Jacques Cheminade : What is behind the Greek debt?

On the eve of the negotiations on the economic situation of Greece and the arrival of Alexis Tsipras in Paris, some things should be clear for everybody, in particular for our French government.First of all, the Greek debt, as it now stands, can never be reimbursed, even at the expense of the Greek population and economy. The solution adopted by the London Conference of 27 February 1953, for a German Federal Republic which was suffocated at the time just as Greece is today, should inspire the French government's attitude: reduction of the illegitimate, non-reimbursable part of the Greek debt by some 60%, a five-year moratorium on the rest, and a ceiling on annual payments equal to 5% of its export revenues.

Then, it must be recognized that the problem is the entire public and private debt of European countries and the trans-Atlantic system, and not just Greece's. That is why our government must support the convocation of a European Debt Conference, as proposed by the Greek government, and beyond that, of a Debt Conference concerning the entire dollar/euro trans-Atlantic system. We recall that Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called for creating an International Court to separate legitimate debts that are linked to the real economy, from illegitimate debts spawned from speculative transactions on financial markets. The majority of the debt of the City of London and Wall Street system must be written off, in order to allow a recovery of the world economy.

Once the burden of that debt is eliminated, a European and international agreement must be implemented, with a view to issuing massive amounts of public credit for infrastructure projects, with each nation-state contributing its share, based on a reasonable estimation of the human and material resources it will be able to contribute. It is the resources generated by that investment credit that will make it possible to reimburse those debts. The credit must be public and long-term, and help the peoples and future generations, rather than short-term to help the speculators. Credit of this type is what allowed the development of the United States after Independence, the reconstruction of post-war Europe and the rapid growth in China over the past 30 years.

France and Europe will then be in a position not only to ensure justice for the Greek people, but also to join the BRICS dynamic, by proposing to take part in the Conference to be held in Ufa, in Bashkortostan, next July.

This is the only approach that can reestablish a dynamic of harmonious mutual development, based on building great projects together, both for the development of Africa and the implementation of an ambitious space policy, opening up new human discoveries. It is the only approach that will let the world escape from war, in the spirit of the Westphalia Treaty of 1648: advantage to the other and cancellation of illegitimate profits gained at his expense, in particular by turning the debt into an instrument of oppression.

Western Europe and the United States, in its Hamiltonian tradition and following the orientations given by Lyndon LaRouche, can thus play their part, by contributing the best of their history, in the concert of nations. We will then all be able to say thank you to the Greek people and to their new government, who will have given us the opportunity to do so.

Declaration by Jacques Cheminade, chairman of the French party Solidarité et Progrès

Paris, 31 January 2015 –