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Thanks, Dayne. The official Eurogroup statement looks pretty bad. One would like to think this was all a maneuver so Tsipras could come back and say "sorry but we've been told by the voters that the Memorandum is still off the table." ps: the Greeks denied the story below but it sounds similar to one from a few weeks ago, and would be nice if true (from Guardian live updates): Greece sent "wrong letter" on Thursday – Bild You couldn’t make this up. Apparently, Greece sent the wrong letter on Thursday, German newspaper Bild reports, citing government sources. The right version supposedly accepted bailout conditions agreed to by the previous Greek government. According to the report, Tsipras, Juncker and Dijsselbloem jointly drafted a letter on Wednesday. However, Varoufakis sent an altered version of the letter that omitted the parts that said Greece will accept the bailout conditions. Tsipras later told Merkel it was an “administrative mistake.” pps: Eric Toussaint has a good piece today reminding us this is not really about the debt, that it's about richer countries, companies and classes enforcing ever-more austere and repressive conditions on those they exploit, so they can better compete with other imperialisms and increase profits internally. On Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 3:28 PM, Dayne Goodwin via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > Greece, euro zone creditors reach accord on loan > > by Jan Strupczewski and Renee Maltezou > Reuters > Feb 20, 2015 > > BRUSSELS - Euro zone finance ministers reached an agreement on Friday > to extend heavily indebted Greece's financial rescue by four months, > officials on both sides said. > > "It's done. For four months," one said. > > An agreement removes the immediate risk of Greece running out of money > next month and possibly being forced out of the single currency area. > It provides a breathing space for the new leftist-led Athens > government to try to negotiate longer-term debt relief with its > official creditors. > > European Union paymaster Germany, Greece's biggest creditor, had > demanded "significant improvements" in reform commitments by Athens > before it would accept an extension of euro zone funding. > > Euro zone officials said the accord required Greece to submit by > Monday a letter to the Eurogroup listing all the policy measures it > planned to take during the remainder of the bailout period, to ensure > they complied with conditions. > . . . > < > http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/20/us-eurozone-greece-idUSKBN0LO0O620150220 > > > > > Eurogroup statement on Greece > < > http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/02/150220-eurogroup-statement-greece > > > > > > Greece deal > BBC Live Reporting > Posted at 20:14 > > The Greeks must of course take the deal back to their voters. There is > "flexibility" in the agreement so some of the conditions may be made > easier for Greece. Although the four months deal is shorter than the > six months extension Greece wanted. Greece must provide a list of > reforms by Monday before the plan is actually rubber-stamped. > <http://www.bbc.com/news/live/business-31455938> > > > Guardian, UK > live reporting > > An agreement has been reached but analysts in Athens are already > describing the concessions made by the Greek government as > “politically poisonous,” Helena Smith reports. > > Prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ government will almost certainly face > fierce reaction from militants in his radical left Syriza party and > from the populist right-wing Anel, his junior partner in the governing > coalition. “Very heavy concessions have been made, politically > poisonous concessions for the government,” Pavlos Tzimas, the veteran > political commentator, has just told SKAI news. “It’s going to be a > crash test on the domestic front for the government,” the television > channels says. “The big question now is what reforms the government is > going to agree to,” Takis Hadzis, another commentator, has also told > Skai news. > > Any reforms will have to be endorsed by the Greek parliament. > < > http://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/live/2015/feb/20/eurozone-ministers-gather-for-crucial-greece-talks-live-updates > > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/acpollack2%40gmail.com _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com