Debtocracy (2011) Movie Script
Georgios Papadopoulos: Dictator
Yet once shall I attempt a comparison with doctors
We have a patient;
we've placed him in a plaster cast.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn: IMF Managing Director
Don't decide against the doctor,
sometimes the doctor gives you
a medicine you don't like,
but even if you don't like the medicine
the doctor is there to try to help you.
As has been said before,
history has this wicked habit
of repeating itself as farce.
So, from a dictator/wannabe-doctor,
we moved on to the MDs of the IMF.
Andreas Papandreou: PM of Greece
Everybody has to join in the
struggle, fully aware that
either the nation will obliterate its huge debt
or the huge debt will obliterate the nation.
Constantinos Mitsotakis:
PM of Greece 1990-1993
This year's incomes policy will be
strict and austere.
No raises will be given whatsoever.
Costas Simitis: Greece PM, 1996-2004
There is no more room for
benefits or tax cuts.
Costas Karamanlis: PM of Greece, 2004-2009
We have to cut public spending,
we have to tidy up our house.
And this cannot be achieved
with your empty promises
of handing out money and privileges
at a time of such crisis.
Giorgos Papandreou: PM of Greece
Unfortunately, our country is in the ICU.
The nation's fiscal deadlock
threatens our sovereignty
for the first time since 1974.
In the last 40 years, two political
parties, 3 families of politicians
along with certain businessmen,
led the country to bankruptcy.
They declared suspension of payments to
the people, in order to save their lenders.
After decades of continuous austerity,
the Czars of the economy
advertised Greece as
the local financial superpower.
Yannos Papantoniou
Minister for Finance 1994-2001
Our work is great. We were the first
to solve the economic problems.
N. Christodoulakis
Minister for Finance 2001-2004
Once more, our economy will prove
to be our strongest asset.
Yannos Papantoniou
Minister for Finance 1994-2001
The economy sprang forward and went
from second to first league.
When their creation crumbled, those
people said behind our back
that, due to some genetic disorder,
we were incapable of handling
our economy without foreign aid.
Perhaps Americans may find it
difficult to understand this
but Greece lacks hability in
control of ?? and discipline.
Our government called us bums,
and our lenders PIIGS...
as was the case with all
peripheral EU countries.
And our ministers tried to convince us
that all of us had a part in this.
Brian Lenihan Ireland's Minister
of Finance 2008-2011
I accept that we failed into
our political system
but let's be fair about it,
we're all part of it.
Theodoros Pangalos
Vice-president of the Greek government
The answer to the denouncement
of the country's politicians
that makes people ask us, what
did you do with the money? is:
We made you civil servants!
We all had a part in this!
So are we the prodigal children
of a neat global economy
in an all-successful Europe?
Or has the system been ailing
since its youth?
Capitalist economy in the post-war period
consists of two parts.
Costas Lapavitsas
Professor in Economics
In the first 25 years after World War II,
the growth rate was high.
Real income rose,
as did the consumption of goods.
Those were novel circumstances
in the history of capitalism.
Joe is the king because
he can buy more with his wages
then any other worker
on the blow.
David Harvey - Social scientist
There's no such thing as
a crisis free capitalism.
So, there's gonna be
a crisis somewhere.
This happy period ended
in the mid-Seventies.
From then on, we entered a period of
low growth, recurrent crises...
suppressed, if any, rises in workers' income
and high unemployment.
Mature capitalist countries
found it difficult...
to accrue wealth.
This period was marked by a
huge growth in the financial system
which was termed financialisation.
Financialisation brought on
and intensified the crises.
When the US housing bubble burst
the financial system came close
to total collapse.
As a result, it affected the real economy,
which had its own structural problems.
States took rescue measures.
They used tax-payers' money
to save the banks and restore demand.
Thus, the financial crisis went fiscal.
And those same banks which
were saved by the tax-payers
decided to bite the hand that fed them,
by gambling on state bankruptcies.
Speculation makes things worse
in Greece, too.
Only, this time, the problem
is even deeper.
It's time for the Eurozone
to pay.
King Euro proves naked, mainly
because he's a king without a state.
Samir Amin - Economist
-
There cannot be a currency
without a state.
Despite their weaknesses,
the advantage of the US dollar...
among other things, is that there is
a state called the USA.
Europe does not exist
as a political entity.
There's no legitimized political
power connecting its states.
In my opinion,
the Eurozone is not viable.
In contrast to the USA, where
the federal government
and the Federal Reserve System
intervene to ameliorate inequalities
among states, the Eurozone
accentuates inequality.
This is how the PIIGS, the poor relatives
of the EU, came into existence.
The Eurozone is divided distinctly
into central and peripheral states.
The crisis is most intense
in the peripheral states.
The central states, especially Germany,
are winners because of the Euro.
The competitiveness of EU states
came to vary a lot
and the competitiveness of peripheral
countries fell steadily and systematically behind.
This was directly due to the Euro.
ric Toussaint, president of the Committee
for the Abolition of Third World Debt
-
The crisis in the EU was a result
of the way Europe was integrated.
With Greece, it's like putting
Muhammad Ali
the World Heavyweight Champion,
in the ring with a featherweight boxer
and telling them: Start fighting
and let's see who wins.
Why are the peripheral countries
lagging behind in competitiveness?
Most of all, what causes
this divergence to keep increasing?
The myth of the "lazy periphery"
and "industrious Germany"...
with its "high productivity" is just that.
All the German governments managed
was to declare war
on their own work-force...
and freeze their salaries
for a decade.
Sahra Wagenknecht - Deputy Chairperson, Die Linke
-
In recent years, the nominal increase
in salaries was 7% (in Germany)
while in the Eurozone it was 27%.
This gap logically results in loss
of competitiveness in other countries.
When salaries go down in one country,
while they go up in all the others
it's only natural that the competitiveness
of the German economy is boosted
while the other countries
are unable to follow.
The Eurozone countries are no longer
able to devaluate their currency.
This resulted in the establishment
of a mechanism
which was bound to lead
to the results we have today.
