El hilo de Grecia: dracma, fakelaki y zombis

[The Resident]

Feliz Navidad a todos. Y a lo nuestro: los gobiernos de unidad nacional dirigidos por tecnócratas, ese camino hacia la estabilidad.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2011/12/23/voridis-vs-venizelos-arguments-erupt-and-things-get-personal/

Voridis vs. Venizelos: Arguments Erupt and Things Get Personal
By Andy Dabilis on December 23, 2011 in Economy, News, Politics

ATHENS – The building tension in Greece’s shaky coalition government boiled over in a Cabinet meeting, when PASOK Socialist Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos tangled with far Right-Wing LAOS Infrastructure Minister Makis Voridis over proposed changes in laws over the statute of limitations and divorce. Interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos also has ministers from the conservative New Democracy in his tripartite government, and politicians from that party have also experienced tensions and friction with other members of the government.

Media reports said that Venizelos, who has a reputation as a bombastic speaker, took umbrage when Voridis disagreed with an idea to let divorces be settled out of court. Voridis jumped in and said LAOS vehemently disputed the idea, leading Venizelos to say, “People who are shouting have to understand they are wrong, making a mistake.”

Voridis immediately fired back. “This is not a PASOK government. It’s a government of three partners and this is something you should take into consideration.” An irritated Venizelos snapped back: “Be careful how you speak,” and Voridis came right back at him, declaring “I’ll talk any way I want,” adding to the growing tension in the room and leading the mild-mannered Papademos to intervene. “We’re here so that all sides can be heard,” he said, putting an end to what media reports called a “cock fight” between the feuding ministers.

The anxiety has been amping up as Papademos is trying to keep New Democracy from opposing his plans to reduce auxiliary pensions that are critical for the elderly. New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said his party wouldn’t support the cuts; although he has previously taken this stance, stating that he wouldn’t go along with more austerity measures to keep international loans coming, his position has been unsteady.

The situation has deteriorated to the point that Greek President Karolas Papoulias has chimed in and offered to help Papademos get his ministers to focus on getting a second bailout, this one for $175 billion, from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank, after a first rescue package of $152 billion in loans has failed to stem the country’s slide toward economic oblivion. Papademos is trying to right Greece ahead of elections that were set for Feb. 19, but now seem certain to be delayed as his administration is far behind schedule in completing its work.

Papademos is set to meet with his government’s leaders on Dec. 23, a critical meeting that will be observed by the Troika. Following the collapse of talks on plans to cut auxiliary pensions earlier this week, and with mounting speculation about early elections threatening to hamper the progress of reforms demanded by the country’s international creditors, Papademos aims to establish a common position with the leaders of his tripartite coalition. The newspaper Kathimerini reported that Papoulias told Papademos he was worried about the absence of political consensus at such a critical time for Greece but was reassured by the Premier, who said the problems would be ironed out.

Even the date of the elections is being contested, with LAOS leader George Karatzaferis frequently changing his mind over his stance, while Venizelos said early elections are out of the question because the government is trying to negotiate a write down of 50 percent of much of its debt with investors. He said the talks are going well but the creditors, who said they are facing 65 percent losses, dispute it.

[The Resident]

Feliz año.

http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/most-greeks-say-no-to-drachma

No to drachma, say Greeks

An opinion poll published on Saturday showed that more than three-quarters of Greeks want the country to stay in the eurozone, while the head of the Bank of Greece warned of a terrible impact on the country should it revert to using the drachma.

A Kapa Research poll showed that a commanding 77.2 percent of Greeks wish to keep the euro in their pockets, with another strong majority asking the government to be more demanding in its negotiations with its creditors, after which there should be a general election, the poll has found.

Just over two in five (40.1 percent) want Lucas Papademos to stay on as Prime Minister if there is no clear winner in the elections.

On Friday, BoG governor Giorgos Provopoulos described the “terrible” situation to emerge from a return to the drachma, warning for shortages in fuel, raw materials and even agricultural products, while schools and hospitals, and generally the public sector, would have serious problems in their operation.

