Greece

Newsletter – Struggle For Independence Continues

July 4, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Bankers, fast track, Finance and the Economy, Greece, Independence, indigenous, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Israel, Palestine, Racism, Slavery, TISA, TPP

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. Today, there continue to be struggles for independence in the US and around the world. In the US, as the country celebrates the 4th of July, more are understanding that the so-called "founding fathers" have taken credit for a mass movement of colonists who sought independence, where nearly 100 "Declarations of Independence" were written before the Jefferson version; and where the issues of racism, sexism, and ethnic cleansing of the Indigenous were not recognized. Rather than celebrating the slave-owning plutocrats who hijacked this country we celebrate those who continue the struggle for self-determination here and around the world. The struggle, as we can see in Greece, is against the plutocratic bankers who profit while the 99 percent suffer the consequences of their wealth extraction. True independence is a worldwide struggle that is ongoing.

Greece: Europe’s Oligarch Bankers Want To Kill The Left In Europe

July 4, 2015 Seumas Milne, , www.theguardian.com Educate! Bankers, Finance and the Economy, Greece, Syriza

By Seumas Milne for the Guardian. The worst outcome of this crisis would be for Syriza to implement the austerity it was elected to end. A yes vote in next weekend’s referendum, if it goes ahead, would probably lead to the government’s fall, and almost certainly new elections. But even a no vote, which would offer the best chance for Greece, would need to be followed by more radical measures if the government was going to strengthen its negotiating hand or prepare the ground for euro exit. The real risk across Europe is that if Syriza caves in or collapses, that failure will be used to turn back the rising tide of support for anti-austerity movements such as Podemos in Spain, or Sinn Féin in Ireland, leaving the field to populists of the right. Either way, any Greek euro deal that fails to write off unrepayable debt or end the austerity squeeze will only postpone the crisis.

The Long Term Western Imperialism Behind The Greek Crisis

July 3, 2015 William R. Polk, www.consortiumnews.com Educate! Capitalism, Greece, Imperialism

By William R. Polk in Consortium News - Focusing exclusively on the monetary aspects of the Greek crisis the media misses much of what disturbs the Greeks and also what might make a solution possible. For over half a century, Greeks have lived in perilous times. In the 1930s, they lived under a brutal dictatorship that modeled itself on Nazi Germany, employing Gestapo-like secret police and sending critics off to an island concentration camp. Then a curious thing happened: Benito Mussolini invaded the country. Challenged to protect their self-respect and their country, Greeks put aside their hatred of the Metaxis dictatorship and rallied to fight the foreign invaders. The Greeks did such a good job of defending their country that Adolf Hitler had to put off his invasion of Russia to rescue the Italians.

The IMF Defaulted On Greece A Long Time Ago

July 2, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Educate! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Greece, IMF

By Jerome Roos in RoarMag - Tuesday marked the deadline for Greece to transfer a 1.6 billion euro debt repayment to the IMF. The country’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had already announced that his government could not — and would not — pay. And so, at 6pm Washington-time, 1am locally, Greece officially defaulted on the IMF. The default is an unprecedented event in the history of finance: never before has a developed country fallen into arrears on a loan from the Fund. Unsurprisingly, the international press is already conjuring up unflattering comparisons with notorious failed states like Zimbabwe and Somalia, which are among the few countries to have gone down the same path of utter financial ignominy.

‘No’ With Dignity, Greek Decline Under Troika Dicates

July 1, 2015 Leonidas Oikonomakis, www.roarmag.org Resist! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Greece

By Leonidas Oikonomakis in Roarmag - The then-Prime Minister Giorgakis Papandreou (son of Andreas and grandson of Giorgos) appeared on state television to send his televised message to the Greek people from the harbor of Kastelorizo: “Our ship is sinking,” he said, “and we have to turn to our partners, the IMF and the EU, who will provide us with a safe harbor where we can rebuild it.” As the saying has it: “a ship is safe in harbor — but that’s not what ships are for.” However, this is how Greece’s self-destructive dance with the Troika began. At the time, the country’s public debt was at 120% of GDP, the unemployment rate at 12%, the youth unemployment rate at around 30%, and suicide rates were an unfamiliar concept.

