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Greece: signs of a rigged election as the country officially enters a dark post-democracy

by system failure   The last four years with Kyriakos Mitsotakis in charge of Greece could be easily characterized as one of the worst periods in country's history since the fall of military junta in 1974.    From the beginning of his term, Mitsotakis took full control of the National Intelligence Service and the Athens News Agency. This was a first strong sign that his administration was about to be transformed eventually into a regime that would defy fundamental democratic principles.    Shortly after, Mitsotakis started to put his own people in key positions in Greece's national television and radio broadcaster. In this way, he managed to control the entire landscape of Greece's mainstream media as the big private TV stations that belong to the local oligarchs, did everything to bring him in power and fully support him to this day. Mitsotakis and his cabinet had also become the only option for the Brussels-Berlin directorate of the EU, as well as for the US imperialist b

Do it like the Fed: ECB raises key interest rates, creates money circulation loop for big banks and corporations

globinfo freexchange   Inside the storm of inflation, the European Central Bank suddenly thought that it would be a good idea to raise key interest rates for the first time in 11 years.  According to Deutsche Welle (DW) [emphasis added]:                       The ECB raised its negative benchmark deposit rate by 50 basis points from minus 0.5% to 0%, lifting the bank's deposit facility out of negative territory for the first time in eight years. The announcement came as a surprise as the bank had initially hinted that it would hike the rate by 25 basis points only .    It's remarkable that DW's analyst, Kristie Pladson, stated that " ... this is a historic decision they've taken now - first hike in eleven years, so, on that level, it's a little bit unclear exactly what effect it's going to have ... "   However, one thing ECB's move will surely affect, is money access for most of the Europeans. As Pladson says:                      ... what we do

A very dark moment in the history of Finland and Sweden as their leaders decide to join the criminal organization NATO

globinfo freexchange   A last minute agreement has been reached between Turkey, Finland and Sweden to allow the two Nordic countries to become NATO members on the eve of the military alliance’s recent summit in Madrid.   But the following picture is a disgrace for both Finland and Sweden, two of the most advanced European counties on many issues, and also highlights NATO's ridiculousness and hypocrisy. Right at the center, you can see not NATO's head, but Turkey's authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It seems that NATO gave Erdogan what he wanted (and maybe more), and Finland and Sweden are now obliged to deliver to his regime any political opponent who would be labeled by it as "terrorist".     Now, Amineh Kakabaveh, a former peshmerga of Iranian-Kurdish origin and independent MP in Sweden that has been targeted by Erdogan, may face the possibility of an extradition to Turkey.   As Yanis Varoufakis wrote :                         A dark day for the polit

Zelensky and two Azov fighters speak inside the Greek parliament: One of the most disgraceful moments for the country that suffered most from the nazis

globinfo freexchange   We thought that we had seen the worst with Mitsotakis regime in Greece. Yet, one of the worst Greek governments ever, did the unthinkable inside the Greek parliament. The MPs of the opposition parties caught by surprise when, in his speech, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky included a video message from two (allegedly Greek-ethnic) fighters from the neo-nazi Azov battalion.   The Speaker of the Parliament, Konstantinos Tasoulas, member of Mitsotakis' New Democracy right-wing party, explained that they learned about the videotaped appearance of the fighters a few minutes before the speech of the Ukrainian President, but without knowing the content of their intervention. He described as “unnecessary and misplaced” the appearance of the two fighters, but stressed that we must stay in the big picture, which is the appearance of Zelensky.  Even if we are to believe Tasoulas' ridiculous excuses, how is it possible for a president of a parliament to l

Mitsotakis regime now goes after prosecutors who were investigating big scandals!

globinfo freexchange   The decline of the judicial system in Greece continues under the corrupted Mitsotakis regime. The situation now resembles a third-world country.  We saw recently that the regime went after top investigative journalists who, were investigating big scandals and especially the Novartis scandal. Now, the regime turned against the top anti-corruption prosecutor who was investigating the scandal! Eleni Touloupaki has been called yesterday by the judicial authorities to testify as a defendant!   As has been mentioned : While Novartis agreed in 2020 to pay US$347 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commision over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in which it acknowledged making illegal payments to Greek healthcare providers and officials, Greece itself did little to hold the Swiss pharmaceutical company and the recipients of the bribes to account. Instead, prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki who was

