Comprador: A comprador or compradore is a “person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation”. A comprador is a native manager of European business houses in East and South East Asia, and, by extension, social groups that play broadly similar roles in other parts of the world.)
O, those heroes with feet of clay! We should be getting used to it, and never believe their campaign promises, but watch what they do. Of course by the time they ‘do things’, then…it’s too late. Allow me to go backward in time, if you will. Here’s some of the recent the recent evidence brought to my awareness:
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts to Apartheid Israel:‘Foreign Policy for Sale Greece’s Dangerous Alliance with Israel’ by Ramzy Baroud, Feb. 7th, 2018, dissidentvoice.org
“The Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) came to power in January 2015 as a direct outcome of popular discontent with the EU. It was a time where ordinary people took a stance to fend for whatever semblance of sovereignty that was not wrestled away from them by politicians, bankers and powerful bureaucratic institutions.
The result, however, was quite disappointing. Tsipras, now a Prime Minister, transformed his political discourse, and gradually adopted one that is more consistent with the very neoliberal policies that pushed his country to its knees in the first place.
Syriza sold out, not only politically and ideologically, but in an actual physical sense as well.” [long snip]
“When Tsipras came to power on the shoulders of a populous political movement, Palestinians too hoped that he would be different.
It was not exactly wishful thinking, either. Syriza was openly critical of Israel and had “vowed to cut military ties with Israel upon coming to office,” wrote Patrick Strickland, reporting from Athens. Instead the “ties have, nonetheless, been deepened.”
Indeed, soon after taking power, the ‘radical left’-led Greek government signed a major military agreement with Israel, the ‘status of forces’ accord, followed by yet more military exercises.
All of this was reinforced by a propaganda campaign in Israel hailing the new alliance, coupled with a changing narrative in Greek media regarding Israel and Palestine.
Greece was not always this way, of course. Who could forget Andreas Papandreou, the late Greek leader who gave the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) diplomatic status in 1981, and stood by Palestinians despite American and Israeli threats?”
Beware of Greeks Bearing Swords of Damocles to the Working Class (should they be dubbed ‘Obomba clones?):
Jan. 16, 2018: ‘Greek workers strike against Syriza’s imposition of EU austerity “multi-bill” Alex Lantier, wsws.org
“Workers in Greece struck Monday against the Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) government and protests erupted in Athens in the evening, as Syriza rammed a 1,300-page “multi-bill” of European Union austerity measures through the Greek parliament. The conservative New Democracy, the social-democratic Democratic Alignment, the nationalist Union of Centrists and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn voted against the bill in parliament.
Shipping and public transport in Athens were almost entirely halted, amid mass opposition to fresh EU attacks on basic social and democratic rights, including the right to strike. Athens subway, bus and tramway workers and air traffic controllers all took strike action. Schools were closed and hospitals operated on skeleton staffs as doctors joined the strike. Tens of thousands of people marched in two separate trade union protests in the capital.
Clashes erupted between protesters and riot police in Athens after the Greek parliament, led by Syriza deputies, voted 154 to 141 to approve the multi-bill, which slashes family welfare payments, facilitates foreclosures and includes draconian limitations on the right to strike.” (the rest is here)
Beware of Greek Privatizations lauded by Geoffrey Pyatt:
But let’s back up to Nov.3, 2017: ‘US ambassador hails role of Greek shipping, calls for transparent privatisations’, amna.gr.en
All hail the conquering neoliberal capitalist heroes!
“Commenting on Prime Minister Tsipras'(sic) recent visit to Chicago and Washington, he said it strengthened Greek-U.S. ties and that “the message Americans heard throughout the visit, at the very highest levels, was that Greece is back, open for business and a pillar of stability in its region.“
Pyatt said this partnership includes enhanced bilateral investment cooperation, including an overall strategy where Greece serves as a regional hub and supplies energy from diverse sources to Europe, spurred by increased U.S. investment in this sector, as well as U.S. investment in Greek shipping, ports, and shipyards.
“In particular, I hope we will be able to celebrate a major U.S. investment in the Syros shipyard in the very near future,” he said, referring to U.S. company ONEX which has expressed an interest in investing at the Syros shipyard.”