Costas Lapavitsas - Professor in Economics:
-
The loss of competitiveness
manifested itself in two ways
both of which played
a decisive part in the crisis.
Firstly, great deficits occurred
in current transactions.
And Greece had the greatest deficit
of all. When you're unable to compete
your transactions with the rest
of the world result in a deficit.
And Greeces deficit is huge.
But this goes for the other
peripheral countries, as well.
This phenomenon went hand-in-hand
with the accruing of debt.
If you have such deficits,
you must balance them somehow.
In the EU, Greece is the poor relative.
Greece belongs to the European
Continent's semi-peripheral countries.
It's evident that Greece
was bound to accrue national debt
given the circumstances of its
integration into European markets.
I won't even bother with the rumour
that Greeks are lazy.
That's pure racism.
The Eurozone destroys the immune system
of peripheral countries
leaving them exposed
to the global crisis.
The Achilles' heel of those countries
is deficit and debt.
In our case, the debt is rooted
deep in the history of the Greek state.
Manolis Glezos - historical figure of the Greek Left
-
From the time of the Revolution of 1821,
our country
started borrowing.
And it's been borrowing ever since.
With one exception.
During an extraordinarily "happy" period,
Greece managed to become a lender.
During the German Occupation,
Greece lent to Germany.
The Germans forced Greece to become
a lender instead of a borrower.
After the German Occupation ended,
the country resumed its traditional role;
that of a borrower.
And national debt as we know it,
started to rise in the 1980s.
The high levels of national
borrowing in Greece
relate to Greece's
social and class structure
and the form the Greek economy has assumed
over the last few decades.
It has to do with the Greek state's
systematic inability
to implement an effective and fair
system of taxation.
(History of Greek sovereign debt)
Andreas Papandreou created
the necessary welfare state
without increasing corporate
and high income taxes.
He saved jobs by nationalizing
loss-making private companies.
Primarily though, he saved
the companies' owners.
Public deficit and sovereign debt
increased dramatically.
Mitsotakis government continued to borrow.
The Maastricht treaty imposed world markets
as the only mechanism for deficit control,
prohibiting other means of money creation.
Debt skyrocketed with the highest
increase rate in Greek history.
Kostas Simitis was luckier.
Creative accounting,
the fall of European interest rates
and economic growth were on his side.
This way, he was able
to conceal the bomb
that he placed on sovereign debt.
During his premiership,the percentage of
debt seemed to decrease slightly.
Kostas Karamanlis decreased
capital taxation by 10%.
The economic free fall accelerated
and debt exploded once more.
Most countries in a similar situation
were visited by the IMF.
But none paid as dearly
as Argentina
Greece's mirror image
on the other side of the Atlantic.
Argentina fell into the debt trap
at the same time as Greece
in 1824, with the first British loans.
But the noose tightened
towards the end of the 20th century.
Argentina locked the rate
of its peso against the US dollar.
This made it impossible for them,
to exercise a monetary policy.
Argentina experienced
its own Eurozone.
Only, instead of Berlin, they were up
against Washington DC.
M. Camdessus - IMF Managing Director, 1987-2000:
At the same time, the IMF
turned the country into...
yet another experimental laboratory
for Neoliberalism.
(Excerpt from the documentary film The Take)
Avi Lewis - Film-maker / Journalist:
Gerard Dumenil - Economist
After Argentina's economic
collapse in 2001...
the IMF and its Neoliberal theories...
became the laughing stock
of economists all over the world.
But some monsters never die.
(I have 3 children and no job, please help)
Greece will pay dearl
for the intervention of the IMF.
And, in some cases, she will
even pay for it in advance.
Ron Paul -
Republican Congressman -
Ben Bernanke
Chairman of FED -
Argentina was confronted
by the IMF alone.
But Greece found herself
serving two masters.
Because, in Europe, Neoliberal
theories were also being promoted
by the European Central Bank.
Ironically enough, in the case of Greece
the IMF was softer than the EU.
The measures applied in collaboration
with the IMF, the ECB and the EU
are not only unfair
and dangerous to the Greek people.
They're also doomed to fail
right from the start.
They have a tragic impact
on the people's quality of life
and on their daily life even.
And it's highly unlikely that
they will have a positive effect
on the economy in general, and
the management of national debt.
Like in Argentina, the target was
to save not the economy
but rather the banks and the big enterprises.
The measures taken now are
stabilization measures
to prevent Greece from proceeding
to a cessation of due payments.
They are not measures
which will reduce the debt.
It is more than obvious that the debt
will continue to increase quickly
regardless of the measures,
and, indeed, as a result of them.
The measures aim clearly
to protect the lenders
to protect the banks.
Within a few months, the Greek
government gave the banks
EUR 108 billion
which is almost the entire rescue
package received from the IMF and the EU.
(Excerpt from the documentary film Social Genocide)
When Argentina faced
a similar situation
several of those responsible
were punished.
The image of presidents leaving
the presidential palace in choppers
still haunts both the IMF
and its collaborators.
One magical night,
just like in Argentina
we'll see who gets
to hop into the chopper first!
Year #1 after the IMF intervention.
Greece has entered an intensive programme
of "purging" procedures, "asset utilisation"
"rationalisation measures" and "tidying up".
The delegates of the IMF, EUand ECB have
taken up permanent residence in Athens
and are dictating their policy through
an unconstitutional memorandum.
Dominique Strauss - Kahn IMF Managing Director -
What is Greece today?
Are we a free country? Yes.
Are we independent?
No, we've been reduced to vassals.
Freedom is one thing,
sovereignty quite another.
Our country's problem is that
she has lost her sovereignty.
In splendid collaboration
with their foreign lenders
the government has turned against the people
with harsh austerity measures.
The result is poverty, failed businessed,
and unemployment.
We consider the centre of Athens to be
N. Kanakis : president - Doctors of the World Greece
-
facing a humanitarian crisis.
All the distinctive features are there;
people who are hungry or homeless,
who lack medication and healthcare.
And they just wander around the squares.
It's not much different from what
we see in Third World countries.
You have to remember that we deal
with the poorest of the poor.
There are people who still maintain
some social security rights
but that is not enough,
as a poor woman-pensioner indicated.