Julian Assange, Gianna Papadakou, Kostas Vaxevanis: Western post-democracy becomes more authoritarian than ever

globinfo freexchange   When a dominant system begins openly and mercilessly go after top investigative journalists, you can understand that we have already entered the post-democratic era beyond doubt. But it is also a sign that the system becomes increasingly authoritarian because it loses the control of the flow of information and the narratives that reach the wide public.   The Western former crypto-fascist and now openly fascist neoliberal establishment wants to preserve the power of the corporate elites and the super-rich, even if it has to suspend more and more democratic principles that have been conquered in previous decades through struggles and blood. Like freedom of press, for instance.   And it's certainly not a coincidence that the system is going through a transition phase , (from capitalism to a modern type of corporate feudalism), in which, naturally, democracy has to be defeated decisively.    As we mentioned recently, Mitsotakis regime in Greece is taking steps t

It's getting worse: Mitsotakis regime targets top investigative journalists in Greece

globinfo freexchange   In November of the previous year we watched Mitsotakis regime in Greece taking steps to suppress further press freedom in the country, through some proposed amendments to Article 191 of the Criminal Code. The International Press Institute then concluded that " Rather than improving the existing Article 191 of the Criminal Code, which is already problematic, the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would take a major step backwards if this law were eventually passed and send a worrying signal about the administration’s commitment to media freedom. " It seems that the regime is using now these changes (introduced on the pretext of "dangerous" misinformation related to COVID-19 pandemic and other issues) to go after top investigative journalists, who, were investigating big corruption scandals. Recently, investigative journalist Gianna Papadakou, was targeted for exposing officials believed to have received bribes from the Swiss pha

Greece: Mitsotakis regime dives deeper into authoritarianism

globinfo freexchange   In a moment where Mitsotakis regime in Greece blatantly fails to respond to all the big challenges, and particularly the COVID-19 pandemic - which is out of control with the national health system now beyond its limits - the rise of prices and the terrible shape of the Greek economy in general (National Debt exceeds now 200% of GDP), the regime decided to pass another authoritarian law.   As we wrote in May, any big scandals, or cases of extreme police violence are coming on surface thanks to the social media and the independent press affiliated to the opposition. That's because the big media of the Greek oligarchy support the regime tooth and nail through an unprecedented propaganda, while the regime also controls the national public broadcaster (ERT) as it has put its own people in key positions.    As they regime increasingly fails to deal with the big problems (and refuses to reinforce the national health system in the peak of the pandemic), it becomes m

Nevada to become officially the testing field for the 21st century corporate feudalism!

globinfo freexchange   An early February short report by Associated Press passed rather unnoticed. Yet, it could be probably considered the best proof for what this blog claims for many years now. In short, the Western economic model is about to be transformed into something even worse than capitalism, towards a kind of 21st century corporate feudalism. And the US state of Nevada is about to become the testing field for such a transition in the most official way! As the AP reported [emphasis added]: Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies to effectively form separate local governments. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state’s economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday. The zones would permit companies with large areas of land to form governments carrying the same authority as counties, including the ab

A high-tech giant deeply connected with US intelligence agencies behind a potential voter manipulation operation in Greece

globinfo freexchange   A disturbing revelation came on surface lately by the Greek independent press. And while it has been almost completely ignored by the big media in Greece, it has been extensively circulated and discussed throughout the Greek social media network.   According to an article on Sunday's (20 December) paper edition of the newspaper Documento , current Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has kept secret from the public, the collaboration with a US high-tech giant with dark connections and activity.  The company is Palantir and it is well known for its involvement in huge scandals of interceptions coming from the NSA-Cambridge Analytica-Facebook complex.   With the permission of the Greek PM - who is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic - Palantir is harvesting and analyzing data from Greek citizens. The government is collecting data today that may be proved useful tomorrow, as the scenario of a general election before the normal completion of Mitsotakis' admin

Confirmed: Biden never wanted the Green New Deal and now he has a perfect excuse to bury it

globinfo freexchange   In a revealing interview for the Greek radio-station Radio 98.4 , former Greek Minister of Finance and current DiEM25 leader, Yanis Varoufakis, spoke about the current situation in Greece under COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the result of the recent US general election.  The current Greek government ( one of the worst the last decades as it seems), receives a lot of negative criticism from the opposition and from the independent press in Greece, for the fact that it didn't take advantage of the first lock-down to reinforce Greece's public healthcare system.   It seems that during this second wave of the pandemic (and the second lock-down), the Greek government is losing control as the COVID-19 cases rise dramatically and the public healthcare system now operates close to its limits. Mitsotakis administration receives negative criticism for the fact it left the tourism sector open during the summer to protect specific private interests. Most importantly,