Anti-Bailout Protests As Greece Rows With EU

June 30, 2015 Sky News, www.news.sky.com Resist! Austerity, Europe, Greece

By Sky News - Some 17,000 demonstrators have gathered on the streets of Greece to protest against the latest bailout deal - accusing its international creditors of blackmail. Many support Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras and said they would heed his call to vote against the latest deal in a referendum on Sunday - despite the risks the country might then go crashing out of the eurozone. "The people of Greece have made many sacrifices. What interests me is not the euro but guaranteeing a dignified way of life for the next generations," said Vanguelis Tseres, 50, who has been unemployed since the start of the debt crisis in 2010, in Syntagma square in Athens.

Greek Referendum: Euro Crisis Explodes Into Dramatic Climax

June 29, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Resist! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Greece, Social Change

By Jerome Roos in Roarmag - Tsipras’ spectacular decision late on Friday to fly back to Athens and put the Eurogroup’s final bailout offer to a referendum — with the government advising voters to reject the deal — has stunned friends and foes alike. Now, with depositors lining up at ATMs to withdraw cash, the Eurogroup refusing to extend the current bailout program, the ECB capping its emergency liquidity assistance for Greek banks, and Greece set to miss a €1.5 billion IMF payment on Tuesday, the long-awaited endgame is finally upon us. After five long and exhausting years, the euro crisis has exploded into its dramatic climax. Those who now lambast the Greek government for its supposed “recklessness” in calling the referendum are profoundly mistaken. Yes, as I have argued many times before, Tsipras’ and Varoufakis’ belief that they could somehow extract an “honorable compromise” from the creditors was always extremely naive.

IMF & Germany Seek To Finish Off Even a Moderate Left In Greece

June 28, 2015 C J Polychroniou, www.truthout.org Educate! European Central Bank, Finance and the Economy, Germany, Greece, IMF, Syriza

By C J Polychroniou in TruthOut. Negotiations between Greece and its official creditors - the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank - are currently in renewed deadlock. Yet, only a few days ago, in the Euro summit on Monday, June 22, all indications were that Europe’s political beasts and the "criminal IMF" were ready to accept thelatest capitulation on the part of the Greek leftist government, which, since coming to power in late January, has spent a lot of time doing nothing more than "yelling, kicking and screaming" against austerity and the bailout program (and treating senior-level EU officials with disdain in public as part of its well-orchestrated populist theatrics) while at the same time seeking to assure Greece’s euro partners that it is committed to keeping the country in the euro area and that it would fulfill all its obligations to the creditors.

Greece To Hold Referendum On Bailout Agreement

June 28, 2015 Anastasios Papapostolou, www.greece.greekreporter.com Resist! European Central Bank, European Union (EU), Finance and the Economy, Greece

By Anastasios Papapostolou for Greek Reporter. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that Greece will hold a referendum on July 5 to ask the Greek people if they approve of a bailout deal with the country’s creditors. In a nationally televised address after midnight Friday in Athens, Tsipras announced the July 5 vote and excoriated a take it-or-leave it offer as a violation of European Union rules and “common decency”. “After five months of tough negotiations, our partners unfortunately resorted to a proposal-ultimatum to the Greek people,” Tsipras said. “I call on the Greek people to rule on the blackmailing ultimatum asking us to accept a strict and humiliating austerity without end and without prospect.” He said German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi have been informed of the plan, and he’ll request an extension of Greece’s existing bailout, due to end June 30, by a few days to permit the vote without having to introduce capital controls in the Greek banks.

As Pressure Mounts, Europeans Rally In Streets For Greek Dignity

June 24, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Debt, Europe, Finance and the Economy, Greece

By Lauren McCauley in Common Dreams - As an emergency summit concluded in Brussels on Monday with no clear resolution for the spiraling Greek debt crisis, a call throughout the streets of Europe for lenders to ease their punishing "reforms" in Greece is reverberating. On Sunday, more than 5,000 protested in Brussels, Belgium—the site of the ongoing negotiations between the Greek government and officials with the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission—while hundreds more marched in Amsterdam. According to reports, protesters carried banners that read slogans such as, "Our lives do not belong to creditors," and "If Greece were a bank it would have been saved."