“An investment and privatization system based on transparency and the rule of law will help build confidence in Greece as an investment destination, and create momentum that can sustain the Greek economic rebound. I am confident that if Greece continues to commit itself to building such an environment, American investors will take a fresh look at Greece,” he said.
The U.S. is also interested in the port of Alexandroupolis, he continued. “The strategic position of this port is on full display right now: elements of the US Army’s 10th Combat Air Brigade are using it as a staging area for Blackhawk helicopters and cargo moving back to the U.S. from Romania- demonstrating, as I discussed with the Mayor of Alexandroupolis this summer, the potential of that port to play a much bigger role in regional infrastructure and connectivity,” he said.”
Beware of Greeks Prostrating Themselves before Trump’s Rule of the Imperium
Via wws.org Oct. 19:
“Tsipras made clear that after nearly three years of devastating European Union austerity imposed by his government on the working class, there are lots of profits to be made in Greece. Smiling as Trump praised the Syriza government’s “continued implementation of reform” and announced that it will spend $2.4 billion on upgrading US-made F-16 fighter jets, Tsipras hailed the “common democratic principles” he shares with Trump. Officials in Greece, he said, “look forward to attracting US investments.”
Tsipras made an unambiguous appeal to the US war machine. He and Trump alluded to the fact that Athens and Washington plan to upgrade the US naval base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete and open a new US base elsewhere on the island, putting US forces in range of key war theaters such as Syria and Iraq. Claiming that Washington helps Greece with “fundamental national concerns in the areas of security and defense,” Tsipras asked Trump to help resolve Greco-Turkish conflicts over Cyprus.
Tsipras hailed American policy in the Middle East and the Balkans, where US wars have claimed millions of lives and turned tens of millions into refugees. The United States, he said, “promotes cooperation with the Middle East and the Balkans, which contribute to the security and the growth of the area.” Tsipras dismissed a journalist who recalled that, during the US presidential election last year, Tsipras called the prospect of a Trump victory “evil.” Tsipras said, “The US is a very strong power and its ability to intervene for good is very, very important… We have common values.” [long snip]
“In 2013, the WSWS wrote on Tsipras’ first trip to the Brookings Institution in Washington, where he auditioned for the Greek prime ministership with the US State Department, the International Monetary Fund and the CIA. Tsipras, the WSWS noted, got top marks: the IMF called him “constructive and sincere,” and Syriza said Tsipras and the State Department had reached a “common assessment.” Tsipras told his Brookings Institution audience, “I hope I’ve convinced you that I’m not as dangerous as some people think I am.”
Also on Oct. 17: ‘Trump’s message to Tsipras: US may boost investments in Greece, a key NATO ally, cnbc.com
- On Tuesday, President Donald Trump met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to shore up economic and defense cooperation with the key NATO ally.
- Investments in Greek oil resources and Greece-based military bases are among the topics being discussed at a time when the U.S.-Turkey relationship has become tense.
Hadn’t yanis varoufakis kinda been re-branded ‘yanis varouFAKEis’ by the actual, radical left? as in: a capitalist reformer, akin to the DSAs (Bernie, et.al.? well, in any event, here he is promoting a New! version of DieM (iteration 25.), while laughin’ in his ouzo and dialing for dollars…er…euros, of course:
!Support Constructive Disobedience in Greece!’ (my italics)
On morning edit (h/t mr. wd who’d clicked in:
“On March 26, DiEM25 members will gather in Athens to constitute ourselves as a political party that participates in European, national and local elections — but also as an indivisible part of the transnational, radical europeanist movement DiEM25.
The party will start its life with an army of committed volunteer activists across Greece. A set of realistic proposals to make Greece’s social economy viable again, that is embedded in DiEM25’s European New Deal. The support of progressive international figures like Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky and Brian Eno. And of course the involvement of key Greek political players like Yanis Varoufakis who believe passionately that despite what the Establishment says, there is an alternative to Greece’s — and Europe’s — current impasse.”
I’ll see your ‘Brian Eno’ and raise you 1000 Billy Braggs, Yanis:
(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
wot? the roosians are undermining ‘our democracy™’?
