The 156th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place Friday, May 29, marking three years of continuous dialogue designed to unite the peace movement internationally. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator, was unavailable. Co-moderator Dennis Speed greeted the participants, and reported on the first International Security Forum in Moscow, from May 26 to 29, in which 150 nations participated, with extensive presence of the Global South. He warned that the danger of nuclear war, at this moment in history, may be greater than it was at the time of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. There is also the just-concluded UN Security Council meeting with the theme, “Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-Centered International System,” where a special letter from Zepp-LaRouche was distributed.
A third consequential event was the release of the new encyclical by Pope Leo XIV, titled Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, which counterposes the controversy over AI to the fundamental dignity of the human being. Speed contrasted the encyclical to the degraded outlook of Andriy Biletsky of Ukraine’s Azov Brigade, who gave a speech in 2007 in which he stated, “The historical mission of our nation, in this turning point, [is to lead] the White peoples of the whole world into the last crusade for its existence against the Semite-led Untermenschen.” Speed concluded with a recording of Lyndon LaRouche, speaking on real economics as the vehicle for human progress.
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), congratulated IPC participants on their three-year anniversary, and commented on the parallels between World War I and our present “sleepwalking into World War III.” He said that we can depend on the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to be “perspicacious,” but was less sanguine about the leadership of Ukraine and their NATO accomplices. He warned that the Baltic States may launch attacks on Russia from their territory with the foolish assumption, encouraged by Ukraine, that Russia will not be able to determine their origin, or that NATO membership will protect them from retribution. His hope, however, is that the Russians will show restraint by maintaining focus on the ground war in Ukraine, which they are winning, and won’t move toward threatening the Baltic States or the rest of Europe, “however crazy the Europeans are.”
Cuba: The Next Target?
On Cuba, McGovern noted that VIPS has issued an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, titled “Avoiding Catastrophic Failure in Cuba,” debunking the neocon tropes which intend to manufacture consent for an attack on that nation. He called U.S. Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio “the fly in the ointment” who would attempt to prevent competent intelligence analysis from reaching the President. “This could mushroom into something much bigger than anybody wants.”
Professor Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, sees “smoldering embers ready to break out into a new horrendous fire in Iran.” Trump’s combination of threats and bluffing may be a sort of “unique diplomacy,” where in the middle of Oman’s diplomatic initiatives he issues a “genocidal threat.” Diplomats, who are normally like careful, calculating chess players, are confronted by Trump, a “reckless poker player” who bluffs with a losing hand. Ironically, it is China which is defending the precepts of international law, while the Western powers, which proclaimed it after World War II, now flout it. He lamented that in the face of shocking genocide in Gaza, we hear the language of the “deal” as if it were a real estate transaction. He endorsed McGovern’s view on Cuba, saying that the Cubans have been punished since 1959 for asserting the most fundamental human right, the right of national self-determination.
Donald Ramotar, former President of Guyana (2011-2015), also joined with McGovern in celebrating the anniversary of the IPC, which he called “indispensable.” He said that the U.S. attitude toward Cuba was shaped by the Cold War, and that the administration seeks to deny Cuba the right to self-determination. Cuba had formerly been a semi-colony of the United States, and a playground for the mafia. Cuba provided an example to Latin America and the Caribbean for how to assert national interest and the welfare of its people. Trump, who has very little experience in government, seems to think that running the United States is like running a mafia-style organization. “Imagine the temerity of Donald Trump,” he said, who is denouncing Raúl Castro, a former President of Cuba (2008-2018) for the 1996 shooting down of two planes which violated Cuban airspace, while Trump speaks casually of carrying out foreign policy by killing people. They are killing fishermen in the Caribbean without making any attempt to board these vessels to verify that smuggling is going on. There is no country that has concentrated more on developing its people than Cuba. Cuba leads the world in developing a cure for Alzheimer’s, for which they have developed three vaccines.
Richard Falk condemned the “malevolent guardianship” of the United States in the region. Cuba has done amazing things with medicine; Falk himself received “extraordinary treatment” when he was injured during a visit to Cuba, for which he was charged nothing. We should celebrate this instead of attempting to destroy it.
Other Developments
McGovern mused that there “may be something in the water in South Carolina” that would account for the deranged behavior of Truman administration Secretary of State Jimmy Burns, General William Westmoreland, and Senator Lindsey Graham.
Organizer Kynan Thistlethwaite gave a report on the intervention by LaRouche organizers outside the recent UNSC meeting, where they distributed the statement “A Policy to Bring Peace and Development to Southwest Asia.”
Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of VIPS, reported on breaking developments: Trump has announced that he is lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and he will attempt to “put some lipstick on this pig” to make it appear that the United States is in a position of dominance. Pakistan has made decisive interventions, including a threat to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Saudis and Qataris have concluded that they have no future in an alliance with the U.S., and are turning toward China. Johnson suggested that the recent drone attack in Romania was a “false flag,” blamed on Russia. Russia has warned that they may retaliate against NATO countries, but if they do, it won’t be with a solitary drone.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Diane Sare spoke of the “massively shifting internal dynamic in the United States.” The electoral defeat of U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (Republican in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District) was vital for the Epstein Class. The CIA regularly intervenes to rig elections here and abroad. She had spoken Sunday at the May 24 “Rage Against the War Machine” event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. People are fleeing from both parties, she said; we can’t let them simply disappear into despair, we have to be there with solutions.
Discussion
A participant asked for comments on the ramped-up U.S. pressure on Brazil and Mexico. President Ramotar, in response, discussed the current “shift to the right” in many Latin American nations, but also noted positive developments, including the recent CARICOM statement in support of Cuba, from which, unfortunately, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago dissented.
A former Latvian member of the European Parliament warned that the danger of Ukrainian drones being launched from Baltic countries is real. Her comments received a hearty endorsement from Ray McGovern.
In concluding remarks, McGovern said that the partnership between Russia and China has never been closer, and, “The rhetoric is much more harsh as to allowing bullies to have their way.” A U.S. incursion against Cuba could have unexpected consequences.
