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Greece Anarchists Uprising!

Discussion in 'Anarchism and radical activism' started by punkmar77, Dec 16, 2010.

  1. THEBLACKNOVA

    THEBLACKNOVA Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Aug 11, 2011
     Mexico
    Greece: "A promise from the army has been obtained to not intervene against a civil uprising"

    PUBLISHED 24 FEBRUARY 2013

    It is always enlightening to hear the frank assessment of a diplomat upon leaving the service, once unshackled from "the patriotic art of lying for one's country", as 19th Century American journalist Ambrose Bierce described the craft.

    Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos was a career diplomat with the Greek foreign ministry. As a junior officer with the service in the 1970s, he helped assure the then freshly democratic nation's accession to the European Union (at the time the EEC). He was at different times Athens' ambassador to Poland, Albania and Canada, and finally the director general of EU Affairs in the ministry.

    Last year, he finally resigned as secretary general of the Black Sea Cooperation organisation, and entered the private sector, and now feels free to speak openly about his fury at what he says Europe and international lenders are doing to his country.

    “At a certain moment, quite soon, there will be an explosion of social unrest. It will be very unpleasant,” he says, referring to 15 armed incidents in the previous ten days. In the past few weeks, offices of the governing parties have been firebombed as well as the homes of pro-government journalists. The headquarters of the prime minister's conservative New Democracy party was machine-gunned, and days later a bomb exploded at a shopping mall belonging to the country's second wealthiest citizen, although no one has been badly injured by the attacks.

    “It is an escalation of activities,” he worries, adding that he expects the "explosion" to occur sooner rather than later. He predicts the spark will be when new, retroactive and sizeable tax bills come due in the coming months that people simply cannot pay. “There will be further increases in armed actions. There will be bloody demonstrations.”

    “These actions are condemnable, of course, but I feel that this sort of armed activity will increase as long as the government continues to impose oppressive measures against the Greek people.”

    Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo in Davos said that Europe should change course from austerity within six months if there is no sign of recovery. These are hopeful words to Chrysanthopoulos, but he fears it would still be too late for his country.

    “We do not have six months. If the EU is going to change something, they need to change it yesterday. We even have problems burying the dead because people cannot afford the funeral expenses.” Refrigerators in the morgue were filling up with bodies until the church said that it would offer free burial for some families.

    “We are heading down the road of destruction.”

    Last summer, the social-democrat-conservative coalition led by Antonis Samaras launched a major crackdown on irregular migrants, rounding up 60,000 individuals out of which just 4,200 were arrested for infractions – a move that has been criticised by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

    Chrysanthopoulos says that the government has hired Blackwater, the American private military firm infamous for its activities in Iraq, which now goes by the name "Academi", along with five other international for-profit security outfits. Explaining why this has happened, he says bluntly: “The Greek government does not trust the police whose salaries have also been cut.”

    There is some good news however that he hears from the contacts he maintains amongst his former colleagues and politicians. He is confident that there will be no military coup, as there was in 1967.

    “There are contacts by certain politicians with elements in the armed forces to guarantee that in the event of major social unrest, the army will not intervene.”

    “I don't want to go into too much detail here though as it is a delicate issue,” he continues. “But as a result of these contacts, I think this is going to be successful.”

    He laments what has happened to the EU in which he spent so much of his career: “I was part of the negotiating team as a junior diplomat that brought Greece into the EU. The EU that we joined in 1981 doesn't exist any more.”

    “We need a change of plan.”

    UPDATE: Academi have rejected Mr Chrysanthopoulos's claim. According to a spokesperson for Academi, the firm "does not now, nor have we ever, provided security services to any entity of the Greek government."

    Source: http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affai ... l-uprising
     
  2. THEBLACKNOVA

    THEBLACKNOVA Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Aug 11, 2011
     Mexico
    Blackwater mercenaries guarding Govt and overseeing police; coup feared

    Posted on February 25, 2013

    Blackwater mercenaries are currently overseeing the police in Greece as rumours of a coup abound. We understand the situation is extremely tense and that the mercenaries are there mainly to protect the Government and parliament should trouble break out either in the form of a revolution or counter-revolution. Already, a destabilisation plot involving the far-right and police has been uncovered. More below…

    Over the last 12 months or more Greece has seen wave after wave of mass demonstrations, riots, battles between police and protesters, armed attacks on Government premises, attacks by fascists (i.e. Golden Dawn ) on migrants, as well as, of course, the complete collapse of the economy. The Government has been beset by scandals (e.g. secret bank accounts in Switzerland) and journalists have been arrested. Most people now exist day by day via co-operatives ; workers are taking over the factories .

