Translated "Avante!" article by Angelo Alves, member of the Political Committee and of the International Department
The economic situation within several European countries, reveals that the times are of a fast and violent deepening of the European Union’s economic and financial crisis, the capitalism structural crisis lived expression. Attention carries on directed to Greece. A national wide weekly newspaper cartoon entitled “the wrecked Greek economy”, illustrates well the situation. The country which is subjected to a gigantic organized plunder process and of accelerated and high risk social “deconstruction” sees itself more and more “at the end of the rope”. The great European capital voracity - namely the German and French banks, the Greek sovereign debt main creditors - and the powers colonialist adrift, such as Germany, seem unlimited.
The IMF and the EU ‘s fifth bail-out of the so-called “rescue aid package” was conditioned by the imposing of a new and absolutely unsustainable austerity package, which, among new and violent anti-social measures includes a millionaire and accelerated privatization program of 50 thousand million Euro, in order to hand out unto foreign capital, companies such as OTE ( a 10% of the Hellenic communications company was delivered to the German Deustsche Telekom for 400 million Euro) or to the OPAP, the hugest European sport and betting lottery company.
But this is barely enough! Greece is currently subjected to a new blackmail and interference escalade. To feed the German and French banks’ voracity, the Eurogroup has just announced an agreement on a new wrongly called “loan” of 60 thousand million Euro, which pushes this country ahead towards an endless dependency and plunder and this time, with the direct extorters’, the great European and North-American economic and financial groups’ participation. A package which has attached measures such as an “external commission” (that is, the plunder of the Greek public assets) in order to monitor the tax collection and rule the privatizations process.
In Greece, one is before a true “stretching of the rope”. An major social wave struggles in progress within this country, along with the recent explosion of non-direction popular rebellion events, have been witness of the clash magnitude. A clash which has driven the CIA to use its well-known methods in order to , on one hand , to terrorize peoples in struggle, and on the other, point out unto where imperialism might reach, issuing a “report”, in which it warns for the “high risk of a military coup”, within this country.
But Greece’s situation is but only a side of the general trend, which is not confined to the so-called “PIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain). The economic situation within Italy and Belgium, the recent speculation attacks and treats against these peoples, the discussion over the sovereign debts’ restructuring and the profusion of theories on the ending of the Euro and the expelling of some countries, are demonstrative of the reality some insist in concealing: the crisis is general and the European Union neo-liberal, federalist and militarist building is opening up fractures, day-upon- day.
But it shall not fall by itself. The European capital and bureaucracy answer with an extremely violent offensive, which has already settled a different qualitative level, the social relations framework and the force correlation between capital and labour in Europe, and moreover, in a crescendo manner, directly attacks the democratic rights, democracy and the peoples sovereignty. Times of great and extremely volatile dangers, those one is currently living, within the European continent. Times which demand from workers and peoples, from the communists and other progressive forces, great determination, firmness, courage and unity, in order that the rope might brake off on the workers, progress and democracy side.
