Debtocracy Page #5

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the government mortgaged the future

to present a false prosperous present.

They made the Greek debt look lower

by changing a loan from JPY to EUR,

using outdated exchange rates.

They were assisted in this

by Goldman Sachs, who made

millions out of this deal.

Mark Kirk:
US Senator

-

The trick worked for many years.

And the Greek political elite

showed they could reward

their allies amply. They re-hired

Goldman Sachs as consultant and

paid them with the people's money.

Jean Quatremer:
Journalist, Liberation

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Goldman Sachs consulted and attacked

the Greek government simultaneously.

The scandal was revealed in 2010.

A few days earlier

a former employee of Goldman Sachs

had been assigned leader of the Greek

Public Debt Management Agency.

Hiring an employee of Goldman

Sachs is like hiring a criminal.

It's the same as hiring a bank robber

to guard your house.

You think that he knows how robbers

think, so he'll be a better guard.

But there's great danger that one day

he'll rob you and vanish.

Who can guarantee to me that

this former Goldman Sachs man

will handle Greek affairs

in the best possible way?

Several countries blame Greece

for her transactions with Goldman Sachs.

Only these are the same countries

who exploit their liaisons

with Greek governments,

to sell weapons to Greece

at a good price.

Sahra Wagenknecht: Deputy Chairperson, Die Linke

-

When, one year ago, Germany

was negotiating to support Greece

one of the main terms was that Greece

would continue to import German arms.

Greece should cut down on pensions and

social benefits, not on arms' imports.

This is indicative of the interests

involved. Germany protects

the interests of military equipment

manufacturers, and its export industry.

Those people want to continue trading

despite the crisis.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit : president,

European Greens-European Free Alliance

-

We're hypocrites! Last month, France

sold 6 frigates to Greece for 2.5 billion.

Also, helicopters worth 400 million

and Rafale aircraft at 100 million each.

I don't know if we sold 10, 20, or 30.

The total cost is almost 3 billion.

Germany sold 6 submarines

to Greece, worth 1 billion.

We're such hypocrites! We give them

money so they can buy our arms.

Before the hypocrisy of Europe,

criminal back-downs come

hand-in-hand with criminal decisions,

always for "Greece's own good"

or to support a new Greek expansionism

that will lead to economic devastation.

Giorgos Voulgarakis

Minister of Public Order, 2004-2006

ric Toussaint:
President of CADTM -

here were huge expenses and

the cost now burdens the people.

The loans for the Olympic Games

were paid with tax-payers' money.

It's only natural that the people demand

to know why the budget exploded

and where that money went.

The Olympic Games and the corrupt

transactions with Siemens or Goldman Sachs

are but a small fraction of the shady

deals made at the people's expense.

However, there are more important

matters which concern

not only Greece, but all

peripheral European countries.

Costas Lapavitsas: Professor of Economics

-

Have all the rules which govern

the issuing of bonds been followed?

Also, are there any questions

of legitimacy

about the banks who played

the main role for issuing bonds

either in the primary

or the secondary market?

Which banks took part?

How were they reimbursed?

Under what terms and conditions

did they participate?

Sahra Wagenknecht: Deputy Chairperson, Die Linke

-

Part of the national debts incurred

in Eurozone countries is illegitimate

because they resulted from policies

against the peoples interests .

So these debts must not

be paid by the people.

Ecuador demonstrated how all those

illegitimate or odious contracts

can come to light through

an Audit Committee.

Why don't they tell us

what kind of debt this is?

How much is it?

How was it incurred?

To whom do we owe money?

This is why an audit is necessary.

An audit will define

exactly what this debt is about.

We have to know and denounce

all the lies told by

the government and the corporations

who seize the Greek people's money,

and all those who get amply paid

to parrot and praise the government.

But who's going to set up

the Audit Committee?

And most of all, how can we

make sure that it won't be

yet another parliament committee,

consisting of the same people

that got us into this situation?

The Audit Committee's members should

not be specialists. It's not necessary.

Because if the government forms

a committee of specialists

even if they are called from abroad,

even if ordinary citizens are included

the committee may prove

to be the government's mouthpiece.

Only the people have the authority

and the right to request an audit

because they suffer the consequences.

All Greeks must become involved.

All social organisations must

protest and demand an audit.

The Greek political parties ND and PASOK,

who benefited from the creation of debt

are very negative towards an audit, as

their responsibility will be revealed.

People, organisations, unions, judges,

intellectuals, artists - everybody must act.

They must express their views and exert

pressure on political authority.

In March 2011, a group of people

from different backgrounds

took the initiative to demand

the formation

of an Audit Committee in Greece.

Academics, writers, artists, union

representatives from all over the world

supported this initiative willingly.

The Audit Committee will find

which parts of the debt

are odious or illegitimate

and will prove that, as provided by

Greek and International Law

the Greek people are not

obliged to pay such debt.

However, the decision is basically

political, not financial.

Even if the debt was legitimate,

no government has the right

to kill its people

in order to satisfy its lenders.

Even if the entire Greek national debt

of 350 billion proves legitimate

which is clearly not going to be the case,

Greece can never pay back.

It will have to be cancelled.

If honouring the debt and

making it sustainable involves

dismantling health care,

dismantling education

dismantling the transport system,

then the debt is socially unsustainable.

Nobody is obliged to pay this debt

since it was accrued because of

corruption in the financial markets.

It's immoral to pay an immoral debt.

The formation of an Audit Committee,

is ultimately

just a valuable weapon

in a broader battle.

This battle will follow

the traditional rules by which

battles have been fought

for centuries.

Without this battle, even if we

repudiate the debt repeatedly

it will always rise

from its ashes.

This means that a field

for ideological, political

and class struggle will form.

The debt is a result of class struggle.

Don't hesitate to stand up for your rights

against the EU and the Greek government.

Respect is gained through struggle,

not by obeying one's creditors.

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