“The situation would take us back to the 1950s,” Provopoulos stated, adding that the army and the police would have problems in moving their vehicles, for lack of fuel.

The mere fact that the governor of Greece’s central bank felt compelled to warn of the consequences of a return to the drachma is indicative of the point that the debate about it has come to.

Source: Kathimerini

[The Resident]

Por fin: esto lo arreglamos entre todos, versión helénica. Hacen un llamamiento a los filohelenos en el exterior, y claro, yo quiero ayudar.

Intentaré descubrir si esto está teniendo buena acogida en el país, aunque mi nivel con el idioma da para poquito.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/01/02/repower-greece-for-makeover-of-countrys-image/

Repower Greece for Makeover of Country’s Image

RepowerGreece is the name of an ambitious social awareness campaign announced a few days ago by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) to revive the country’s image in the eyes of the public, after the damage inflicted by a severe economic crisis and four years of recession.

Both private and public sector technical experts were involved in drawing it up, as were academics and diplomats, and the initiative was created under the auspices of the Institute for Regional Dialogue and Strategy (IPEDIS).

”We believe that mobilising the country’s creative forces and coming up with a new development strategy are required to get out of the crisis,” said Chamber of Commerce Chairman Kostas Michalos at the inaugural meeting of the work groups, enterprises and media companies supporting RepowerGreece.

The discussion held during the meeting aimed to present the RepowerGreece campaign to key figures in the Greek business world to look into how they can also help to improve the initiative’s impact within the larger financial and investment world.
”The RepowerGreece campaign is a collective initiative seeking modern solutions, creative ideas and ways to rebuild the country’s image,” noted Michalos. ”Unfortunately, these efforts must begin from a very low level after two years in which our country’s credibility and charm have been heavily damaged, hopefully not permanently.

” RepowerGreece includes numerous sectors of strategic interest – education, culture, innovation, the social economy, agro-food, IT, telecommunications, tourism, energy and logistics – in an attempt to pinpoint and draw attention to individuals and enterprises which combined innovation and entrepreneurship with high work ethics.

The initiative intends to act as a sort of launch pad for development through a multi-level programme which brings together public relations, grassroots campaigns and the exchange of ideas and strategies through the site www.repowergreece.com, which contributes to generating collaboration between people with critical judgement and dynamic institutions.
”RepowerGreece,” said Yannos Gramatidis, Chairman of the Greek-American Chamber of Commerce (AHCC),” is a historic initiative which we have joined together on for the sake of our country, in unison and with clear issues on behalf of all Greek bodies and individuals as well as Philhellenics abroad.

” Referring specifically to Philhellenics, those who love Greek culture, Gramatidis said that ”there are many out there, and they form a large pool of goodwill which has not yet been tapped by the Greek government.

” He added that Philhellenics abroad should be the focus of this campaign ”in order to offer them everything that it good and useful in our country.

There is no other way to promote our country’s advantages at a time when newspaper headlines the world over abound in the denigration of Greece, for which all of us are responsible to varying degrees.” The AHCC chairman concluded by emphasising RepowerGreece’s advantage stemming from its being a private sector initiative.

”This campaign is a signal to the country’s citizens to take their fate into their own hands and not wait to follow in the tracks of Greek politicians.”

[The Resident]

El 20% de los griegos viven en riesgo de pobreza.

Dato referido a 2010.

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2012/01/04/elstat-20-1-of-greeks-are-threatened-by-poverty

[natalita]

Papademos cree que Grecia puede entrar en una cesación de pagos descontrolada
 Miércoles, 4 de enero de 2012

El primer ministro griego, Lucas Papademos, aseguró este miércoles que el país se enfrenta a una cesación de pagos descontrolada de su deuda para el mes de marzo.

También le comunicó a los sindicatos que, a menos que acepten importantes recortes salariales, los agentes financieros internacionales dejarán de participar en el rescate de la economía del país.