When someone has a gun to your head, you act like it even if you are a sovereign nation. Interesting that Geoffrey Pyatt follows up his valuable US service in Ukraine with a mission in Greece. Also interesting that both Varoufakis and Tsipras are big matters of too little, too late and too weak to matter. Political unity in Greece restores sovereignty but which of the many parties unifies it? When Tsipras moves from the left, where does he move? Varoufakis? Trump promised moving of Incirlik (just a wild-assed guess under the political circumstances and fallout of the Syrian war.) Trump likely would like a naval base at the opening of the Bosporus. (That relationship with Putin is kinda the old authoritarian relationship where they both think they are playing each other–Hitler and Stalin had that illusion right before Hitler attacked Poland. Those quid pro quos are not general in nature are they? What exactly has Vladimir gotten for all his notoriety?
Maduro is lucky the US at last check was wildly overextended. And Russia and China (now courting Mexico) isn’t. Vicky Nuland is gone but Pyatt isn’t. Le plus change, le meme chose.
wendye, your comment makes an important point, maybe paraphrased like this: “How many Venezuelans acted to influence electoral politics in the USA by supporting an armed invasion and then devoting massive amounts of “foreign aid” to support the operations of death squads in the USA?” These quotes remind me of the campaign of Kissenger and associations against Salvador Allende in Chile — in short, the ongoing war to make the world unsafe for social democracy.
oh, my, yes, margo schulter. and how many other times has the US overthrown duly elected governments, perhaps starting w/ the cia and (the now) MI-6 iranian prime minister mossadegh in in 1953?
thing is,rexxon tillerson had said much the same a week or so ago, as had orange julius. ‘Rex Tillerson’s Excellent Adventure in Latin America: Don’t blame the Monroe Doctrine’; Former US diplomat Jim Jatras warns the Trump administration is taking a dangerously aggressive tone towards Venezuela.
“If Tillerson had sought to confirm the worst image of the United States in the minds of Latin Americans, he could not have done a better job. Ironically, he tried to conflate that image with the Monroe Doctrine, which he said “clearly has been a success, because… what binds us together in this hemisphere are shared democratic values.” Really? That would have been big news to President James Monroe, who promulgated the Doctrine back in 1823 when no other country in the Americas could be described as a democracy and when even most of the US Founding Fathers would have disputed that label for the Republic they sought to create.
Monroe’s declaration had nothing to do with democracy. Rather, its core was a warning to other powers not to establish colonies in our hemisphere, an exclusion which we have considered essential to our security for almost two centuries.”
(‘shared values’ echoing in tsipra’s genuflection before Julius, of course.) but re: kissinger, one of the subtweets underneath (iirc) his selfie tweets above, someone had snarled this from kissinger:
“The Greek people are anarchic and difficult to tame. For this reason we must strike deep into their cultural roots: Perhaps then we can force them to conform. I mean, of course, to strike at their language, their religion, their cultural and historical reserves, so that we can neutralize their ability to develop, to distinguish themselves, or to prevail; thereby removing them as an obstacle to our strategically vital plans in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.” (addressing a group of Washington, D.C. businessmen in Sept.1974)
but srsly, it was reading about alexis’s new great alliance w/ israel that tipped me over the edge to seek out so much of the other rubbish i’d read about his
rubbish.
from one of jeffrey st. clair’s roaming charges today: ‘+ Rex Tillerson suggested last week that the Venezuelan military should overthrow President Nicolas Maduro. Will the Trump regime usher in the return of Operation Condor?’
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/26/operation-condor-trial-argentina-court-death-squads
why does all of this make me want to cry in defeat?
i’d left out this tweet from tsipras, not knowing quite what to make of it:
but i did go hunting, and found this:
‘Georgian President, Greek Prime Minister discuss deepening cooperation’, feb. 9
“Prime Minister Tsipras once again reiterated his country’s support for Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union (EU) and NATO.