Irish Burn Water Bills, Fly Greek Flag In Solidarity At Mass Dublin Protest

June 22, 2015 Paul Hosford, www.thejournal.ie Resist! Austerity, Greece, Ireland, Water

A LARGE CROWD has marched to the GPO in Dublin today as water charge protests return to the capital. Having taken a backseat to campaigning for the same-sex marriage referendum, is once again at the forefront of the political agenda. Today in Dublin, thousands marched to the GPO, where they heard a speech from independent TD Catherine Murphy and proceeded to burn their Irish Water bills. There were a number of Greek flags on display, as protesters used the event to show solidarity with the country, which is teetering on the edge of default. Union officials and leaders from the Right2Water campaign also addressed the crowds. While there was a small Garda presence, no incidents have been reported.

Athens Protesters Call For Greece To Defy Troika & Leave Euro

June 22, 2015 Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, www.irishtimes.com Resist! Austerity, Europe, Greece, IMF, Syriza

By Ruadhán Mac Cormaic in Irish Times - From the steps of the imposing parliament building, Katherina Sergidou gestures at the swelling crowd that stretches out across Syntagma Square, filling the night sky with defiant chants. “We’re here to show there are a lot of us,” she says proudly. “A big window has opened – a window of change.” On the eve of an emergency EU summit aimed at striking an 11th-hour deal to end the stand-off between Greece and its lenders, thousands took to the streets of Athens last night to keep up the pressure on Greece’s government, led by the left-radical Syriza, and to show defiance in the face of pressure from the EU and the IMF. The protest, organised by left-wing parties and trade unions, was also designed as a response to a right-wing protest held in the city at the weekend.

Greeks Will Default As Central Bank Turns On Government

June 19, 2015 Mehreen Khan, www.telegraph.co.uk Educate! Banking, Finance and the Economy, Greece

By Mehreen Khan in Telegraph - The Greek government has admitted it will become the first developed country in history to default on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if its creditor powers fail to strike a deal with the Leftist government over its eurozone future in the coming days. With just 13 days before the country’s bail-out programme officially expires, finance ministers will gather in Luxembourg on Thursday to discuss whether to finally give their assent to release bail-out cash and stave off an unprecedented default. Before the 11th hour attempt to secure a deal, Athens’ chief negotiator said his government had run out of cash to make a €1.6bn payment to the IMF, also on June 30. "At the moment we haven’t got the money," said Oxford-educated minister Euclid Tsakalotos.

Protesters Occupy Greek Finance Ministry

June 14, 2015 Adam Justice, www.ibtimes.co.uk Resist! Greece

By Adam Justice For IBTimes. Greek Communist party labour union supporters occupied the finance ministry on Thursday (11 June) and prevented staff from entering over fears that the government will agree to further concessions in order to come to a cash-for-reform deal with lenders. As ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Greek bonds further into junk status, questioning whether Athens can pay its debts, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras held a new round of late-night talks on Wednesday (10 June) with the leaders of Germany and France and expressed confidence that a solution was at hand. "The prime minister's statement about the (upcoming) deal and how it is going well, is like a declaration of war on the working classes," said protester Effie Malliou. "There is no way we can endure any more under austerity, the working class's income has already suffered a lot," added Malliou.

Greek Leader: Cannot Consent To ‘Irrational’ Proposals

June 6, 2015 Nicholas Paphitis and Elena Becatoros, www.news.yahoo.com Resist! Austerity, Finance and the Economy, Greece, Politics

Greece cannot accept the "irrational" proposal made this week by its bailout creditors, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told an emergency Parliament session Friday, adding that any deal must also include some lightening of the country's crushing debt load. "There is no question of our accepting an agreement that does not contain the prospect of debt restructuring" that would help Greece regain the market access lost five years ago, Tsipras said. Despite a significant writedown in 2012, Greece's debt remains huge, at nearly 180 percent of annual output. Bailout creditors had initially promised further respite, but details on their latest proposal leaked by Athens made no mention of debt lightening. Tsipras' speech came the morning after a surprise announcement that Greece would defer an IMF payment due Friday, and would instead bundle all four installments due in June — a total of 1.6 billion euros — into one payment at the end of the month.

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