Grecia ha estado subsistiendo gracias a un rescate de US$143.000 millones de sus socios europeos y del Fondo Monetario Internacional desde marzo de 2010. El país está negociando los detalles de un segundo rescate por valor de US$169.000 millones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/ultimas_noticias/2012/01/120104_ultnot_papademos_grecia_cesacion_pagos_adz.shtml

[Currobena]

De Zero Hedge:

European Deathwish Exposed: Greek Bailout Package Delayed By Three Months
Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/05/2012 09:43 -0500
 
Looks like Europe plans (and we use the term very loosely) on pushing its fate literally to the wire. Yesterday we explained why for Greece March is D(eadline)-Day, and as Greece itself stated, absent bailout cash coming in, it is game over: for Greece, for the Eurozone, and for Europe as the serial chain of defaults and exits begins. Which is why we read with great surprise minutes ago that according to the European Commission, the entire Greek bailout package has been delayed by three months because of delays in payouts of the 2011 tranche! Naturally this is supposed to have the optics of punishing Greece for doing absolutely nothing to fix its fiscal situation but all it will do is send the market (the European one that is - America is still stuck in some idiotic limbo where it fools itself that it can exist in isolation from the world's biggest economy) even more into Risk Off mode, as the world will be forced to wait until the 11th hour and 59th minute to find out if the Euro and Eurozone will survive for a few more months. In the meantime, Mario Monti is off to Brussels to satisfy an unscheduled craving for Belgian beer and chocolate, or something.

From Reuters:

    The next 5 billion euro tranche for Greece that was originally scheduled to be paid in December 2011 is now to be paid out in March 2012, Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said.

     

    A further 10 billion euros that Greece was originally to receive in March this year, will now be paid only in June and all of those sums can also be delayed if inspectors judge Athens is failing to deliver promised fiscal reforms.

     

    "That cannot be changed," Bailly said, referring to the three month rhythm in paying out tranches of the first Greek rescue programme.

     

    Last year, Athens repeatedly said it faced the risk of defaulting if the EU and IMF did not pay out scheduled tranches. Europe's political leaders have made it clear that as long as Greece meets criteria on reforms, it will be financed as necessary by the EU and IMF, but investors with money in Greek bonds are watching its cashflow closely.

     

    The payouts are part of the aid that Athens has been promised under a 110 billion joint EU/IMF financing programme in 2010 in exchange for fiscal austerity and structural reforms that are to make public finances of the highly indebted country sustainable.

     

    Out of the total, 73 billion euros have already been paid, and 37 billion remain to be disbursed.

     

    The delay in the payout of the money last year, which meant 8 billion euros from September were only paid out in December, was caused by Greece's failure to keep up with its commitments to implement austerity and structural reforms.

     

    Bailly said that if Greece fails to meet the aid conditions again, more delays in pay-outs would follow. A team of EU and IMF inspectors will visit Greece on January 14-16 to verify reform progress.

     

    "If our mission in mid-January concludes that there is a delay in progress, we would have to review March (payment due then)," Bailly said.

     

    Euro zone leaders agreed on a second, 130 billion euro financing programme for Greece in October to maintain the country's access to emergency financing for longer after initial expectations that Athens would be able to return to markets in March 2012 proved optimistic.

     

    But details of the second programme, which includes a 50 percent haircut on Greek bonds held by private investors, are still under negotiation.

Sure enough, the EURUSD is now firmly under 1.28 as the printers are starting their warm up sequence.

Se "retrasa" el pago de uno de los plazos del rescate griego. Aparentemente, NHD (no hay dinero). La razón de fondo: los griegos no han hecho nada substancial para reducir su deuda.

[natalita]

Alarma en Grecia por el abandono de niños debido a la crisis
Este tipo de casos, cada vez más frecuentes, sacuden un país cuyos lazos familiares son muy estrechos

Internacional | 10/01/2012 - 08:39h

Barcelona (Redacción).- "En el último año cientos de padres han acudido a nosotros para darnos a sus hijos". Quien habla es el padre Antonios, un joven sacerdote griego que dirige un centro juvenil para los pobres de Atenas.