She said: "I buy either food or
medicine. I can't afford both".
The government's measures
are not simply worsening
the citizens' living conditions. They pose
an immediate threat to their lives.
Panos Papanicolaou: Neurosurgeon
-
In all of the countries "supported"
by the IMF up to now
there has been a dramatic drop
in average life expectancy
It's what we usually refer to
as the average lifespan.
There were countries where,
after the IMF ordeal
the average lifespan fell by 5-10 years.
With the cuts we are facing now
it's clear that our life expectancy
will be greatly reduced.
The citizens react.
The government's response is in breach of
even the basic principles of democracy
The penalisation of wearing a hood,
the unjustified arrests and
the hood-wearing policemen,
all border on the para-state.
This liberality with tear-gas leaves us
no money for free education
Alain Badiou Philosopher: Philosopher
-
Crises are always solved through measures
against society and against the people
which may be particularly harsh.
This is how capitalism
controls the situation.
The problem of capitalism is
how to get these measures accepted.
For that, violence is deployed.
In response to
the "financial gale" alert
Democracy makes way for
Debtocracy.
Poor people, don't eat each other.
Eat the rich, they're plumper!
A crisis of capitalism causes
extensive devaluation.
The value is lost through
financial speculation.
Somebody has to pay
for this devaluation.
However, the capitalists
do not intend to pay for it.
They're not at all altruistic.
But if those who caused the crisis
do not intend to pay for it
why should we pay?
In the past, dozens of countries
have successfully repudiated debts
not incurred by their citizens,
in accordance with provisions
of the international law, such as
the concept of odious debt.
The history of odious debt [animation]
Our story starts in the 1920s,
with Alexander Sack.
Sack was a minister and law specialist
in Czarist Russia.
After the 1917 Revolution, he taught
in universities of Europe and the USA.
In 1927, he came up with
a brilliant concept:
the concept of odious debt.
In order to define a debt as odious,
three prerequisites are needed.
receives a loan
without the knowledge and approval
of the people.
not beneficial to the people.
but play possum.
Sack's proposals sound progressive,
even revolutionary.
Actually, at that time, they served
the interests
of a rising superpower:
the United States of America.
The USA had found themselves in need
of the "odious debt" concept in 1898
when they won the Spanish-American war
and annexed Cuba.
Their problem was that,
together with Cuba
they acquired the debt incurred
by the Spanish colonial regime.
And, since Spanish colonialism
had lasted four centuries
from 1492, when Columbus set foot
in America, till 1898
that debt was quite heavy.
Of course, the USA had no intention
of paying for the mistakes of past regimes.
They decided that Cuba's debt
was odious
and simply refused to pay it.
The same had happened in Mexico
a few decades earlier.
When the Republicans overthrew
emperor Maximilian I
they decided that the debt
he had incurred was odious.
Maximilian had borrowed huge sums
at excessively high interest rates
to deal with the uprising
against him.
And since he owed a lot,
mainly to the people of Mexico
he was sentenced to death
and sent to the firing squad.
In the late 19th-early 20th century,
most instances of odious debt
concerned underdeveloped countries
on the American continent.
Actually, a rising superpower was
involved in all those debt repudiations:
the United States of America.
And this same superpower
brought the concept of odious debt
into the 21st century.
December 2002: the White House
is putting the finishing touches
to the planned invasion
and occupation of Iraq.
Before the attack starts, however,
American officials
are preparing for the day after
Saddam Hussein's overthrowal.
The State Department knows that
they will have to deal with
Iraq's huge national debt.
Therefore, they are trying to prove
that this debt is odious.
A secret task-force is formed,
and they propose that
the first provisional government of Iraq
declare cessation of due payments
on the pretext that the Iraqi people
must not pay the odious debt incurred
by the Iraqi regime.
All is now ready for the attack.
ric Toussaint: President of CADTM
-
In March 2003, the USA and their allies
invaded Iraq.
Three weeks later, the US Secretary
for the Treasury called for a summit meeting
of G8 finance ministers in Washington, and
announced that Hussein's debt was odious.
He said: "Hussein's regime is dictatorial
and its debt must be repudiated".
"The new government of Iraq
must be free of Hussein's debt".
George W. Bush instructed former
Secretary of State, James Baker
to convince the international community
that Iraq's debt was odious.
And Baker claimed that Saddam Hussein
wasted his people's money
on building palaces and buying arms.
Among other things, American diplomats
proved that Iraq owed
billions of dollars to France and Russia,
for the purchase of Exocet missiles
and fighter aircraft such as
Mirage F1 and MiG.
Actually, Hussein's way
was not that different
from what many Western leaders do.
To the Arabs, palaces are
what the Olympic Games are to the West:
a demonstration of economic
and geopolitical dominance.
The American diplomacy finally proved
that Iraq's debt was odious
and the Iraqi people were
not obliged to pay it.
However, Washington suddenly realised
that they'd pried open a can of worms.
For the first time in the 21st century,
the ultimate superpower had legitimised
the concept of odious debt.
So, they chose
to sweep this case under the carpet.
The other countries said: "We'll cut 40%
off Iraq's debt through the Paris Club".
"But the concept of odious debt
must not be used officially"
"because other countries may claim
this right as well".
"For example, the DR Congo
will repudiate Mobutu's debt"
"the Philippines will refuse
to pay the debt of dictator Marcos"
"and South Africa will refuse
the debt of the apartheid regime".
To prevent the extension of the concept
of odious debt into the 21st century
they reached an ad hoc decision
on Iraq.
However, it is obvious to us that
the odious debt doctrine was used.
The USA continued to help Iraq
to cancel old debts.
But nobody in Washington
ever wanted to hear again
the expression "odious debt".
Iraq managed to write off
a big part of its debt
with the support of an empire.
But another country resolved
to stand on its own two feet
and stand up against the IMF
and its other big lenders.
They managed to prove that their debt
was not only odious, but also
illegitimate and unconstitutional.
Welcome to Ecuador.
Rafael Correa President of Ecuador
-
We have national commitments,
more urgent than international ones.
