Ibero-American News Digest

The Kiss of Death for the BRIC

Dec. 22 (EIRNS)—Goldman Sachs' Jim O'Neill, creator of the "BRIC," told Bloomberg radio on Dec. 14, that "it is time to be a little bit careful about the "B" in BRIC. There's better value elsewhere."

Brazil was thrown into the BRIC to keep the "RIC," the big three Asian giants—Russia, India, and China—under control of the real "B" in the BRIC: Britain. But now both those "B"s are going down, unless they dump the bankrupt Inter-Alpha Group.

One week after the father disowned his baby, the Brazilian Central Bank issued a statement announcing that it is planning to hike Brazil's SELIC benchmark interest rate, very soon. Brazil already has the highest real interest rates in the world, yet Bloomberg projects a rise of as much as 2 percentage points, to 12.75%.

The only reason to raise the benchmark rate again at this time is to keep the international Ponzi scheme known as the Brazil carry trade going for a couple more days. Bankrupt Inter-Alpha banks take Federal Reserve dollars being flung from Bernanke's helicopters, virtually for free, and "invest" them in Brazilian government paper paying out 11-12% interest.

The day before the Dec. 20 Central Bank announcement, a lengthy Bloomberg wire detailed how the banking system of Brazil is imploding, exactly as Lyndon LaRouche had uniquely warned was happening several weeks before, upon learning that Brazil's 20th largest bank, Banco Panamericano, had to be bailed out on Nov. 9, after getting caught fraudulently bundling and selling its portfolio of consumer loans. Bloomberg reported that Brazil's smaller banks get most of their financing from the sale of their consumer loan portfolios to larger banks, but the market for those portfolios evaporated after it became public that the Panamericano had been selling the same consumer loan portfolios to different banks sometimes two and three times, while keeping those portfolios on its own books, too—and that since 2006. No one now knows who owns what loan portfolios, nor what they are worth.

President Dilma Rouseff faces more than she imagined when she takes office on Jan. 1.

Brazilian Industrialist Points to Consequences of Usury

Jan. 2 (EIRNS)—In a Dec. 9 editorial, Luis Alberto Neto, president of the Brazilian Machinery Builders Association, nailed decades of Brazil's high-interest rate for the carry trade policy as a leading reason that Brazil is being deindustrialized, and its real economy is falling apart. He pointed to the drug gangs which waged war on the streets of Rio de Janeiro in December, as exemplary of what usury has wrought in Brazil.

"Brazil spends, on account of this pernicious monetary policy, the amount of R$230 billion a year, while education and public health are in ICU," he wrote. He cited Central Bank figures that show that over the last 16 years, "Brazil has paid in interest the stratospheric quantity of R$1.8 trillion.... I repeat: R$1.8 trillion; in other words, in this period we paid more in interest than the value of the principle of the current public debt, which is R$1.5 trillion."

Putting policemen in the drug gang-controlled favelas (shanty towns) lining Rio de Janeiro's hillsides, will only work in the short-term, Neto pointed out. Stop the "bleeding" of Brazil by high-interest rates which only benefit those profiting from government treasury bills, without producing a job or revenue, and apply that money to the productive sector—infrastructure, health, education, and public security—and Brazil could deal with the country's social debt, Neto argued.

Lula Exits with Infamy

Dec. 31 (EIRNS)—Brazilian President Lula da Silva, a major dupe and promoter of the collapsing BRIC scheme, offended Italy on his last day in office, by refusing to grant extradition for convicted terrorist Cesare Battisti, who is hiding in Brazil.

Battisti is a former member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism (CAP, Proletari Armati per il Comunismo), a terrorist group in Italy in the 1970s-80s. He was convicted, and received a life sentence on a total of 36 charges, including participation in four murders. He fled to France, where he was protected by the Mitterrand doctrine. After the de facto repeal of the doctrine in 2002, he fled to Brazil to avoid a possible extradition.

Battisti is protected by the international network called "Secours Rouge" (Red Help), which backs anarchist groups involved in the current resurgence of bombing attacks, as exposed in an Oct. 19, 2007 EIR article. This network was especially built up under François Mitterrand, the synarchist deconstructor of the French nation, and enforcer of the euro system on behalf of the British Inter-Alpha Group, but goes back to the 1969-77 bloody terrorist deployment, steered by the British in Italy and labeled by the British themselves "strategy of tension."

The current "anarchist" terror deployment has recently escalated, with four letter bombs in Italy and bombs exploding in Athens. Terrorism experts have confirmed to this news service that the "anarchists" deployment in Italy involves both left-wing and right-wing radicals, and is connected to the "Secours Rouge" networks internationally.

Lula's backing of the attack against the nation of Italy by the international synarchists is consistent with the role his government has played in the BRIC operation as part of a British-controlled world-governance scheme.

The Italian government has called Lula's decision "unacceptable" and announced a legal appeal to obtain the extradition of Battisti.

'Social Justice at 320 km/hr: How Fast Would You Like Your Country To Go?'

Dec. 16 (EIRNS)—A leaflet with the above headline being distributed by the LaRouche Youth Movement in Argentina, exemplifies the possible future for all of the Americas. It reads:

"Today more than ever, Argentina must re-launch the construction of the high-speed COBRA train, whose sections would unite the cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario, and Cordoba. This unique project on the American continent represents the technological spearhead that would drive Argentina's transformation into a sovereign nation, and would be key to the integration, not just of Ibero-America, but of the entire planet....

"The high-speed train is strategically placed to increase the productivity of the Plata Basin which unites Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. Through this combination of water, efficient transportation and energy, we will bring prosperity to the currently abandoned Chaco-Pampa plain, giving it new life, multiplying production and consolidating its role as a breadbasket for the world.

"The regions of the Argentine Northeast and the Pampas have historically represented our nation's most important agro-industrial complex. In the provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes, and Santa Fe, the high productivity of the soil is affected by continuous flooding. This could be solved by building the Parana-Medio hydroelectric complex. In the same way, by channeling the water dammed at the Parana-Medio into the areas affected by drought, we would improve conditions of agriculture and of human life, increasing forest growth and changing the climate to better control the frequent floods of the coastal region.

"We will multiply and expand the already existing railroad industry in Santa Fe, Cordoba, and Buenos Aires so as to replace and expand intermediate train lines, and build new ones to reach other parts of the nation. This will accelerate development through the natural assimilation of technology, that will occur as a result of experience gained from the COBRA train.

"Cordoba is another historic technological nucleus of great importance and an area ripe for the development of nuclear energy that will be indispensable for carrying out this program.

"The real question is, how fast do you want your country to go? A country whose trains come and go five times a day can generate five times more wealth than one with just a single trip per day....

"COBRA is the emblematic mission to give direction to the next generation, which today has no future under the current world economic system and has neither the education nor the character necessary to enter into a labor force based on the development of infrastructure on a scale never before seen.... This is the true role of technology and infrastructure in the economy: expanding the horizon of man's imagination, and bringing optimism and confidence to our ability to overcome challenges...."