Skip to main content

Greece's silent coup – not with tanks, with the banks

weekend themes

by Stelios Kouloglou*

A few days ago, I was asked by Belgian journalists to participate in an act of solidarity with redundant workers in the Greek public broadcaster ERT.

I explained them that the closure of ERT in 2013 by an illegal act of force where, in one night, 2,500 people lost their jobs and found themselves on the street without any compensation, is the first anti-democratic act the country has recently experienced.

The story does not stop there.

After the national elections in January and the rise of SYRIZA to power, Greece has entered a new period of undemocratic deviation. Almost on a daily basis, the Government is exposed to threats, blackmails and ultimatums from lenders, Brussels and Berlin in order to disrespect the vote of the Greek citizens.

Greece is confronted by events that are unprecedented in the history of the European Union.

For instance, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble publicly mocked his Greek counterpart, Yanis Varoufakis. Unelected technocrats from Brussels put pressure on the government not to pass Bills that aim to face the humanitarian crisis. Credit rating agencies, the European Central Bank and loans are the weapons that are used for strangling the Greek economy.

The goal is to make the Greek Government either to bow down and fall because it failed to fulfill its promises to its voters or to fall due to economic suffocation.

The country is experiencing a silent, modern coup that is carried out by modern weapons.

Private media in Greece (controlled by local oligarchs) seeks to overthrow the new government of SYRIZA because it is stressing efforts to put an end to lawlessness and uncontrolled power. The closure of ERT was not a coincidence. Without a public service broadcaster, the government of SYRIZA has no effective means to explain its policy. Instead, Greek and international media also sabotage the Government by using misinformation and deliberate disputes, which are also weapons for the success of the modern coup.

The government thus has a double battle to wage – one against the harsh austerity measures imposed on the peoples of Europe, and another in favor of democracy in Greece and Europe.

What is feared is the fact that if the Government succeeds in Greece, then the Podemos Left in Spain and Sinn Féin in Ireland will follow. This is what they are trying to prevent by using this time not the tanks but the banks.

Source:


__________________________________________

*Stelios Kouloglou is a Greek journalist writer and documentaries director.

In 1996 Kouloglou created and introduced for the Greek national television Reportage Without Frontiers. His documentaries have won awards in Greece and abroad (2000 and 2001 "Euro-Comenius" historical documentary Award).[citation needed]

On November 1, 2008 he began an internet channel named "TV Without Frontiers", a news and political analysis website.

On May 12, 2008 the administration of ERT decided not to renew the cooperation with the journalist. As justification, they said that the emission had run its course. According to Kouloglou, the ERT administration had requested the cancellation of the broadcasting of his documentary show titled “Young Workers for 700 €”, while they also refused to cooperate in the organization of a documentary on human rights in China from Mao to the Olympic Games. The termination of his cooperation with ERT as a result of censorship has raised a solidarity movement in social media and many queries have been made from various deputies to the minister in charge.

In 2009, his documentary film Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, based on the book of the same name by John Perkins, was shown at film festivals in the U.S. and received awards in South Korea and Spain.

On January 28, 2010, as compensation for the previous censorship, Stelios Kouloglou returned to ERT was appointed member of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation's (ERT) board.

He is producer and director of numerous grand reportages and documentaries for ARTE, ERT, including «Whistleblowers»(2004). Among his documentaries stands out "Oligarchy" (2012) a documentary on the world financial crisis filmed in the US, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Ecuador and Greece. «Holocaust of Memory»(2013), is a breathtaking documentary about personal testimonies on unreported nazi crimes in Greece. His documentary titled "The godmother" (2014) focuses on Angela Merkel and her strategy to impose German hegemony in Europe. His latest documentary "Escape from Amorgos" (2015) is a sensational story about the exiled politician Giorgos Mylonas and true face of the military dictatorship in Greece.

Early 2015, Stelios Koulogou was designated member of the European Parliament on behalf of Syriza

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Capitalism & Genocide - Yanis Varoufakis Speech at the Gaza Tribunal, 23rd October 2025, Istanbul

Yanis Varoufakis   On 23rd October, Yanis Varoufakis testified in front of the Jury of Conscience in the context of the Gaza Tribunal. His speech focused on the economic forces underpinning the genocide of the Palestinian people. In particular, he spoke on the manner in which capitalist dynamics have historically fuelled the white settler colonial project and, more recently, how the accumulation of a new form of capital - which he calls cloud capital - has accelerated, deepened and amplified the economic forces powering and propelling the machinery of genocide. 

Iranian Seyed M. Marandi: What REALLY happened in Iran & why U.S. wants to destroy the country

Li Jingjing 李菁菁   Track records of Western interventions tell us we need to be skeptical and cautious whenever some Western politicians and pundits claim they want to liberate people in another country and bring them democracy. Seyed Mohammad Marandi is a professor at the University of Tehran in Iran. In this episode, he told Li Jingjing what happened during the protests in Iran and how Western sanctions hurt the lives of ordinary Iranians.

Israel & CIA Behind Iran Protests To Get U.S. To Attack!

