Remember when Argentina was under attack from a flock of circling black birds with briefcases in their claws? Well, those same birds are now circling around the isles of Greece…and Puerto Rico. And a certain lovely lady president, who is all too familiar with their dirty tricks, has called them out:
The president of Argentina, during a speech in recognition of the work of Argentine scientists, stated that what the Greek people are living through is exactly what the Argentine people have lived through.
“Today, 60 percent of young Greeks don’t have jobs. You know that Greece is spending 2.6 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on military spending, for purchases made from France, Germany and the US, because Greece represents a strategic position, due to its location on the Mediterranean. For that reason, I believe that we must look very closely at the world, and not just at ourselves, because sometimes, decisions are made which require global recognition.”
The president added: “We have achieved a victory before the World Trade Organization (WTO) in that the US will open its markets to Argentine meat […] After 15 years, Argentina will once again send meat to the US.” What that means is that “we have lost 6.2 billion dollars in meat exports.”
Cristina Fernández also brought up Puerto Rico, since “25 percent of its economy is controlled by hedge funds”. The president stated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is going out of fashion, and that “there are other actors who are now imposing conditions on countries”, alluding directly to the “vulture” funds.
Translation mine.
Oh, that Cristina. Never shy of telling it like it is, eh? A six-billion-dollar stealth blockade of Argentine meats is a helluva punishment for not selling off the country at fire-sale prices to foreign “investors”, but Argentina stood firm. So did Cristina.
And today, she’s vindicated. The vultures have backed off, and Argentina is back at the table, this time with dignity.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico has found out the hard way what it really means to be an undeclared US state, with second-class citizenship, at that. 25% of the nation’s economy in vulture capitalist claws? What better reason to declare Puerto Rican independence, and kick the feathery bastards out?
And Greece is now looking at a referendum to decide whether to accept or reject the EU’s vulturish “conditions” for staying in the Eurozone. If they’re smart, they’ll say “Ochi” (“no”) to the Germans all over again, same as they did way back in World War II, when Greece was being run by Nazis. Because, in the economic sense, that’s exactly what this situation is…and Cristina, never one to clam up when there’s something in dire need of saying, has pegged it. Fiscal imperialism is just one more form of fascism without swastikas, and poor countries are getting tired of paying for the sins of the rich.
Plus there’s the inconvenient fact that Germany owes Greece war reparations for those said Nazi times…reparations which have never been paid. If they’re smart, they’ll cancel the Greek debt and let that country breathe again. But what are the odds that they’ll do the smart thing, as long as the vultures are still circling and crawking for their pound of souvlaki?
