Chapter 85 Using the Holy See (1)
Although Seryozha used legal proceedings to temporarily trap the hands and feet of The New York Times, as a large media group that distributes around the world, it will never give up its position because of this little setback. On behalf of the New York Times, the "New York Times" has long had good social credibility and media authority, and the views and positions put forward by the "New York Times" are often accepted by most Americans.
In fact, Seryozha had no intention of making the New York Times change its position at all, and he didn't care what the American people thought of the Fraternity Africa Foundation. The charity has never accepted donations from any company other than those affiliated with Seryozha. Seriosha created this foundation in the first place to cooperate with the American Farmers Association to smuggle the grain reserves of the Ministry of Agriculture, but to evade taxes. Because charitable donations are not regulated by the U.S. tax system. After all, the transaction price of 7 million tons of grain is not a small amount. If you can save a tax, you can naturally save a lot of expenses.
The three lawsuits initiated in the New York District Court will not end so soon. Although Zoe and the "New York Times" can no longer follow up and report on this matter, they can continue to investigate. After Yi's phone call, he started to go to Somalia to investigate the situation of relief food reserves there. Both the "New York Times" and the Associated Press secretly sent personnel to assist Jimmy's work.
At the same time, Yuri and Ivankov, who had been waiting in Italy for a long time, also received new instructions. Seryozha asked them to go to the Vatican with a letter from Raikh Walesa to meet Pope Joshua. Pope Paul II.
Yuri and Ivankov are still wanted by the U.S. government. As long as they leave Switzerland, they face the risk of being extradited back to the United States. But the diplomatic passports of Yuri and Ivankov have not been withdrawn by the Vatican. Much of it is because of Solidarity.
The Vatican diplomatic passports of Yuri and Ivankov were originally issued by Seryozha by means of threats to force the Vatican ambassador to the United States to issue, and the reason for the threat was that the Vatican secretly funded the Solidarity trade union. This time, Seryozha wanted more. He not only needed the asylum of the Papal State, but also needed the Vatican to send a message to the United States that the food smuggling had nothing to do with the Soviet Union, but for the Polish opposition.
Although the Vatican is a small country, it is a city governed by the pope, God's agent on earth, and it protects all Catholics in the world in name. The Vatican's biggest source of income comes from donations from believers around the world. As centuries of missionaries from Europe expanded their territories, the pope's influence sometimes eluded even the president of the United States.
Wawensa really has weight in the Vatican. After Yuri and Ivankov came to the Vatican as tourists, they immediately contacted the officials of the Vatican to explain their identities. They were quickly arranged to meet with the cardinal in charge of foreign affairs in the Vatican. When Ivankov and Yuri handed Walesa's handwritten letter to the cardinal, the cardinal immediately paid attention to it.
"It turned out that Chairman Walesa sent you here,
What's the matter? "The cardinal is an old man in a red robe, he looks very kind, and he asked the two of them about their visit in a friendly manner.
"We were sent by Chairman Lech Walesa to meet the Pope, and we need the Pope's assistance on important matters!" Yuri replied respectfully.
"May I ask first what it is?" the Cardinal asked.
"My lord, I think it's more appropriate to discuss this matter with the Pope himself!" Yuri flatly refused.
"Okay, then you guys take a break first! I'll contact the Pope and arrange a time!" The cardinal was not annoyed. In fact, he just didn't want Walesa's people to come to the Vatican to trouble him because of a little thing. Zong.
Yuri and Ivankov were taken down by the officials of the Vatican. Since they came to the Vatican in the name of Solidarity, it goes without saying that they will be treated well. In the evening, news came from the Cardinal that the Pope would invite them to have breakfast together tomorrow.
The next morning, Yuri and Ivankov got up early. After packing up, they went to meet the Pope accompanied by the cardinal. Ivankov and Yuri knew the purpose of the trip long before they set off, which was to persuade the Pope to secretly communicate with the Americans, telling the Americans that the object of grain smuggling was not the Soviet Union, but Solidarity. Only in this way can Seryosha's grain trade not be cut off by the U.S. government. After all, the U.S. supports Solidarity. And this matter has not yet been known to the Soviet Union, so the Pope is the most suitable mouthpiece.
The Pope's breakfast is very rich, but the Pope himself is too old to eat much at all. Prayer before meals is mandatory. Yuri swore that this pre-dinner prayer was the most serious in his life. Yuri and Ivankov first introduced to the Pope some recent developments of Solidarity and Lech Walesa, and then slowly talked about the topic.
"Your Majesty, the main purpose of our visit this time is to explain to you the food smuggling incident that has been raging in the United States recently. What we want to explain to you is that Friendship Africa is actually a branch of our Solidarity trade union established in the United States. Our struggle has reached the most difficult time under the joint suppression of the Soviet Union and the Polish government. We do not want to cause bloodshed. Strike is our most powerful way of expression, but if our majority of members stop working, then there is not enough The income is used to maintain our lives, so we did everything possible to establish this organization in the United States. The purpose is to help the Everbright workers of the Solidarity Union to solve their difficulties in life. We don’t have much money, so we can only buy cheap old grain. These grains will be transported to Gdansk by some smuggling groups in the Soviet Union through railways and ports! But the media in the United States knew about this and thought that the Soviet Union was involved. Now the US government has stopped our grain trade. If our workers Without this food, I am afraid that we will not be able to continue the struggle, Your Majesty, I beg for your mercy, and I beg you to help our Polish workers..." When Yuri said this, his voice was full of emotion, and the acting online made Paul II The world was filled with emotion.
"Don't worry, my child! I will not let you go hungry, I will do this for you no matter what!" Paul II said with a long sigh.