The Jimmy Dore Show    As protests in Iran have heated up, western media has actively exaggerated and selectively framed the violence by using casualty figures from U.S.- and Israel-funded NGOs — all in order to build public support for another regime-change war. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou and guest Scott Ritter claim protests were infiltrated by foreign intelligence networks and that Israel and the U.S. are using “human rights” narratives similarly to the way they were used in Iraq and Syria.   Dore and Ritter contend that Iran’s government responded to armed unrest rather than peaceful protest, while mainstream outlets ignore attacks on police and public infrastructure. They warn that propaganda, sanctions, and media coordination are laying the groundwork for a wider U.S.–Israel conflict with Iran. 

Iran’s Missiles will DESTROY US Bases & Israel if Trump Attacks

Danny Haiphong   Iran is ready for war, and its hypersonic ballistic missile system could destroy Israel & US military presence forever says Scott Ritter who joined the show to break down the consequences of Trump's march to war with Iran. The former UN Weapons Inspector does a deep dive into Iran's readiness and why it should terrify Trump & Israel together. 

US & Israel support protests in Iran: Trump calls for regime change

Geopolitical Economy Report   The US government is openly backing the protests in Iran. An Israeli media outlet admitted foreign powers are arming Iranian rioters with weapons to try to overthrow the government. Ben Norton explains the geopolitical context and why the USA has sought regime change ever since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.   

Ο βασικός λόγος που ο Τραμπ διστάζει να χτυπήσει το Ιράν

"Μικρά και ασήμαντα" από τον Πίκο Απίκο Ο βασικός λόγος που δεν έγινε η επίθεση στο Ιράν, είναι το γεγονός ότι πρόσφατα, το Ιράν αποχώρησε από το δορυφορικό σύστημα GPS που είναι Αμερικανικό και εντάχθηκε στο Κινεζικό BeiDou. Που σημαίνει ότι οι Αμερικανοί δεν έχουν τη δυνατότητα να σαμποτάρουν τους Ιρανικούς πυραύλους.  Έτσι εξηγείται και το μεγάλο ποσοστό ευστοχίας των Ιρανικών πυραύλων στην τελευταία σύγκρουση με το Ισραήλ, μέσα στο Ισραηλινό έδαφος. Αλλά και το γεγονός ότι πριν λίγες μέρες, οι ίδιοι οι Ισραηλινοί ζήτησαν τη διαμεσολάβηση της Ρωσίας, προκειμένου να αποκλιμακωθεί η ένταση με το Ιράν, αφού Ισραηλινές εφημερίδες και αξιωματούχοι είχαν παραδεχθεί ανοιχτά την παρουσία πρακτόρων της Μοσάντ σε Ιρανικό έδαφος και τον κομβικό τους ρόλο στις πρόσφατες εξεγέρσεις. Οι Αμερικανοί επομένως γνωρίζουν ότι αυτή τη στιγμή οι Ιρανοί έχουν τη δυνατότητα να χτυπήσουν Αμερικανικές βάσεις (όπως απείλησαν ότι θα κάνουν αν ο Τραμπ κάνει πράξη τις απειλές του), χωρίς να μπορούν να ...

Exposed: USA plans to use this country to hurt China & help Israel

Geopolitical Economy Report   In Cold War Two, the USA is pressuring countries to cut ties with China and recognize Taiwan separatists. Donald Trump blatantly meddled in Honduras' 2025 election and backed a political coup to put in power right-wing oligarch Nasry "Tito" Asfura, who strongly supports Taiwan and Israel. Ben Norton discusses US imperialism in Latin America.  

Iran's Next Strike OBLITERATES US Navy & Israel, War Has BEGUN

Danny Haiphong   Prof. Mohammad Marandi joins the show to react to Iran's vow to strike a devastating blow to the heart of Tel Aviv and US Navy as imminent US war approaches. Trump has moved military assets to the region and now Iran has responded by moving its missiles and drones in strike position. Watch until the end for an in-depth analysis of a war that's already begun, and is about to change everything with one fatal move by the US empire.

A response to misinformation on Nicaragua: it was a coup, not a ‘massacre’

There is so much misinformation in mainstream corporate media about recent events in Nicaragua that it is a pity that Mary Ellsberg’s article for Pulse has added to it with a seemingly leftish critique. Ellsberg claims that recent articles, including from this website, often “ paint a picture of the crisis in Nicaragua that is dangerously misleading. ” Unfortunately, her own article does just that. It looks at the situation entirely from the perspective of those opposing Daniel Ortega’s government while whitewashing their malevolent behavior and downplaying the levels of US support they have relied on. Her piece is an incomplete depiction of what is happening on the ground, ignoring many salient facts that have come to light and which have been outdated by recent events. The following is a brief response to Ellsberg’s main points from someone who lives in Nicaragua and has observed the situation directly and intimately: https://grayzoneproject.com/2018/08/15/a-res...

Billionaires are social distancing in super yachts as tens of millions lose jobs

Everyday, it becomes clearer: the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting poor, working, and marginalized communities the hardest. Millions of workers – especially low-wage retail, food service, hospitality, and care workers – have faced the terrible choice daily between going to work and risking their health, or staying home and risking their paychecks. Many other workers don’t even have that choice, with around 30 million people in the US filing for unemployment in the past six weeks. But billionaires don’t face these same problems. As tens of millions have lost their jobs over the past two months, billionaire wealth soared by a whopping $282 billion between March 18 and April 10, according to a new study from the Institute for Policy Studies.  And while finding enough space to wait out the pandemic is something many struggle with, billionaires have been escaping to their second (or third, or fourth) homes to ride it out in luxury – all while they position themselves to ...