We'll fulfill our international
obligations as soon as we are able.
But our priorities are clear.
Life comes first, repaying debts second.
Ecuador could have been one of
the richest countries in South America.
But, from the moment that
oil was discovered...
all the country knew was dictators,
poverty, debt and economic hit-men.
John Perkins: Activist, former economic hit-man
-
In 1982, Ecuador was visited by the IMF
and a committee of wise men
representing the country's big lenders.
Ecuador had been forced to borrow
more and more, in order to fulfill past obligations.
Hugo Arias: Head of Ecuador audit committee
-
Ecuador was constantly being looted
by the countries of the North.
For example, from 1980-1990
up to 2005
almost 50% of the government budget
was used to repay debts.
Namely, about
Only 4% was for health care.
Four billion for repaying debts,
Four billion for the debt,
We were killing our own people.
The people of Ecuador protested.
For a moment
things appeared to be in control
when Lucio Gutirrez took over.
Gutirrez promised social benefits.
He spoke like a socialist
but, as soon as he took office,
he made a new deal with the IMF
and implemented measures
of extreme austerity.
The people decided that he should leave
with the same means of transport
favoured by Argentinian presidents:
the chopper.
Vice-president Palacio takes over.
He has good intentions, but soon
succumbs to Washington.
So the people turn to the only politician
who'd resisted international pressure.
Rafael Correa.
Song: una sola vuelta
-
From the first round
Correa, from the first round.
Ecuador from the first round.
Hope is triumphant.
We are your united people.
We stand united.
March on, Ecuador Alliance.
March on for justice.
March on for your rights.
March on, Correa, for Ecuador.
From the first round
Correa, from the first round.
Ecuador from the first round!
Correa studied economics
in Europe and the USA
and knows very well how to handle
the World Bank and the IMF
as long as one has the political will.
As Minister of Finance, in 2005,
Correa declared that it was unnatural
to use oil revenues
in order to pay back the debt.
This was unfair to the people.
He said that 80% of the revenues
should be used for health benefits,
education and the creation of jobs
and only 20% should be channeled
towards repayment of the debt.
The World Bank said that they wouldn't
lend to Ecuador if such a law passed.
This was an obvious interference
with Ecuador's internal policy.
Correa declared that he would never
follow such instructions from the WB.
He chose to resign rather than succumb.
This made him very popular.
The people said: "This man
chose to resign from minister"
"in order to defend the dignity
and the interests of the people".
Correa was finally elected in 2006.
One of his first actions was
to deport the representative of
the World Bank
and ask the IMF delegation
to leave the Central Bank's premises.
Officials of the IMF such as Bob Traa,
who later came to Greece
had already been dubbed "unwanted"
by the people of Ecuador.
Those callous, dishonest bureaucrats
have to respect our country.
This is why we deported the WB delegate.
We maintain the right to restore
the damage done to our country and
declare our debt to the WB illegitimate.
Six months later, Correa
went a step further.
He fulfilled the demand
of social organisations
for an Audit Committee.
I was one of the people
Correa chose for the Committee.
organisations participated.
We were to examine all debt contracts,
from 1956 to 2006.
We worked for 14 months.
We examined the bond debt
the debts to the IMF, the World Bank
and other international organisations.
We examined the debt to countries
such as France, Japan and Germany.
Finally, we examined Ecuador's
internal national debt.
The battle to access the data
was tremendous.
In the Ministry of Finance, our
associate Alejandro Olmos Jr
and myself, were declared
"personae non gratae".
The officials in the Ministry of Finance
wrote to the Minister
to complain and denounce
both mine and Olmos' actions
claiming that we were inflicting
harm on the Ministry's employees.
We laughed it off, but you imagine
how difficult it was
after we'd been accused
of being the "bad guys"
in that procedure.
Despite the setbacks, the Committee
managed to complete its work
and discovered that a big part
of the debt was illegitimate.
They acknowledged their findings
to the state, who told the people.
The work of the Committee was made
public, and this is very important.
The people of Ecuador now knew
why the debt contracts of past regimes
especially those of the year 2000,
were illegitimate.
Song: "Dale Correa Rafael"
-
March on, Rafael Correa!
Our homeland is marching against
the decadent Congress
and the bureaucratic dictatorship
of the old politicians.
Power belongs to the people.
Your brother tells you so.
The people of Ecuador
want a new constitution.
March on, Correa.
Correa, strike against the "bosses"
who devastated our homeland.
March on, Correa.
March on, Rafael Correa.
Based on the findings of the Committee,
the government proved that
the debt was illegitimate
and declared cessation of payments
for 70% of Ecuador's debt in bonds.
Those in possession of Ecuador's debt
sold bonds at 20% of their value.
The government started
to buy them secretly.
They gave 800 million dollars and
bought off 3 billion dollars of debt.
This significant reduction allowed
an improvement in living conditions.
Furthermore, they rid themselves of the interest
they would have had to pay till 2012 or 2030.
They saved at least 7 billion dollars,
which was great for the country.
This allowed the government to increase
expenditure on health, education
the creation of new jobs,
and improvement in infrastructure.
In Greece, historians,
economists and political analysts
use up tons of ink daily to tell us
how to handle our national debt.
Yet, there is one question
very few pose.
Do the Greek people really owe
as much as their creditors claim?
The debt incurred by Greece recently
bears evidence of illegitimacy.
For example, the authorities received
"gifts" from companies such as Siemens
who, together with Siemens Hellas,
bribed ministers and officials
for at least a decade,
in order to gain contracts.
In this case, we have evidence
of illegality and illegitimacy.
So, this debt should be examined
in court. To me, this is evident.
Greek justice proved inadequate
in the Siemens case.
And it was too slow
in other cases of deals
made behind the people's back,
which have increased the debt.
With the infamous swaps of 2001,
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
-
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.
Look at Tunisia and Egypt.
Only when the people take action
can the situation really change.
We have to shake off submissiveness,
liberate ourselves from the IMF
liberate ourselves from the ECB,
and liberate ourselves from the EU
because all three mean
the economic slavery of Greece.
Giorgos Papandreou
-
Now is the crucial moment.
