The People Are Being Forced to Pay for the Sins of the Bankers and the Bureaucrats

Anti-austerity Protests Spread Across Europe

June 20, 2011

euronews - Anti-austerity rallies have been held across Europe – in Spain thousands marched to protest against high unemployment and their government’s handling of the economic crisis. It was the first major demonstration since the end of the so-called ‘Indignant’ (Indignados) campaign in which Madrid’s central square was occupied by activists for several weeks.

One protester said “we came to this demo to support people who want things to change. Society is paying for this crisis and that’s what we want to change.”

In France there were calls for people to stand up and be counted as around 500 marched in the capital. Pension reforms and public sector cuts have angered many. That anger apparently spilled over on to the streets with police reportedly detaining over 100 demonstrators.

A French protester summed up his feelings, saying:

“We are the indignant. You saw what has happened in the Arab world, you can see what’s happening in Spain, Iceland, Greece and even what’s happening in England. Things aren’t going well and we’re fed up. And we don’t have the impression the unions have the solution.”

Meanwhile in Berlin, protesters came out in solidarity with their Greek and Spanish neighbours.

They used puppets depicting government officials and called for no further social cuts to be made.

Power Cuts Hit Greece as Protests Grow

June 20, 2011

AP - Greece was hit by rolling blackouts Monday as employees at the main power utility began 48-hour rolling strikes to protest the company's privatization, part of austerity plans needed to avoid a national debt default.

The sell-off of state assets in the power company is a major step in a euro50 billion ($71 billion) privatization drive that must be completed by 2015. It is part of highly unpopular austerity plans, including more tax hikes and spending cuts, that must be passed by Parliament by the end of the month if Greece is to get the next euro12 billion installment of its euro110 billion bailout next month. The troubled Socialist government is also struggling to make up for ongoing budget shortfalls.

Without the funds, Greece will be unable to pay its debts as of the middle of July, triggering a default that would rock financial markets in Europe and abroad.

The power company, known by its acronym DEH, said nine small and large thermoelectric units were already offline as of Monday morning due to the strike, and appealed to consumers to limit their use of electricity, particularly during the midday heat, when air conditioning use is at its peak. It said it was preparing hour-long power cuts in several areas if that became necessary.

Greece has seen near-daily protests against the belt-tightening that has slashed salaries and pensions in an attempt to stem a ballooning national debt.

"We are on strike because, believe it or not, I feel that they -- the government and its measures -- have taken my smile away, have robbed me of my life as well as my children's future," said electrician Giorgos Maleskos. "My only income comes from this job. After 33 years of work, we have got to the point of wondering if we will be able to survive."

The start of the strike came as Greece's new finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, was meeting his colleagues from the eurozone in Luxembourg for a second day. Talks overnight did not produce a final agreement on the next installment of rescue loans or on a broader, second bailout expected in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

Also Monday, the Finance Ministry said its deficit reduction effort remained off target due to weak revenues during a worse-than-expected recession.

The January-May shortfall was euro10.26 billion ($14.6 billion), instead of the targeted euro9.1 billion. Spending was euro736 million ($1.05 billion) less than planned, but revenue was euro1.92 billion short of target, the ministry said Monday.

The figures relate to Greece's central government deficit, and do not include social security and local government costs, which the European Union also counts.

The country's embattled prime minister, George Papandreou, was also heading to Brussels for meetings with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso later Monday. On Tuesday, Papandreou faces a vital confidence vote in the new government he announced on Friday, when he reshuffled his cabinet amid a major political crisis.

Talks between Papandreou and the head of the conservative opposition party, Antonis Samaras, on forming a coalition government had collapsed two days earlier while an anti-austerity rally and demonstration degenerated into riots on the streets of Athens.

Facing a mountain of debt coupled with a massive budget deficit, Greece was granted the euro110 billion package of rescue loans in May 2010 to prevent it from defaulting on its debts. In return, it has been passing strict budget cuts and tax hikes in an effort to reform its economy.

But the cuts have led to a recession, and the country is now in negotiations for a second bailout -- which Papandreou said Sunday would be roughly the same size as the first. European officials fear a default by Greece could set off a chain reaction that would shake Europe's banking system and economy, and drag down other financially troubled eurozone countries such as Portugal, Ireland and Spain. Both Portugal and Ireland have also taken bailouts since Greece did.

While European officials concede another bailout is needed, they have not agreed on the conditions.

Spanish Protesters Launch Anti-austerity Marches

June 20, 2011

AFP - Spain's "indignant" activists launched Monday protest marches culminating in a major Madrid rally July 24, showing no let-up just a day after rallying an estimated 200,000 protesters.

Seething over the destruction of millions of jobs, welfare cuts and corruption, the first of at least three nationwide marches set off from eastern Spain's Mediterranean city of Valencia.

Activists from Valencia will march and cycle on a 35-day, 500-kilometre (300-mile) route winding through 29 cities and villages in eastern Spain before arriving in Madrid. On the route they will hold meetings "to bring the indignation to the interior of the Peninsula just as the movement is growing at the international level", said a statement by the group, Acampada Valencia.

Other "indignant" marches were scheduled to leave Cadiz in Spain's south on June 23 and Barcelona in the northeast on June 25, all converging in the capital on the eve of the rally, organisers said.

On Sunday, about 200,000 protesters packed the streets of Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities to vent their anger, according to estimates by the Spanish media and some regional authorities. In Madrid, an estimated 40,000 people converged from six points around the city to the central square of Plaza de Neptuno, near the Spanish parliament. In Barcelona, another 50,000-75,000 demonstrators rallied, according to police and the city hall. Tens of thousands of others activists gathered in other regional capitals.

Activists pointed their fury at the weekend against the "Euro Pact" agreed in March by countries using the euro country.

Drawn up under pressure from France and Germany, the pact foresaw greater budgetary discipline and economic policy convergence to ensure that countries stabilise their finances and reduce debt.

The protesters, who have won broad support in Spain, also targeted corruption-tainted politicians, poverty, their lack of voice in Spain's democracy, and a 21.29-percent unemployment rate.

The protest movement started in Madrid on May 15 and fanned out nationwide as word spread by Twitter and Facebook, bringing tens of thousands of people into city squares around Spain ahead of May 22 local elections. The protesters had set up a camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, which was dismantled on June 12 although the group said that did not signal the end of their movement.

The "indignants" have inspired similar offshoot movements in other European countries, notably Greece, where the government is also trying to implement a strict austerity programme to avoid defaulting on its loans.

The Spanish central bank said last week the recovery in Spain's beleaguered economy would likely remain slow, and that unemployment could remain high for the foreseable future.