "beast-man" issue, elaborating the concepts he had addressed in the Vicenza seminar. In particular, LaRouche explained the connection between the Schwarzenegger operation and the power faction represented by George Schultz, one of the dismantlers of the Bretton Woods system in 1971-72. Paolo Raimondi, chairman of the Italian LaRouche movement, called on the audience, which reacted with enthusiasm, to support the creation of a youth movement in Italy similar to the LaRouche Youth Movement in the United States. In these pages, we publish the full text of LaRouche's speeches.

LaRouche provided a striking message of optimism to those outside the United States, who only see the "official" picture presented in the world media. When he left Italy, this optimism had been rekindled, in preparation for the decisive policy battles ahead.