The ‘Spanish Autumn’ Begins now

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

The ‘Spanish autumn’ is here. The same pictures we saw months ago in Greece and Portugal, are now popping up in Madrid. The Spanish people went out by the thousands on Tuesday to tell their government they are angry and that the people cannot take it anymore. Spain is being pushed to the limit and unfortunately it is just the beginning.

The discontent of the Spanish citizens due to the cuts and their distance from the political class flooded the streets of Madrid on Tuesday. Thousands of people, many of which arrived from other regions, came to support activists who gathered outside Congress to show their dissatisfaction about the way the Spanish government is handling the crisis.

Although the organizers insisted until the last moment that the protest was a peaceful one, Spanish police launched themselves against them, which increased the tension between the two groups. According to police records, 26 protesters were detained while 64 others were wounded. A total of 16 people were taken to the hospital due to their serious lesions. Among the injured are 27 police agents.

Riot police tried to disperse the protestors once again at 9:00 pm after they entered the square near Congress.

Many congregants tried to flee by running through streets surrounding the Congress. Police said some violent demonstrators started throwing bottles, batteries and other items. Some participants in the protests in Madrid beat police agents after they found themselves trapped between two police security rings. The police then charged against protesters, which rendered many of them with bloodied heads.

Throughout the evening, attendees attempted demonstration as close as possible to Congress, which is surrounded by 13 small streets. The Delegate, Cristina Cifuentes, insisted that demonstrations were prohibited during Congress sessions.

The main goal of the protest, carried out under the name ‘Surround Congress’ was to express people’s concern about the current economic conditions in Spain and to start a constitutional process, said organizers of the protest. The frustration of many of the protesters was visible.

“I came to show my suffering face to the politicians,” said Mamen GuBas, an unemployed 41-year-old man from Bilbao. Among those attending were outraged but also unemployed students, housewives and elderly people from Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and Galicia.

Protesters were harassed by police even before they arrived to their last stop in Madrid. The bus they were traveling in was approached by police to identify the occupants. “I ask our representatives to look after the people and protect financial markets,” said Joaquin Sanchez, a priest from Murcia.

More than 1,300 policemen from 30 regions of the country were sent to Madrid to watch over the protesters. Most of them belong to Police Intervention Unit (PIU) an organ of the National Police.

In total there were three security rings around Congress, two of which were closed and bolted before six o’clock. A group of dog handlers plus some cavalry units completed the operation.

Spanish Government still not listening

The government led by Mariano Rajoy not only ignores the calls of the people to stop the handover of Spain to the European bankers, but it seems it actively continues to negotiate the so-called ‘financial rescue’. A report by the Financial Times of London reveals that both the European Central Bank and the European Commission are advising the Spanish government on how to request the rescue.

The ‘Times’ says in an editorial that these negotiations are “politically understandable” and notes that “Madrid is keen to avoid the humiliation involved in having the European bailout conditions being dictated by the bankers.” It seem then that the Rajoy administration has been lying throughout the whole process.

At first, Rajoy had said that the rescue would not be necessary, but his comments have been changing ever since Spanish ‘communities’ began requesting financial aid. Spain will then introduce more painful fiscal and structural reforms as a package developed ‘in house’, when in reality those will be conditions imposed by Brussels in a complete loss of sovereignty.

If those Spanish protesters think they are living in difficult times now, they have seen nothing. The pain to come will be greater once Spain requests and approves the financial rescue package now being discussed between their leaders and the European bankers.

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Rothschild bets on the Euro zone Collapse

Meanwhile, financial publications forecast a Greece style rescue for Spain.

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | AUGUST 21, 2012

If there was any doubt on anyone’s mind that the Euro zone will collapse, this is the time to change your mind. Not only is the main stream media predicting more financial rescues for EU nations, but one of the most influential bankers from one of the most influential families in Europe has now bet against the recovery of the Euro.

Lord Jacob Rothschild, from the Rothschild banking mob has wager $200 million against the European currency — euro — and with it he is basically expressing his strong belief that the Euro will collapse and so will the euro zone. Lord Rothschild is a member of the dynasty that has, at least in part, ruled the world through powerful banking institutions. It is the same family that has made a killing before, during and after every single major financial crisis by using the asset and power consolidation model first seen when 5 Rothschild children were unleashed around Europe to build and manage the central banking system that rules the planet today.

According to NBC, Lord Jacob, one of the elders of the Rothschild family “has taken the position against the euro through RIT Capital Partners, the 1.9 billion pound investment trust of which he is executive chairman.” The report says that Rothschild’s position on the Euro comes as he sees the currency weakening day after day due to the many problems that European nations face, especially the sovereign debt issue, which are working as separate ailments against the single currency.

