Ibero-American News Digest

British Attempt To Balkanize South America

Aug. 6 (EIRNS)—Even as South American nations begin to discuss building a transcontinental railroad, dubbed by some the "Southern Express," British agents are attempting once again to unleash chaos in the region, this time targetting Bolivia.

Despite tensions among them, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and Brazilian President Lula da Silva, met briefly in Buenos Aires on Aug. 4 to discuss how to advance regional integration. Fernández and Chávez were then scheduled to travel together to Tarija, Bolivia, to join Bolivian President Evo Morales in inaugurating a liquified gas plant in a show of support for Bolivian national unity.

Their trip had to be cancelled, however, when separatist demonstrators rampaged throughout the city, barricaded roads, and were heading towards the airport where the Presidents were to land.

Although not on the same scale as seen in Bolivia, the unleashing of fascist thugs to impose British policy was also critical in the congressional defeat of the Argentine government's export tax bill last month. Pro-government legislators were physically harassed—their homes even sprayed with anti-government graffiti—and they and their families received death threats.

The next big flashpoint on the continent, is the Aug. 10 referendum in Bolivia, which will determine whether Morales and nine provincial governors should remain in office. Bolivia is strategically located in the center of the South American continent, and its dismemberment is a central feature of Britain's New Opium War against the Americas. British gamemasters are counting on the separatist forces in eastern Bolivia to split the country into two parts, one based on coca, the other on gas and oil. Should a majority support Morales continuing in office, as appears likely, provocateurs in the opposition promise to unleash a "civil" uprising.

LaRouche Youth Defang Mexico's WWF Vampire Bat-Lover

Aug. 6 (EIRNS)—At Congressional hearings held today in Mexico City, José Luis Luege Tamargo, head of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) appeared before the Housing and Public Credit Committee, to explain what happened to the funds allocated by Congress to finance a feasibility study on the Northwest Hydraulic Plan (PLHINO).

Luege is an asset of Prince Philip's World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF), which argues that vampire bats are more important than human beings. He has used his clout as CONAGUA Director to sabotage the PLHINO, a major engineering project which, if built, could remedy the acute water shortages in northern Mexico, and vastly increase land under cultivation. Lyndon LaRouche has backed the project for years, and political forces in Sonora are now demanding that President Felipe Calderón commit to starting the project during his term in office.

Shortly before the hearing, major dailies of Northwest Mexico prominently featured an ad put out by the Pro-PLHINO Committee of the 21st Century, demanding that the project be built. The ad's publication coincided with Calderón's visit to Sonora, accompanied by Luege.

Members of the LaRouche Youth Movement (LYM) who attended the hearing reported that most of the legislators demanded that Luege Tamargo answer the question, "Where are the approved funds for our states? Why are you so late in making the expenditures that have been approved for projects?" One irate Congressmen confronted him with the fact that he subjects proposed projects to a cost-benefit analysis, asking pointedly, "And what is the cost-benefit of a human life? Do we have to wait until a natural disaster occurs to free up funding?"

Luege Tamargo's answers were evasive, at best. But at the end of the hearing, three LYM organizers confronted the CONAGUA director, while media cameras rolled. The organizers handed Luege his own personal copy of their hard-hitting leaflet, boldly entitled "José Luis Luege Tamargo: Do You Save Vampires at the Cost of Killing People?" Luege and his crew are out to sabotage the PLHINO, the leaflet charges, noting that the WWF states that agriculture is one of the biggest threats to the environment.

Videos of the LYM intervention can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfDeNRzugcA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNT9zLOT4M

Colombia Completes Second Tunnel Through the Andes

Aug. 4 (EIRNS)—With pickaxe in hand, this morning Colombian President Alvaro Uribe officially completed the 8.6-kilometer pilot tunnel for the "Tunnel of the Line," cutting through the steepest part of the central mountain range through which the Quindío-Tolima highway runs. The completion of this infrastructure project not only shortens the trip to the Pacific Coast, but also cuts traffic accidents by an estimated 75% along a stretch of road with one of the highest accident rates in the country.

The only other tunnel through Colombia's central mountain range, 3.7 kilometers long, was built in 1930. Today's project is a small proof of principle, both technologically and politically, for the much bigger things that must be done: long-abandoned proposals for building 15 tunnels across the Andes, through which high-speed electric railways must run.

The Line Tunnel project had been on the books for 70 years, Uribe said, in an enthusiastic speech after its opening. He proposed this be renamed the "Tunnel of the Second Centennial," which Colombia will celebrate on July 20, 2010, "so that when new generations cross it, they will reflect on the sufferings of the Nation, on the periods of stagnation, the slowness of prosperity, the cruel violence, ... and in seeing the light at either of its ends, they'll have hopes for the present and future of the country.... This country can advance."

When the teams excavating the tunnel from either end finally met, 44 months after their start and without any loss of life, the engineers and miners began singing the national anthem, one of the project leaders proudly reported.

The "pilot" tunnel established the feasibility of the main tunnel now to be built, in particular solving the problems of various geological fault-lines along the route.

How Many Games Is Chávez Going To Play?

Aug. 6 (EIRNS)—In the aftermath of several smashing defeats delivered to Colombia's narcoterrorist FARC, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez began working again with the informal Ibero-American "Presidents Club" to build regional unity around the urgent needs of physical economic development.

However, during his brief Aug. 4 visit to Buenos Aires, he also reverted to his Cuban-cued attack on the U.S. dollar, including calling for depositors to pull out of the U.S. currency—a view actively promoted by London, as Lyndon LaRouche has repeatedly explained.

In a TV interview in Buenos Aires, Chávez called for creating a new world financial order without the dollar, saying: "I don't advise anybody to deposit money in American banks. Look what is happening: Every month at least one of them closes their doors."

Of particular note is the fact that this feature of Chávez's remarks was reported prominently and favorably by the Russian RIA Novosti agency today. Chávez visited Russia last month, where he met with both President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. British interests have been systematically working to drive a wedge between Russia and a United States reorganized around FDR principles.