Let's go!
Yet once shall I attempt a comparison with doctors
We have a patient;
we've placed him in a plaster cast.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn: IMF Managing Director
Don't decide against the doctor,
sometimes the doctor gives you
a medicine you don't like,
but even if you don't like the medicine
the doctor is there to try to help you.
As has been said before,
history has this wicked habit
of repeating itself as farce.
So, from a dictator/wannabe-doctor,
we moved on to the MDs of the IMF.
Andreas Papandreou: PM of Greece
Everybody has to join in the
struggle, fully aware that
either the nation will obliterate its huge debt
or the huge debt will obliterate the nation.
Constantinos Mitsotakis:
PM of Greece 1990-1993
This year's incomes policy will be
strict and austere.
No raises will be given whatsoever.
Costas Simitis: Greece PM, 1996-2004
There is no more room for
benefits or tax cuts.
Costas Karamanlis: PM of Greece, 2004-2009
We have to cut public spending,
we have to tidy up our house.
And this cannot be achieved
with your empty promises
of handing out money and privileges
at a time of such crisis.
Giorgos Papandreou: PM of Greece
Unfortunately, our country is in the ICU.
The nation's fiscal deadlock
threatens our sovereignty
for the first time since 1974.
In the last 40 years, two political
parties, 3 families of politicians
along with certain businessmen,
led the country to bankruptcy.
They declared suspension of payments to
the people, in order to save their lenders.
After decades of continuous austerity,
the Czars of the economy
advertised Greece as
the local financial superpower.
Yannos Papantoniou
Minister for Finance 1994-2001
Our work is great. We were the first
to solve the economic problems.
N. Christodoulakis
Minister for Finance 2001-2004
Once more, our economy will prove
to be our strongest asset.
Yannos Papantoniou
Minister for Finance 1994-2001
The economy sprang forward and went
from second to first league.
When their creation crumbled, those
people said behind our back
that, due to some genetic disorder,
we were incapable of handling
our economy without foreign aid.
Perhaps Americans may find it
difficult to understand this
but Greece lacks hability in
control of ?? and discipline.
Our government called us bums,
and our lenders PIIGS...
as was the case with all
peripheral EU countries.
And our ministers tried to convince us
that all of us had a part in this.
Brian Lenihan Ireland's Minister
of Finance 2008-2011
I accept that we failed into
our political system
but let's be fair about it,
we're all part of it.
Theodoros Pangalos
Vice-president of the Greek government
The answer to the denouncement
of the country's politicians
that makes people ask us, what
did you do with the money? is:
We made you civil servants!
We all had a part in this!
So are we the prodigal children
of a neat global economy
in an all-successful Europe?
Or has the system been ailing
since its youth?
Capitalist economy in the post-war period
consists of two parts.
Costas Lapavitsas
Professor in Economics
In the first 25 years after World War II,
the growth rate was high.
Real income rose,
as did the consumption of goods.
Those were novel circumstances
in the history of capitalism.
Joe is the king because
he can buy more with his wages
then any other worker
on the blow.
David Harvey - Social scientist
There's no such thing as
a crisis free capitalism.
So, there's gonna be
a crisis somewhere.
This happy period ended
in the mid-Seventies.
From then on, we entered a period of
low growth, recurrent crises...
suppressed, if any, rises in workers' income
and high unemployment.
Mature capitalist countries
found it difficult...
to accrue wealth.
This period was marked by a
huge growth in the financial system
which was termed financialisation.
Financialisation brought on
and intensified the crises.
When the US housing bubble burst
the financial system came close
to total collapse.
As a result, it affected the real economy,
which had its own structural problems.
States took rescue measures.
They used tax-payers' money
to save the banks and restore demand.
Thus, the financial crisis went fiscal.
And those same banks which
were saved by the tax-payers
decided to bite the hand that fed them,
by gambling on state bankruptcies.
Speculation makes things worse
in Greece, too.
Only, this time, the problem
is even deeper.
It's time for the Eurozone
to pay.
King Euro proves naked, mainly
because he's a king without a state.
Samir Amin - Economist
-
There cannot be a currency
without a state.
Despite their weaknesses,
the advantage of the US dollar...
among other things, is that there is
a state called the USA.
Europe does not exist
as a political entity.
There's no legitimized political
power connecting its states.
In my opinion,
the Eurozone is not viable.
In contrast to the USA, where
the federal government
and the Federal Reserve System
intervene to ameliorate inequalities
among states, the Eurozone
accentuates inequality.
This is how the PIIGS, the poor relatives
of the EU, came into existence.
The Eurozone is divided distinctly
into central and peripheral states.
The crisis is most intense
in the peripheral states.
The central states, especially Germany,
are winners because of the Euro.
The competitiveness of EU states
came to vary a lot
and the competitiveness of peripheral
countries fell steadily and systematically behind.
This was directly due to the Euro.
ric Toussaint, president of the Committee
for the Abolition of Third World Debt
-
The crisis in the EU was a result
of the way Europe was integrated.
With Greece, it's like putting
Muhammad Ali
the World Heavyweight Champion,
in the ring with a featherweight boxer
and telling them: Start fighting
and let's see who wins.
Why are the peripheral countries
lagging behind in competitiveness?
Most of all, what causes
this divergence to keep increasing?
The myth of the "lazy periphery"
and "industrious Germany"...
with its "high productivity" is just that.
All the German governments managed
was to declare war
on their own work-force...
and freeze their salaries
for a decade.
Sahra Wagenknecht - Deputy Chairperson, Die Linke
-
In recent years, the nominal increase
in salaries was 7% (in Germany)
while in the Eurozone it was 27%.
This gap logically results in loss
of competitiveness in other countries.
When salaries go down in one country,
while they go up in all the others
it's only natural that the competitiveness
of the German economy is boosted
while the other countries
are unable to follow.
The Eurozone countries are no longer
able to devaluate their currency.
This resulted in the establishment
of a mechanism
which was bound to lead
to the results we have today.
Costas Lapavitsas - Professor in Economics:
-
The loss of competitiveness
manifested itself in two ways
both of which played
a decisive part in the crisis.