Discussing security issues, President Margvelashvili spoke about the situation in the Russian occupied regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). Margvelashvili and Tsipras believe joint effort is necessary to resolve conflicts and ensure stability in Europe.”
remember the ‘russo-georgian war’ & The longtime Arizona senator, who had adopted an increasingly tough line against Moscow well before the crisis in Georgia, told a town meeting in Pennsylvania that he had spoken with Mikhail Saakashvili, president of the former Soviet republic, to assure him that ”today we are all Georgians? later, after he was deposed in georgia, saakashvili showed up in the ukraine in some high postion, only to get routed from there, as well.
anyhoo, yes, tripsas is definitely siding with the ongoing war against revanchist russia. which international court had finally ruled that georgia was the aggressor, although russia’s defense was swift and a bit over the top? but it was all helped alon by: john mccain.
http://agenda.ge/news/95422/eng
Good to see you again, Margo, and revisiting Greece takes me back to freshman college days though this is not the Greece of my youth, far from it. Although, second thoughts, as a team Agamemnon and Odysseus had their nasty moments, as your opening image, wendye, makes very clear. If memory serves, Troy is somewher south of Istanbul, so what goes around comes around.
Ah, but far further south, I have encouraging news. My kiwi nephew has invested in an all-electric car, first in our family to do so. And in reports therefrom, ’twas divulged that sprinkled hither and yon about cities are FREE fillerup sites.
Free.
The new government has stated that climate change is the new non nuclear issue. Maybe they weren’t just whistling Dixie.
nice to see you here, too, juliania. aside from noting that this isn’t the greece of your youth, do you have any comment on former hero alexis tsipras’ doings?
As Tsipras shows, as Trudeau shows, as Sanders shows, as Corbyn shows…whatever their rhetoric out of & before office, the office itself is no doubt corrupting. but to say screw you to international creditors is to be a revolutionary. none of these clowns ever say anything remotely revolutionary, and usually only mildly reformist. but the facts on the ground emerge in office: military & finance run everything and the pre-electoral reformist rhetoric was just rhetoric all along. look at that Trudeau fellow, a proctologist’s fantasy of a monstrous asshole as PM, but one couldn’t really tell much of a difference b/n him & Senator Afterbern in the aborted trash dumpster babies that are their “promises.”
Germany (et al of course) is doing to Greece what Hitler never did – via finance. Tsipras was never gonna say that, in the guise of law but really under the threat of the bullet, Germany is back to rape us in order to steal every pfennig & drachma in our ass wallets. not even with students tossing cocktails thru bank windows was a Tsipras gonna say something like that.
why, is there a pattern emerging here? paging Kucinich, paging Drs Dean & Paul. paging Mike “who do you want to bomb, Obama?” Gravel (lol. boy did Gravel ever have Obama pegged).
are the creditors doing it to greece, or is tsipras simply bought and sold that he’s doing it to greece, at least the non-investor oligarchical class?
you seem to give him some wiggle room, from what i’m getting. not i, not by now, even though i’d read so many apologias noting how between a rock and a hard place the poor, beleaguered man was when he accepted the major neoliberal austerity automatic resets….at first.
but once i read about his signed accords with israel, it caused me to go back a-huntin’ things i’d recalled just from 2017, and certainly not all. yeah, german concerns own the airports now, i forget who bought some of the ports, cuz yes: ‘greece is open for bidness! but aye gawd our tourism is Up!
dunno what you mean w/ your allusions to drs.dean and paul, i reckon ron paul? but yeah, mike gravel may have been the only candidate i ever sent a check to, small though it was. and fancy: kucinich wanted a cabinet level…department of peace. of course, his whales were nuked after obomba took him up on air force one and threatened to drop him out the door w/o a parachute unless he’d give up on single payer.
but yep, trudeau is obomba with essentially no military might, but oh, my, didn’t he approve three of those massive pipelines, and totally forget to investigate the legion of missing indigenous women. but he smiles really purdy, so…few notice.
7/2015: “Even in the most difficult circumstances, democracy can’t be blackmailed — it is a dominant value and the way forward,” Tsipras tweeted on Sunday night, adding that Greece intends to restart negotiations with Europe next week.
A final tally of votes indicated that 61.31 percent of voters decided against the bailout deal. More than 60 percent of Greeks participated in the vote, well over the 40 percent turnout needed for the referendum to be valid. ”
wonder how they’re feelin’ about him now, esp. w/ his strike bustin’ bullshit?
i remember greece had sheltered lots of immigrants from war diasporas, then things got…brutal and messy. do you remember how that turned out, or has it ever?