Greece joins Spain and Portugal in protesting austerity measures

SMH
Liz Alderman
Niki Kisantonis

Up in flames ... burning firebombs form a backdrop to a
riot officer during a demonstration in Athens on Wednesday.

After a period of relative calm, European markets shuddered once again as protests erupted across Greece and demonstrators surrounded the Spanish parliament for a second day to protest against the austerity program of the Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy.

Greek riot police clashed with hundreds of hooded youths hurling petrol bombs on Wednesday, as tens of thousands of striking workers rallied against a latest round of austerity measures in Athens.

On Tuesday in Spain tens of thousands of demonstrators besieged the parliament over the austerity measures. Last week more than half a million people marched in cities across Portugal to protest against an increase in social security contributions, and a million marched in Barcelona calling for Catalan independence.

The Greek clashes took place after more than 50,000 people marched to parliament demanding the government ignore the latest demands of the country's creditors for additional cuts to salaries, pensions and benefits. Riot police fired tear-gas and pepper spray against demonstrators who used marble stones and bottles as weapons and set fire to garbage bins and portable kiosks in central Syntagma Square.

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One group could be seen setting fire to trees in the National Gardens, causing flames and black smoke to fill the skies above the parliament.

The nationwide strike, called by the country's two biggest private and public sector unions, is the first such action since the country's conservative-led coalition government was formed in June.

The 24-hour walkout affected schools, pharmacists, customs workers, ports and government offices. Museums and major archaeological sites turned tourists away. Shops were closed and ferry services suspended. More than a dozen domestic and international flights were cancelled or rescheduled after air traffic controllers called a three-hour stoppage. Petrol stations remained shut for most of the day and hospitals operated on emergency staff as doctors joined the strike.

Among the strikers was Babis Vasiliadis, a hotel chef who was recently left unemployed. He said: ''This is not just about having a decent job and making enough money to feed your family - it is about the right of every citizen to live a decent life.''

Marching nearby, 58-year-old pensioner Stavroula Zervea, said she no longer can survive after her pension was slashed by more than a third. ''I suspect it will only get worse - but the question is how much more tax hikes can the Greek people handle?'' she said.

Hours before demonstrators hit the streets, the Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, and his Finance Minister, Yannis Stournaras, reportedly hammered out a deal on the $15 billion package of spending cuts, along with a further $2.6 billion in taxes, demanded by the country's international lenders, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The bulk of the cuts will affect wages, pensions and welfare benefits, putting renewed pressure on the country, which is in the fifth year of recession and has seen unemployment soar to more than 24 per cent.

First New Concentration Camps in Europe Set to Sprout on Greek Soil

End the Lie
Madison Ruppert

As if the current circumstances of austerity-riven Greece were not bad enough already, it seems that the country is set to have a dozen or so concentration camps dotted around the country.

In language that might have been lifted straight from the Nazi lexicon, these establishments will be known as ‘closed-hospitality’ centers.

The incarcerates will be undocumented – meaning unwanted – refugees flooding in from North Africa, particularly the once prosperous and richest country in the Maghreb belt, namely Libya.
Most of the Mediterranean countries are in the thick of the refugee tide, but Greece is so far the only country that plans to compulsorily pen them up.

The first ‘reception center’ is scheduled to open at a former army base near Athens in the next few weeks.

Why the sudden haste, you ask? The answer is simple. A general election is scheduled for May 6th.
All the parties straddling the spectrum from left to right are playing the immigrant card for all its worth, but none more so than the main establishment parties: Pasok (theoretically socialist) and New Democracy (nominally center-right).

Right now their electoral prospects look decidedly dim. New Democracy, led by Antonis Samaris, is barreling on about 22% in the opinion polls, Pasok rates scarcely better at 18 and a smidgeon percent.
The nightmare entertained by the EU-imposed Greek Quisling, Lukas Papademos, is that neither party will end up with sufficient seats to ensure a majority in the Vouli, the national parliament.

As the two principal challengers shed votes by the hour, Greek voters are turning to a plethora of fringe parties rooted in both the left and right.

They may squabble fiercely among themselves but they are united by one core belief: total opposition to the EU/IMF austerity package which has ripped the heart out of the Greek economy.

The indecent haste of the mainstream figurines wildly wind milling the immigrant camps to attract voters’ attentions speaks for itself.

But to catch the flavor, listen to the chillingly titled ‘Civil Protection Minister’ Michalis Chrisohoidis grand-standing for his party, which is Pasok.

“We have a commitment to start operating these closed-hospitality centers, and we will keep to that commitment. The first centre will operate before the general election in greater Athens, and it will act as a model to show Greek citizens that these facilities are safe for the public and will operate to high standards of health and hygiene,” he said.