Firstly, great deficits occurred
in current transactions.
And Greece had the greatest deficit
of all. When you're unable to compete
your transactions with the rest
of the world result in a deficit.
And Greeces deficit is huge.
But this goes for the other
peripheral countries, as well.
This phenomenon went hand-in-hand
with the accruing of debt.
If you have such deficits,
you must balance them somehow.
In the EU, Greece is the poor relative.
Greece belongs to the European
Continent's semi-peripheral countries.
It's evident that Greece
was bound to accrue national debt
given the circumstances of its
integration into European markets.
I won't even bother with the rumour
that Greeks are lazy.
That's pure racism.
The Eurozone destroys the immune system
of peripheral countries
leaving them exposed
to the global crisis.
The Achilles' heel of those countries
is deficit and debt.
In our case, the debt is rooted
deep in the history of the Greek state.
Manolis Glezos - historical figure of the Greek Left
-
From the time of the Revolution of 1821,
our country
started borrowing.
And it's been borrowing ever since.
With one exception.
During an extraordinarily "happy" period,
Greece managed to become a lender.
During the German Occupation,
Greece lent to Germany.
The Germans forced Greece to become
a lender instead of a borrower.
After the German Occupation ended,
the country resumed its traditional role;
that of a borrower.
And national debt as we know it,
started to rise in the 1980s.
The high levels of national
borrowing in Greece
relate to Greece's
social and class structure
and the form the Greek economy has assumed
over the last few decades.
It has to do with the Greek state's
systematic inability
to implement an effective and fair
system of taxation.
(History of Greek sovereign debt)
Andreas Papandreou created
the necessary welfare state
without increasing corporate
and high income taxes.
He saved jobs by nationalizing
loss-making private companies.
Primarily though, he saved
the companies' owners.
Public deficit and sovereign debt
increased dramatically.
Mitsotakis government continued to borrow.
The Maastricht treaty imposed world markets
as the only mechanism for deficit control,
prohibiting other means of money creation.
Debt skyrocketed with the highest
increase rate in Greek history.
Kostas Simitis was luckier.
Creative accounting,
the fall of European interest rates
and economic growth were on his side.
This way, he was able
to conceal the bomb
that he placed on sovereign debt.
During his premiership,the percentage of
debt seemed to decrease slightly.
Kostas Karamanlis decreased
capital taxation by 10%.
The economic free fall accelerated
and debt exploded once more.
Most countries in a similar situation
were visited by the IMF.
But none paid as dearly
as Argentina
Greece's mirror image
on the other side of the Atlantic.
Argentina fell into the debt trap
at the same time as Greece
in 1824, with the first British loans.
But the noose tightened
towards the end of the 20th century.
Argentina locked the rate
of its peso against the US dollar.
This made it impossible for them,
to exercise a monetary policy.
Argentina experienced
its own Eurozone.
Only, instead of Berlin, they were up
against Washington DC.
M. Camdessus - IMF Managing Director, 1987-2000:
At the same time, the IMF
turned the country into...
yet another experimental laboratory
for Neoliberalism.
(Excerpt from the documentary film The Take)
Avi Lewis - Film-maker / Journalist:
Gerard Dumenil - Economist
After Argentina's economic
collapse in 2001...
the IMF and its Neoliberal theories...
became the laughing stock
of economists all over the world.
But some monsters never die.
(I have 3 children and no job, please help)
Greece will pay dearl
for the intervention of the IMF.
And, in some cases, she will
even pay for it in advance.
Ron Paul -
Republican Congressman -
Ben Bernanke
Chairman of FED -
Argentina was confronted
by the IMF alone.
But Greece found herself
serving two masters.
Because, in Europe, Neoliberal
theories were also being promoted
by the European Central Bank.
Ironically enough, in the case of Greece
the IMF was softer than the EU.
The measures applied in collaboration
with the IMF, the ECB and the EU
are not only unfair
and dangerous to the Greek people.
They're also doomed to fail
right from the start.
They have a tragic impact
on the people's quality of life
and on their daily life even.
And it's highly unlikely that
they will have a positive effect
on the economy in general, and
the management of national debt.
Like in Argentina, the target was
to save not the economy
but rather the banks and the big enterprises.
The measures taken now are
stabilization measures
to prevent Greece from proceeding
to a cessation of due payments.
They are not measures
which will reduce the debt.
It is more than obvious that the debt
will continue to increase quickly
regardless of the measures,
and, indeed, as a result of them.
The measures aim clearly
to protect the lenders
to protect the banks.
Within a few months, the Greek
government gave the banks
EUR 108 billion
which is almost the entire rescue
package received from the IMF and the EU.
(Excerpt from the documentary film Social Genocide)
When Argentina faced
a similar situation
several of those responsible
were punished.
The image of presidents leaving
the presidential palace in choppers
still haunts both the IMF
and its collaborators.
One magical night,
just like in Argentina
we'll see who gets
to hop into the chopper first!
Year #1 after the IMF intervention.
Greece has entered an intensive programme
of "purging" procedures, "asset utilisation"
"rationalisation measures" and "tidying up".
The delegates of the IMF, EUand ECB have
taken up permanent residence in Athens
and are dictating their policy through
an unconstitutional memorandum.
Dominique Strauss - Kahn IMF Managing Director -
What is Greece today?
Are we a free country? Yes.
Are we independent?
No, we've been reduced to vassals.
Freedom is one thing,
sovereignty quite another.
Our country's problem is that
she has lost her sovereignty.
In splendid collaboration
with their foreign lenders
the government has turned against the people
with harsh austerity measures.
The result is poverty, failed businessed,
and unemployment.
We consider the centre of Athens to be
N. Kanakis : president - Doctors of the World Greece
-
facing a humanitarian crisis.
All the distinctive features are there;
people who are hungry or homeless,
who lack medication and healthcare.
And they just wander around the squares.
It's not much different from what
we see in Third World countries.
You have to remember that we deal
with the poorest of the poor.
There are people who still maintain
some social security rights
but that is not enough,
as a poor woman-pensioner indicated.
