British Empire Applies Its Murderous “Cyprus Template” to Greece

Among the numerous hideous features of the EU-Greek “agreement,” two stand out as modeled on what the British Empire designed as their “Cyprus Template,” as Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem coined the phrase back in March 2013. This is a “bail-in” of Greece’s assets, including its banking system, in order to bail-out the bankrupt trans-Atlantic banks. Such measures will not save the insolvent system, but they will contribute to killing off millions of Greeks—which is the British Empire’s intended result.

The ECB has not increased its ELA lending to Greece by one euro, despite the July 13 deal, which means that the Greek banks still cannot reopen their doors. Nor is there any reason to believe that they ever will—until they are taken over and picked apart by international vulture creditors. Everything that Greek citizens and businesses hold in bank accounts is now controlled by the international banks, and will probably be stolen, as it was in Cyprus. The Euro Summit statement of July 13 said that “a buffer [will be established] of EU10 to EU25 billion for the banking sector in order to address potential bank recapitalization needs and resolution costs [emphasis added].”

A July 13 New York Times article takes note of this feature of the plan, to “replenish capital and, if needed, to close insolvent lenders… The mention of bank ‘resolution’ in the statement — a term meaning to shutter a failed lender — was an acknowledgment that some banks may be too badly damaged to survive.” The article reports that Greek banks have lost about 25% of deposits since December, and that although the ECB is scheduled to meet this Thursday to discuss ELA funds to Greece, it is not scheduled to conduct a “thorough review of Greek banks until after the summer.”

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, writing in the July 14 Telegraph, says that the decisive factor in the “coup” against Greece, was the ECB’s asphyxiation of the country by freezing ELA funds. He reports that cash at Greek banks will run out this week, both for the 60-euro daily withdrawal limit, as well as for the payment of 120-euro-per-week pensions and unemployment.

Lyndon LaRouche commented that “this is going to cause an explosion.” Cutting off pensions for these people is tantamount to killing them, he stated.

A second “bail-in” feature of the EU statement rammed down Greece’s throat, is the transfer of EU50 billion in Greek assets targeted for privatization, to an “independent fund” under EU supervision, which will be used principally to repay Greece’s phony debt.

And while the Euro Summit declaration insisted that “nominal haircuts [write-downs] on the debt cannot be undertaken,” even the IMF issued an alarmed memo on the eve of that summit warning, as it had before, that the Greek debt would remain completely unsustainable unless Greece were given a 30-year grace period on all its debt, along with major extensions on its maturity. Failing that, the IMF warned, Greece’s creditors should prepare for “deep upfront haircuts” on existing loans, willy nilly.