La crisis financiera en el país heleno ha provocado que algunas familias, en el límite de la desesperación, deban renunciar a su bien más preciado: sus hijos. El padre Antonios, preguntado por la BBC, explica que en los últimos meses ya se ha encontrado a cuatro niños en la puerta, uno de ellos un bebé de pocos meses.

Este tipo de casos están sacudiendo a un país sumido en una profunda crisis y cuyos lazos familiares son tradicionalmente muy estrechos. La cadena pública británica habla de casos de desnutrición de bebés en los hospitales atenienses, como el de una madre cuyos gemelos tuvieron que ser atendidos porque la madre no podía alimentarse debidamente para amamantar a sus vástagos.

Uno de los niños atendidos por el padre Antonios es Natsha, de dos años de edad, que su madre dejó a su cuidado porque estaba desempleada y no podía hacerse cargo de ella. No es que no existieran casos como estos previos a la crisis, pero en palabras del padre Antonios "nunca antes había encontrado niños abandonados a su suerte en la puerta".

http://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20120110/54244223446/alarma-grecia-abandono-ninos-debido-crisis.html


Los pelos de punta!!!

[The Resident]

La semana pasada fue la apoteosis.

Papandreu, ya de paso que se retira, acusa a uno de los principales magnates de prensa de Grecia de hacerle mucha pupa y mala sangre. El mangant... perdonen, el magnate contesta que su empresa pidio un credito a un banco y que la Mansion Maxima (Moncloa ateniense) dio orden de que nones. http://www.grreporter.info/en/papandreou_accused_publisher_exercising_media_pressure/5676

Dos fiscales anticorrupcion que investigan los delitos financieros mas gordos dimitieron a mediados de diciembre, denunciando presiones. Luego desdimitieron, pero el Tribunal Supremo les pide que pongan nombre y DNI a las presiones. Y lo han hecho: periodistas y abogados que hablaban en nombre de politicos y empresarios. http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/01/05/greek-prosecutors-say-middlemen-interfered-in-their-cases/

Cronica rosa. Ex ministro se salta semaforos, echa un Ben-Hur con la pasma, haciendole la consiguiente pupa a la pasma, es conducido al cuartelillo y, de acuerdo con las estrictas leyes griegas, detenido. Excepto que esta ultima parte, no. Sale libre. Lo curioso del caso es que todo esto salga a la luz publica inmediatamente, y el oprobiado tenga que defenderse diciendo que son estrictos con el porque esta en conflicto con los ministros de su partido (PASOK). http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/01/08/%ce%b5x-minister-rams-car-into-police-during-traffic-check/


Por separado no es gran cosa, pero todo junto, son nuevos indicios de una situacion: ahora que no queda dinero para repartir, la Helenocasta esta perdiendo el control de todo, empezando sobre todo por los medios.

[The Resident]

Los compromisos con la gente que te da la pasta son para cumplirlos, no faltaba más, señora.

http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/Minister-admits-civil-service-scheme-failure

Minister admits civil service scheme failure

The labor reserve scheme, which is designed to place 30,000 civil servants on reduced salaries for a year was described this week by Administrative Reform Minister Dimitris Reppas as "bordering on the absurd and ridiculous"

15 Jan 2012

The labor reserve scheme, which is designed to place 30,000 civil servants on reduced salaries for a year -- and which politicians pored over for more than a year -- was described this week by Administrative Reform Minister Dimitris Reppas as "bordering on the absurd and ridiculous".

The Minister also raised eyebrows by telling a parliamentary committee that the current interim government would not approve the sackings of any civil servants despite the fact that Greece has pledged to reduce the number of bureaucrats it employs by 150,000 over the next three years.

"Sackings are not on our agenda and this agenda is formed by this government and this minister," said Reppas, who did not provide details on what would happen to plans for firings in the civil service that Athens has discussed with the troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Reppas did however admit that some kind of streamlining would be needed in the public sector. "We have to help citizens and the economy take off through the services that the state provides and its ability to boost growth, which is currently not happening due to bureaucracy and corruption."