She said: "I buy either food or
medicine. I can't afford both".
The government's measures
are not simply worsening
the citizens' living conditions. They pose
an immediate threat to their lives.
Panos Papanicolaou: Neurosurgeon
-
In all of the countries "supported"
by the IMF up to now
there has been a dramatic drop
in average life expectancy
It's what we usually refer to
as the average lifespan.
There were countries where,
after the IMF ordeal
the average lifespan fell by 5-10 years.
With the cuts we are facing now
it's clear that our life expectancy
will be greatly reduced.
The citizens react.
The government's response is in breach of
even the basic principles of democracy
The penalisation of wearing a hood,
the unjustified arrests and
the hood-wearing policemen,
all border on the para-state.
This liberality with tear-gas leaves us
no money for free education
Alain Badiou Philosopher: Philosopher
-
Crises are always solved through measures
against society and against the people
which may be particularly harsh.
This is how capitalism
controls the situation.
The problem of capitalism is
how to get these measures accepted.
For that, violence is deployed.
In response to
the "financial gale" alert
Democracy makes way for
Debtocracy.
Poor people, don't eat each other.
Eat the rich, they're plumper!
A crisis of capitalism causes
extensive devaluation.
The value is lost through
financial speculation.
Somebody has to pay
for this devaluation.
However, the capitalists
do not intend to pay for it.
They're not at all altruistic.
But if those who caused the crisis
do not intend to pay for it
why should we pay?
In the past, dozens of countries
have successfully repudiated debts
not incurred by their citizens,
in accordance with provisions
of the international law, such as
the concept of odious debt.
The history of odious debt [animation]
Our story starts in the 1920s,
with Alexander Sack.
Sack was a minister and law specialist
in Czarist Russia.
After the 1917 Revolution, he taught
in universities of Europe and the USA.
In 1927, he came up with
a brilliant concept:
the concept of odious debt.
In order to define a debt as odious,
three prerequisites are needed.
receives a loan
without the knowledge and approval
of the people.
not beneficial to the people.
but play possum.
Sack's proposals sound progressive,
even revolutionary.
Actually, at that time, they served
the interests
of a rising superpower:
the United States of America.
The USA had found themselves in need
of the "odious debt" concept in 1898
when they won the Spanish-American war
and annexed Cuba.
Their problem was that,
together with Cuba
they acquired the debt incurred
by the Spanish colonial regime.
And, since Spanish colonialism
had lasted four centuries
from 1492, when Columbus set foot
in America, till 1898
that debt was quite heavy.
Of course, the USA had no intention
of paying for the mistakes of past regimes.
They decided that Cuba's debt
was odious
and simply refused to pay it.
The same had happened in Mexico
a few decades earlier.
When the Republicans overthrew
emperor Maximilian I
they decided that the debt
he had incurred was odious.
Maximilian had borrowed huge sums
at excessively high interest rates
to deal with the uprising
against him.
And since he owed a lot,
mainly to the people of Mexico
he was sentenced to death
and sent to the firing squad.
In the late 19th-early 20th century,
most instances of odious debt
concerned underdeveloped countries
on the American continent.
Actually, a rising superpower was
involved in all those debt repudiations:
the United States of America.
And this same superpower
brought the concept of odious debt
into the 21st century.
December 2002: the White House
is putting the finishing touches
to the planned invasion
and occupation of Iraq.
Before the attack starts, however,
American officials
are preparing for the day after
Saddam Hussein's overthrowal.
The State Department knows that
they will have to deal with
Iraq's huge national debt.
Therefore, they are trying to prove
that this debt is odious.
A secret task-force is formed,
and they propose that
the first provisional government of Iraq
declare cessation of due payments
on the pretext that the Iraqi people
must not pay the odious debt incurred
by the Iraqi regime.
All is now ready for the attack.
ric Toussaint: President of CADTM
-
In March 2003, the USA and their allies
invaded Iraq.
Three weeks later, the US Secretary
for the Treasury called for a summit meeting
of G8 finance ministers in Washington, and
announced that Hussein's debt was odious.
He said: "Hussein's regime is dictatorial
and its debt must be repudiated".
"The new government of Iraq
must be free of Hussein's debt".
George W. Bush instructed former
Secretary of State, James Baker
to convince the international community
that Iraq's debt was odious.
And Baker claimed that Saddam Hussein
wasted his people's money
on building palaces and buying arms.
Among other things, American diplomats
proved that Iraq owed
billions of dollars to France and Russia,
for the purchase of Exocet missiles
and fighter aircraft such as
Mirage F1 and MiG.
Actually, Hussein's way
was not that different
from what many Western leaders do.
To the Arabs, palaces are
what the Olympic Games are to the West:
a demonstration of economic
and geopolitical dominance.
The American diplomacy finally proved
that Iraq's debt was odious
and the Iraqi people were
not obliged to pay it.
However, Washington suddenly realised
that they'd pried open a can of worms.
For the first time in the 21st century,
the ultimate superpower had legitimised
the concept of odious debt.
So, they chose
to sweep this case under the carpet.
The other countries said: "We'll cut 40%
off Iraq's debt through the Paris Club".
"But the concept of odious debt
must not be used officially"
"because other countries may claim
this right as well".
"For example, the DR Congo
will repudiate Mobutu's debt"
"the Philippines will refuse
to pay the debt of dictator Marcos"
"and South Africa will refuse
the debt of the apartheid regime".
To prevent the extension of the concept
of odious debt into the 21st century
they reached an ad hoc decision
on Iraq.
However, it is obvious to us that
the odious debt doctrine was used.
The USA continued to help Iraq
to cancel old debts.
But nobody in Washington
ever wanted to hear again
the expression "odious debt".
Iraq managed to write off
a big part of its debt
with the support of an empire.
But another country resolved
to stand on its own two feet
and stand up against the IMF
and its other big lenders.
They managed to prove that their debt
was not only odious, but also
illegitimate and unconstitutional.
Welcome to Ecuador.
Rafael Correa President of Ecuador
-
We have national commitments,
more urgent than international ones.
We'll fulfill our international
obligations as soon as we are able.
