Never Have So Many Suffered So Much at the Hands of One Man – Folha de S. Paulo, December 17, 1972
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Last week, a series of collapses occurred in what had been the civilized world’s last line of resistance to Russian and Chinese domination of the Pacific.
The key element of this line was the Japanese archipelago. As is well known, Tanaka has brought about a fundamental shift in his country’s foreign policy. It is beginning to move from an anticommunist nation to a commercial and political satellite of Beijing. In the recent elections in Japan, the electorate overwhelmingly approved this disastrous change. Tanaka’s party won a comfortable majority. This majority was only slightly less durable because part of the electorate abandoned the conservative camp and voted for the Socialist and Communist parties. Thus, while the ruling party lost 17 seats, the CP, which had 14 seats in the previous Parliament, will now have 38, and the SP, which had 90 seats, will now have 118.
Of course, this is not yet a complete catastrophe. The nation is not yet in the abyss, but it is heading straight toward it, with the communists at the forefront of this march!
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A few days ago, the press reported that in South Korea—until recently a heroic bastion of the anticommunist struggle—a poll found that 92.3% of people support an agreement with North Korea. This would be a Willy Brandt-like conciliatory arrangement favoring the communists.
New Zealand’s Labour government announced its intention to withdraw its expeditionary forces from South Vietnam and, at the same time, to leave the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), a bloc of anticommunist nations similar to NATO.
Only Taiwan and the Philippines show no signs of discouragement or appeasement. How long will the courage of these two nations last? One must acknowledge that, at the moment, everything conspires to shake their resolve. For our part, we ask Almighty God to grant them the courage, strength, and victory they need. We also ask for Westerners’ foresight and courage so we can help them to the best of our ability.
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This prayer is especially necessary given the deep concerns inspired by the situation in South Vietnam. The peace being imposed on the Saigon government is likely to be a capitulation to communism. The brave South Vietnamese continue to fight back. But what can they achieve against the three superpowers colluding, the US, Russia, and China? Here, too, it is our duty to pray according to the intentions I have just stated.
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Even greater significance attaches to the left’s victory in Australia. Earlier this month, the Labor Party won the parliamentary elections by a landslide, regaining power it had lost 23 years earlier. Political commentators speculate that Australia’s leftists will reduce or eliminate the country’s troop commitment in South Vietnam and withdraw Australia from SEATO. Oceania’s greatest power will thus cease to serve as an anticommunist bulwark and will be prepared to follow Japan’s unfortunate path.
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Do not think that this series of catastrophes, some already realized and others in the making, reflects a leftist tendency among the populations of the Far East. The overwhelming majority of them remain clearly anticommunist. The real cause of this shift to the left lies in Nixon’s policy toward Russia and China. Since America is no longer interested in defending all these peoples against the two Marxist powers of the Pacific, the consequence is that, for them, there is only one alternative: heroism or Finlandization.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, few choose to be heroic.
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In an article in this newspaper (“The Agenda,” May 21, 1972), commenting on Nixon’s visit to Moscow, I predicted what would happen: “One would have to be blind not to realize that Russia wants to take over Indochina at all costs. … If (Nixon) does not resist, he will hand Russia a key position in the world. In that case, Taiwan and South Korea today, and Japan and Australia tomorrow, feeling abandoned by the US, will be dragged into putting left-wing people in government who will pursue a policy of rapprochement with Russia.”
Well, that’s what has happened.
As I mentioned, all this collapse took place in the Far East.
At the same time, preparations for the pan-European security conference are unfolding slowly, complexly, yet inexorably across Europe. The most insightful international commentators emphasize Russia’s firm intention to impose Europe’s Finlandization on the West at the opportune moment. I addressed this in my previous article. The most serious and astonishing thing about this issue is not that Russia is seeking these advantages. It is that Western public opinion appears so numb, deteriorated, and impotent that it fails to rise up in a unanimous and indignant refusal of the new Soviet goals. For example, a highly prestigious American journalist, commenting on Moscow’s recent successes, concluded his reflections with the laconic statement that “The Kremlin should be congratulated for its patient and astute diplomacy.” It is the loser congratulating the winner!
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The effects of Nixon’s actions must be acknowledged in all these disasters. His trips to Beijing and Moscow, the substantial economic advantages Russia has received from American and European private enterprise under his leadership, and the repeated assertion that the Cold War has ended thanks to the American president have all thrown Western public opinion into a state of stagnation. In turn, this stagnation, characterized by apprehensions and hopes that neutralize each other, discourages reflection and struggle. And so, between optimism and astonishment, the West is being prepared to accept whatever may come.
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Looking at the West and the East as a whole, one sees a common denominator between them: the collapse of all barriers to the communist onslaught.
The cause of this series of catastrophes is President Richard Nixon’s policy.
Bitterly parodying Churchill’s saying, History will one day say of him that never have so many suffered so much at the hands of one man!
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However, a comic and hopeful note emerges in this dramatic panorama. According to all indications, Perón will soon return to his Madrid lair. The myth of the old demagogue’s popularity is dead. Placidly yet firmly, the great Argentine people have turned their backs on the former dictator. He leaves the stage, melancholy and disappointed, like an actor who finds the theater empty.
Once again, in this era of general decline, a lesson for the world has emerged from Latin America.
History shows that the future belongs to peoples who know how to teach salutary lessons.
May Latin American nations have enough greatness to pave a path that leads the whole world out of the current crisis.
To this end, we have three invaluable factors: we are Latins, Americans, and, above all, Catholics.
