“Grexit” Could Bring Down the Whole System, Bankers’ Cartel Warns

This coming week could prove decisive on the Greek crisis, and trigger the blowout of the entire trans-Atlantic system. Lyndon LaRouche has repeatedly noted that Greece can perfectly well survive departure from the Eurozone, by turning to the BRICS, whereas Germany cannot, and the whole trans-Atlantic system will disintegrate as a consequence. On Wednesday May 6, Greece has a EU200 million payment to the IMF, for which it is scrambling to come up with the cash without agreeing to the Troika demands for sharp austerity; it has a larger payment of EU 750 million due later in the month; and on Monday May 11, the EU Finance Ministers meet, purportedly to decide whether or not to provide Greece with any funds.

The executive managing director of the Institute of International Finance (IIF, the “bankers’ cartel”), Hung Tran, who was a representative of private bondholders during the 2012 Greek haircut negotiations, has warned that if Greece is driven to a Grexit, “the whole cohesion of the western alliance would be put in doubt.” He told the Telegraph that the consequences would be complex and were “not fully understood,” and that a Greek exit “would throw the [eurozone] bloc into chaos.” He said that the problem is not immediate contagion, but “the natural question is: who will be next… Questions will arise about the alignment of Greece in terms of foreign policy, security policy, and so on, and the whole cohesion of the western alliance would be put in doubt.” The Telegraph article explains that “there has been speculation that Athens would seek help from Moscow to ease the country’s debt crisis, and to counter pressure from its creditors in the EU.”

ECB head Mario Draghi’s QE policy has only created a false sense of security, while the whole of Europe has become progressively more polarized, Tran said. He insisted that there is “room for compromise… [and a] last minute deal,” and that it would not be wise to push Greece to the wall by reversing current plans to raise the minimum wage and by making further pension cuts—which is exactly what the Troika is now doing.

A second article in the Telegraph reported on May 1 demonstrations in Athens, with the participation of Syriza members and government officials including Finance Minister Varoufakis, rejecting pension cuts and demanding that wage increases go through. Labor Minister Panos Skourletis said the government’s policy would proceed, describing it as a “deep and immovable red line.” The article notes that German President Joachim Gauck on Friday supported the Greek government’s demand that Greece be paid reparations by Germany for crimes carried out by the Third Reich. Gauck said it was the “right thing to do for a history-conscious country like ours.”