    As we have said, there is a revolution taking place – a messy revolution . And it’s going to get messier, for the situation in Greece has now entered a critical phase – here is a summary (with further details below):

    * Strategy of tension has already commenced
    * Government is under siege and is protected by mercenaries
    * Military coup is now talked of openly
    * Insider warns that revolution (or counter-revolution) is imminent

    Strategy of tension

    A few days ago we reported on a plot by the police in collusion with the far-right to instigate a massacre of police, which would then be blamed on anarchists – presumably this would then be used as an excuse to introduce martial law or a state of emergency. The plot may have been foiled (23 persons were arrested) by Blackwater working in conjunction with police officers who are loyal to the Government. Blackwater are expected to continue monitoring police operations generally, to identify those officers who may be involved in other, similar plots.

    Note… The term strategy of tension came about in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s when bombings of civilian were committed by neofascist organisations such as Ordine Nuovo , Avanguardia Nazionale or Fronte Nazionale ).

    Mercenaries protecting Government under siege

    The Greek Government signed a contract with Academi (the new name for Blackwater) in November last year, though this was a secret agreement and you will not find details about it on the Academi website ). News of the contract leaked out end of January when the Greek ambassador to Canada, Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, let slip about it in an interview, which was then published in a blog (see highlighted sentence in red). The contract with Academi was confirmed a few days later via the Greek military news site Defencenet.

    Blackwater/Academi are infamous as the company that ran mercenary operations during the last Iraq War and were engaged in unnecessary fire fights in urban areas, taking civilian lives. They currently have a forward ops base in Afghanistan.

    We understand their principal role in Greece is two-fold. One is to oversee police operations. They have been contracted to do this because the Government are aware that the police have been comprehensively infiltrated by members of the fascist Golden Dawn and so cannot trust the police to stay loyal. Their other role is to act as a neutral force to provide full protection to the Government against assault from any quarter. In effect, the Greek Government is under siege.

    Coup possibility

    Recently the Government secured an agreement from the army that under no circumstances would they resort to a coup (as happened in 1967, leading to the junta of 1967-1974 ). Whether this agreement will be honoured remains to be seen. As Greece is now part of the European Community a coup will be unlikely, but in the event of heightened tension martial law could be declared with curfews etc.

    Warning of revolution/counter-revolution

    According to Ambassador Chrysanthopoulos in his interview, “At a certain moment, quite soon, there will be an explosion of social unrest. It will be very unpleasant.” He then referred to fifteen armed incidents in the previous ten days, including the firebombing of the offices of the governing parties and the homes of pro-government journalists, the machine-gunning of the headquarters of the prime minister’s conservative New Democracy party, and a bomb explosion at a shopping mall belonging to the country’s second wealthiest citizen. Chrysanthopoulos predicts the trouble will begin when new tax bills arrive (soon)

    Source: http://darkernet.in/greece-blackwater-m ... up-feared/
     
  3. Spike one of many

    Spike one of many Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Aug 14, 2012
    Banana Republic  South Africa
    I want to share this awesome pic with you guys but I wasn't sure exactly where to put it as I don't know much about it. All I know is that it's from a riot in Athens.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. THEBLACKNOVA

    THEBLACKNOVA Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Aug 11, 2011
     Mexico
    Vio.Me: Self-Organization in Greece

    The workers at the Vio.Me. Factory in Thessaloniki, Greece have quickly grown into a symbol of self-management internationally. After going on strike and occupying their factory, on February 12, 2013 they re-opened the factory and started production under worker’s control. For many, the factory represents a new potential way forward for unemployed workers in Greece – seizing the means of production, running factories without bosses, producing only goods that are needed, and distributing them through solidarity networks.

    “Every extra profit we make will be given out to people who need it. Our plan is to offer help to unemployed people or others who are in great need,” says Dimitrios Koumasiouras, a worker from Vio.Me.

    This film tells the story of how the worker’s re-opened the factory under self-management and looks to where the factory is headed now.

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK_Zsa2EAqA&feature=youtu.be[/video]
     
  5. Bakica

    Bakica Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Feb 21, 2010
     
    Where can I get more up-to-date information on happenings on streets of Greece ? I'm about to travel there and would like to get familiar with situation.
     
  6. THEBLACKNOVA

    THEBLACKNOVA Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    Aug 11, 2011
     Mexico
    I would think on the streets of Greece. Many anarchist will not share what is going on in their communities on the internets cuz the mofo policia is watching and taking mofo notes, and connecting dots...

    Go there, and see whats going on for yourself and what you are willing to do, or not do, and then, jump in and swim with the fish...:ecouteurs:
     
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