By Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog

HAARP – the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program – was initiated as an ionospheric research program, established in 1993 in Gakona, Alaska and operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. It was and is funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Its alleged purpose “was to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance. HAARP is a high-power, high-frequency transmitter used for study of the ionosphere.”

That is the official version. HAARP was supposed to be shut down in May 2014, but then it was decided that the facility would be transferred to the University of Alaska. In reality, this sophisticated research project, owned by the military, and most probably with CIA hands in it, is continuing in some secret location, working on “ionospheric enhancement technologies”, to be used to influence weather patterns – in fact, to weaponize weather.

The first known occasion when the US air force used high power, high frequency transmitters, was to influence the intensity and duration of the monsoon during the Vietnam war in the 1960s. The idea was to render the transition of the Vietcong from North to South Vietnam on their jungle paths more difficult or impossible through extended heavy rains. To what extent this attempt was successful is not known.

However, since then, research has evolved and it is now possible to influence weather patterns throughout the world. In other words, to create droughts, floods, storm, hurricanes – wherever such weather phenomena are convenient for the purposes of empire and its vassals. Talk about man-made climate change. Imagine the amount of money that can be generated by such unsuspicious weather modifications – let alone the amount of human suffering, famine, despair – chaos, economic collapse – eventually entire segments of populations can be wiped out. And all will be attributed to ‘climate change’, which are claimed to be man-made due to our civilization’s excessive CO2 emissions. Man-made – indeed!
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Extensive and prolonged changes in weather patterns can have devastating economic impacts. The Pampas, stretching over some 750,000 km2, is one of South America’s most fertile region, covering Argentina’s norther tier from the Atlantic to the Andes and also all of Uruguay and part of southern Brazil. The area was struck in 2017 / 2018 by one of the harshest droughts in the last 10 years, severely curtailing Argentina’s main staple – wheat, corn, soybean and beef. Argentina is the world’s third largest exporter of soybean and corn.

Argentina was counting on record agricultural yields that would contribute significantly to the expected 3.5% GDP growth in 2018. Instead, 2018 agricultural exports are expected to be reduced by some US$ 3.5 billion. This is expected to result in a cut of GDP growth by at least 1% to 1.5%, not counting agriculture related industries that will suffer losses, many of which may have to close and thereby also increasing unemployment – and human misery.

The neoliberal Mauricio Macri, who came to power in December 2015 as an implant by Washington, has already devastated the country by drastic austerity programs, combined with severe tariff increases for public and social services, i.e. transportation, electricity fuel, water supply, as well as health and education. The country is in shambles with an unemployment rate, officially hovering around 10%, but in reality, it is more like 20% to 25%. The poverty rate increased under Macri’s dictatorship to about 35%, from about 15% in November 2015, before Macri came to power. Strikes and social protests abound. There is not one week without social unrest – which drives the country further into the ground. Like the Yellow Vest in France who want to oust President Macron, Argentinians want to get rid of Macri.

In comes the IMF which has recently published a devastating report about Argentina’s state of the economy. It predicts a grim scenario with rising interest rates on Argentina’s mostly dollar denominated debt, triggering local money production and a predicted inflation of 40% – a continuous loss of purchasing power, hurting especially the poor and average income earners, prompting more social unrest – a vicious downward spiral.

In June 2018, the IMF, invited by Macri to the rescue, followed its usual recipe of more debt and more austerity. The scenario looks pretty similar to what happened in 2010 / 2011 and forward in Greece, just on a much larger scale, at least by a factor of 5 over a 3-year period. In Argentina, the IMF “agreed” to a standby credit of US$ 50 billion – the largest in the IMF’s history – with a tranche of US$ 15 billion to be drawn immediately. However, in September 2018, the peso crashed under the burden of debt and inflation and Argentina faced insolvency. No problem. The IMF came to the rescue with an additional US$ 13.4 billion bringing the total for 2018 to US$ 28.3 billion (Greece’s first ‘bailout’ tranche in 2010 which was €20 billion (US$22.6 billion at today’s exchange rate).

That the IMF repeats Greek “mistake” in Argentina, is, of course, a joke. This is not a mistake. This is calculated greed, administered to the people of Argentina, usurpation at its worst. Argentina is a much larger and richer country. Much more, almost infinitely more, can be extracted from her economy than from Greece’s. And Argentina has been primed by a complacent president, put in place by those financial oligarchs, intent to milk Argentina to the bones.

Would it therefore be surprising, if the Argentine economic disaster, and consequently the IMF “rescue action” was helped a bit by “climate change” à la HAARP?

Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, the New Eastern Outlook (NEO); and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.

Peter Koenig is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.