But our priorities are clear.
Life comes first, repaying debts second.
Ecuador could have been one of
the richest countries in South America.
But, from the moment that
oil was discovered...
all the country knew was dictators,
poverty, debt and economic hit-men.
John Perkins: Activist, former economic hit-man
-
In 1982, Ecuador was visited by the IMF
and a committee of wise men
representing the country's big lenders.
Ecuador had been forced to borrow
more and more, in order to fulfill past obligations.
Hugo Arias: Head of Ecuador audit committee
-
Ecuador was constantly being looted
by the countries of the North.
For example, from 1980-1990
up to 2005
almost 50% of the government budget
was used to repay debts.
Namely, about
Only 4% was for health care.
Four billion for repaying debts,
Four billion for the debt,
We were killing our own people.
The people of Ecuador protested.
For a moment
things appeared to be in control
when Lucio Gutirrez took over.
Gutirrez promised social benefits.
He spoke like a socialist
but, as soon as he took office,
he made a new deal with the IMF
and implemented measures
of extreme austerity.
The people decided that he should leave
with the same means of transport
favoured by Argentinian presidents:
the chopper.
Vice-president Palacio takes over.
He has good intentions, but soon
succumbs to Washington.
So the people turn to the only politician
who'd resisted international pressure.
Rafael Correa.
Song: una sola vuelta
-
From the first round
Correa, from the first round.
Ecuador from the first round.
Hope is triumphant.
We are your united people.
We stand united.
March on, Ecuador Alliance.
March on for justice.
March on for your rights.
March on, Correa, for Ecuador.
From the first round
Correa, from the first round.
Ecuador from the first round!
Correa studied economics
in Europe and the USA
and knows very well how to handle
the World Bank and the IMF
as long as one has the political will.
As Minister of Finance, in 2005,
Correa declared that it was unnatural
to use oil revenues
in order to pay back the debt.
This was unfair to the people.
He said that 80% of the revenues
should be used for health benefits,
education and the creation of jobs
and only 20% should be channeled
towards repayment of the debt.
The World Bank said that they wouldn't
lend to Ecuador if such a law passed.
This was an obvious interference
with Ecuador's internal policy.
Correa declared that he would never
follow such instructions from the WB.
He chose to resign rather than succumb.
This made him very popular.
The people said: "This man
chose to resign from minister"
"in order to defend the dignity
and the interests of the people".
Correa was finally elected in 2006.
One of his first actions was
to deport the representative of
the World Bank
and ask the IMF delegation
to leave the Central Bank's premises.
Officials of the IMF such as Bob Traa,
who later came to Greece
had already been dubbed "unwanted"
by the people of Ecuador.
Those callous, dishonest bureaucrats
have to respect our country.
This is why we deported the WB delegate.
We maintain the right to restore
the damage done to our country and
declare our debt to the WB illegitimate.
Six months later, Correa
went a step further.
He fulfilled the demand
of social organisations
for an Audit Committee.
I was one of the people
Correa chose for the Committee.
organisations participated.
We were to examine all debt contracts,
from 1956 to 2006.
We worked for 14 months.
We examined the bond debt
the debts to the IMF, the World Bank
and other international organisations.
We examined the debt to countries
such as France, Japan and Germany.
Finally, we examined Ecuador's
internal national debt.
The battle to access the data
was tremendous.
In the Ministry of Finance, our
associate Alejandro Olmos Jr
and myself, were declared
"personae non gratae".
The officials in the Ministry of Finance
wrote to the Minister
to complain and denounce
both mine and Olmos' actions
claiming that we were inflicting
harm on the Ministry's employees.
We laughed it off, but you imagine
how difficult it was
after we'd been accused
of being the "bad guys"
in that procedure.
Despite the setbacks, the Committee
managed to complete its work
and discovered that a big part
of the debt was illegitimate.
They acknowledged their findings
to the state, who told the people.
The work of the Committee was made
public, and this is very important.
The people of Ecuador now knew
why the debt contracts of past regimes
especially those of the year 2000,
were illegitimate.
Song: "Dale Correa Rafael"
-
March on, Rafael Correa!
Our homeland is marching against
the decadent Congress
and the bureaucratic dictatorship
of the old politicians.
Power belongs to the people.
Your brother tells you so.
The people of Ecuador
want a new constitution.
March on, Correa.
Correa, strike against the "bosses"
who devastated our homeland.
March on, Correa.
March on, Rafael Correa.
Based on the findings of the Committee,
the government proved that
the debt was illegitimate
and declared cessation of payments
for 70% of Ecuador's debt in bonds.
Those in possession of Ecuador's debt
sold bonds at 20% of their value.
The government started
to buy them secretly.
They gave 800 million dollars and
bought off 3 billion dollars of debt.
This significant reduction allowed
an improvement in living conditions.
Furthermore, they rid themselves of the interest
they would have had to pay till 2012 or 2030.
They saved at least 7 billion dollars,
which was great for the country.
This allowed the government to increase
expenditure on health, education
the creation of new jobs,
and improvement in infrastructure.
In Greece, historians,
economists and political analysts
use up tons of ink daily to tell us
how to handle our national debt.
Yet, there is one question
very few pose.
Do the Greek people really owe
as much as their creditors claim?
The debt incurred by Greece recently
bears evidence of illegitimacy.
For example, the authorities received
"gifts" from companies such as Siemens
who, together with Siemens Hellas,
bribed ministers and officials
for at least a decade,
in order to gain contracts.
In this case, we have evidence
of illegality and illegitimacy.
So, this debt should be examined
in court. To me, this is evident.
Greek justice proved inadequate
in the Siemens case.
And it was too slow
in other cases of deals
made behind the people's back,
which have increased the debt.
With the infamous swaps of 2001,
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
-
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.
Look at Tunisia and Egypt.
Only when the people take action
can the situation really change.
We have to shake off submissiveness,
liberate ourselves from the IMF
liberate ourselves from the ECB,
and liberate ourselves from the EU
because all three mean
the economic slavery of Greece.
Giorgos Papandreou
-
Now is the crucial moment.
Let's go!