Reppas told Parliament's public administration committee that he was hopeful an agreement with France that was brokered by the European Union Task Force would help Greece to receive expert help in reforming its public sector. The minister took over his post last June and inherited the unfinished labor reserve program from fellow cabinet member Yiannis Ragousis. The pair clashed frequently over the sc

heme, which will eventually lead to 30,000 civil servants leaving their jobs and receiving 60 per cent of their pay for 12 months. Reppas admitted on Tuesday that the scheme would not be used again as it had been a damp squib.

"We did not expect anything significant from a fiscal aspect and on the other hand there was the danger of public administration being unable to operate because of the loss of key personnel," he said.

Source: Kathimerini

[The Resident]

Impresionante.

Resultados de una encuesta de intención de voto:
-Nueva Democracia: 30%
-PASOK: 14%
-Izquierda Democrática (DIMAR): 13,5%
-Comunistas (KKE): 13%
-Coalición de izquierda (SYRIZA): 12%
-Ultraderecha (LAOS): 5%
-Verdes: >3%

Lo impresionante: aparte del hundimiento definitivo del Pasok y del lamentable aprovechamiento que hace ND (igualito que aquí), lo tremendo es que un partido de descontentos independientes fundado en 2010, DIMAR, parece que se va a comer con patatas a todos los partidos históricos de izquierda. ¿El último disfraz de la Helenocasta o el primer aire nuevo?

Y ojo. Pronto para decir que es tendencia, pero ojo. Estos de DIMAR dice por ahí que son los más moderados de la izquierda. Y los xenófobos que tanto subieron la última década, estancados (tal vez por participar en el gobierno de Papadimos). ¿Tal vez el populismo no vaya a triunfar? Si eso ocurriese los griegos nos darían una lección como la copa de un pino (y los owneds se repartirían por paelleras).

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_15/01/2012_422740

[Starkiller]

Ojo, que grecia es un país que siempre ha estado a las puertas del comunismo, y siempre se ha evitado mediante golpes de estado militares...

[The Resident]

He estado leyendo algo sobre este nuevo partido.

1º Ahora las encuestas les dan el 14%. Hace un mes les daban el 9,5%. Hace un año y medio no existían.

2º El candidato es un viejín de 61 años, comunista de los de antes de los coroneles que lleva toda la vida en esto (hasta fue ministro durante cinco minutos en el 89). En las encuestas es ahora mismo el candidato más valorado, detrás del que no se presenta, Papadimos.

3º Acusan a los otros dos partidos de izquierda-izquierda (no el Pasok) de hacer izquierdismo populista y demagógico, rechazar dogmáticamente las medidas de la troika sin proponer alternativas. Ellos afirman ser más serios.

4º Se les ve como más centrados que los otros dos, y más limpios que el Pasok. De hecho, se están arrimando a elementos independientes y "reformistas" de este último.

5º Son completamente europeístas.

[The Resident]

Ya no se respeta nada ni nadie.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/01/20/greek-prosecutor-wants-papandreou-investigated/

Greek Prosecutor Wants Papandreou Investigated

Former Prime Minister George Papandreou should be investigated to see if there was any wrongdoing in how he handled the country’s economic crisis and imposed waves of pay cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions and layoffs of public workers on the demands of international lenders providing the country with rescue loans, the prosecutor probing Greece’s chief of statistics said. Financial prosecutor Grigoris Peponis has recommended that Parliament should look into Papandreou’s Administration from 2009 until the former premier resigned on Nov. 11, 2011 after 18 months of social unrest sparked by the austerity measures.

Peponis [el mismo fiscal anticorrupción que les cuento unos mensajes más arriba] has also recommended that Andreas Georgiou, a former International Monetary Fund top official who heads the country’s statistics bureau ELSTAT, should be prosecuted for allegedly misstating Greece’s economic condition in order to force the austerity measures. Georgiou has denied the charges and said he is being prosecuted “for not cooking the books,” as previous Greek governments have, including that of Papandreou’s predecessor as Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, whose conservative New Democracy government lied about the country’s condition, European Union officials said. Karamanlis has not faced any questions, however, nor has he made any statements on what the EU said was his mishandling of the country’s economy which helped precipitate Greece’s worst economic crisis since World War II.

Peponis has delivered the results of his initial probe into Papandreou’s reign to the Supreme Court, where prosecutor Nikos Pantelis has been appointed to examine the case file and decide whether it should be referred to Parliament in relation to possible charges against the former leader and former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou, who initially served during the tenure of the PASOK socialists. Papaconstantinou is still serving, now as Environnment, Energy and Climate Change Minister in a coalition government headed by former European Central Bank Vice-President Lucas Papademos that also includes members of New Democracy and the far Right-Wing LAOS party.

Peponis’ investigation into the financial crisis began last September when Zoe Georganta, a former ELSTAT official, was fired and then charged with artificially inflating 2009 deficit data from around 12-13 percent to 15.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Georgiou said the government is trying to find a scapegoat and blame him for presenting accurate numbers that embarrassed Greece. His findings have been supported by the EU. Georganta claimed that European officials wanted Greece to show a greater deficit than Ireland in order to trigger a bailout and tough fiscal measures. She was later supported by Nikos Logothetis, ELSTAT’s former Vice-President, whom Georgiou accused of hacking into her e-mail account in another of Greece’s convoluted conspiratorial stories. Georgiou was chosen by Papandreou to overhaul ELSTAT in 2010, because critics said the agency was packed with incompetent political hires who faked statistics.

Peponis invited Georgiou to give evidence but did not end up taking a deposition from him. In his report, Peponis justified forwarding the case file to the Supreme Court before hearing from Georgiou by saying that he had collected several statements from witnesses who claimed that the deficit figure had been inflated. The suggestion that Papandreou might face investigation drew strong criticism from PASOK spokesman Panos Beglitis, who questioned the prosecutor’s handling of the case. Beglitis accused Peponis of “dangerous oversight” and of being part of a “well-organized intervention in political and economic life, which puts national interests in danger.”

Beglitis called on the Supreme Court to “do its duty.”

[Aire Mutable]

Buenas noches

He unificado en este hilo todos los hilos dispersos sobre Grecia, en éste y otros foros de Transición Estructural, que he encontrado.

Les rogaría que intentaran mantener toda la información sobre Grecia en este hilo y en este foro de Big Picture, para mayor difusión de la información y comodidad de todos los que por aquí foreamos.

Gracias

[The Resident]

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/01/25/analysts-say-pasok-no-longer-exists/

Analysts Say ”Pasok No Longer Exists”
By A. Papapostolou on January 25, 2012 in News

The Greek socialist party Pasok ”virtually no longer exists.” This, according to several Greek analysts, is the opinion of many people in Greece after last night’s vote in Parliament about the regulation of opening hours of chemists’ shops.

George Papandreou – leader of the party that was founded by his grandfather Andreas after the fall of the colonels’ regime – is abroad for the international congress of socialists (chaired by him), while the future of his country is at stake.

The spokesperson of the party voted against a bill that had been presented by a Minister of the same party. During the bill’s presentation in Parliament, this Minister urged all MPs to vote for it, but they all made their own choice. One of the historic leaders of the party, a former secretary who has held the position of Minister several times, emphasized that Pasok lacks leadership, and asked Papandreou to convene the party’s parliamentary group at once to elect a new president.
(source: ANSA)

Hablándolo con amigos con respecto a España, he visto que esta situación les da pánico. Desmoronamiento de lo antiguo, sin que haya aún algo nuevo para sustituirlo. A mí me parece algo maravilloso. Quitarse de encima los lastres que impiden correr, bien merece el riesgo de que todos los demás decidan correr hacia un barranco.

A ver las que lía Samarás. Tiene mucha más mala hostia que Mariano.