Both Italy and Spain have called for “decisive action” from the European Central Bank to curb the current crisis, especially the lack of confidence on those two nations  as their credit worthiness is downgraded by the banker created credit rating agencies. Just as it happened with Greece, Spain is finding it too difficult to pay its debt, and there are now talks emerging about a possible debt forgiving scheme to help beaten up countries remain financially alive. But the government in Brussels has been clear that it will not seek or encourage financial or fiscal amnesty for any nation.

The government in Brussels is the head the banking structure in Europe, where all banking deals are closed for European nations. According to banking sources, the EU government is not contemplating any type of payment forgiveness, because it considers that such action does not produce any revenue while it gives the wrong message about financial responsibility. This is an interesting position to have if one takes into account that the banking institutions are the entities responsible for most of the debt accrued on the debt sheets of the European nations.

Both in Europe and in North America, the rhetoric regarding the real state of the economies has experienced a 360 degree change, even on the main stream press, where both financial experts and teleprompter readers have now confessed that we have been slaves to the banking institutions for a long, long time, and that only a centralized banking entity will have the ability to solve the debt problem.

In an article published yesterday, the Wall Street Journal is assuring the public that Spain will definitely go through a financial rescue the same way that Greece did as the bankers seek to extend the painful economic and financial depression for as long as possible in every nation that belongs to the Euro zone. Editor Mary Anastasia O’Grady said that if the current crisis took too long to be solved, Spain ran the risk of having to be rescued by the central bankers, a scenario widely denied by the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

O’Grady said in her article that Spain needs to become serious about structural changes that she said are necessary to get the economy going, as well as to propose and execute clear policies that promote growth. Spain needs to “liberalize businesses” so that business owners find it attractive to take risks against extreme austerity measures and cuts that the government has implemented, which do not help address “the path of growth.” She added that Spain can recover all the potential it had, but reforms must continue deeply and seriously.

This does not seem to be the scenario envisioned by Lord Rothschild, however, since he has bet big time against the recovery of the Euro. His position contrasts talking points issued by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, who have said they will do whatever it takes to save the euro. But not all euro members necessarily agree with the “whatever it takes” part of their speech as more divisiveness seems to be growing among European leaders about the way things should be done to save — or not — the countries that are unable to paid the banker created debt.

Brussels Warns Rescued Nations will Suffer Painful Economic Conditions

The vice president of the European Commission forecasts complete economic union by end of 2012.

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | AUGUST 14, 2012

The financial vice-president of the European Commission (EC), Olli Rehn, warned today that countries in the euro area that are in distress and seeking recourse to the European rescue fund to buy bad debt will be subject to “strict conditions”.

“These instruments, which allow intervention in debt markets when necessary, should follow the request of a Member State and be subject to strict conditions,” Rehn said in a newspaper column published in The Wall Street Journal, in which he presented what he called “European Monetary Union 2.0″.

The Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs indicated that these conditions will be marked “through established political processes between national leaders and European authorities,” while noting that the EC is “ready to carry out strict monitoring conditions and effective as needed. “

He argued that “to ensure that these interventions help to lower risk premiums over a period of time, they will be available only for states that implement good budgetary policies, adopt structural reforms for growth and employment and respond to macroeconomic imbalances.” These are the words of someone who seems determined to demand anything and everything from nation-states that make the mistake to request a financial rescue, such as Greece and soon to come Spain.

Rehn welcomed the availability of the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, to consider “more unconventional measures” to repair the transmission of monetary policy in the euro area, while stressing that the ECB will remain “an anchor for stability throughout the crisis. ” As the memo of understanding dictated by Brussels and written by Spain establishes, countries will surrender their economic and financial sovereignty as a primary condition for the European bankers to ”rescue” them from the debt black hole. Keep in mind that the word rescue is used loosely, and its real meaning is acquisition of nation-states by banking institutions.

“Europe is committed to creating a real economic union to complement and strengthen our existing monetary union,” defended the financial vice-president, who moved that “a roadmap” to achieve that objective will be presented “at the end of the year.” And for this economic union to take place it is needed that all countries be under one single entity that dictates all policies to be followed. This is what Mr. Rehn means when he calls for a “genuine economic union”, a bloc of countries ruled by banking elites.

He also said that the permanent rescue fund will be operational “soon”, while indicating that European leaders have agreed to “explore the conditions” which would be “rational” for the European countries. That idea must be, according to Rehn, a “guiding principle” a way of “additional financial risk pooling”, which will require time to “deepen the integration of the decision-making process,” which “will not be easy to translate into concrete action,” he acknowledged.

“The debt crisis has underlined the need and created the conditions for Europe to rebuild and strengthen its economic and monetary union. Thus the euro zone will continue to defy its critics,” said European Commissioner in the text published by the New York newspaper. In reality, what these words mean is that the purposely banker created crisis has provided them with a new opportunity to acquire more control and more power under the premise that they — the bankers — are best at “getting us out of it”. By the way, the critics of the Union are not people who don’t want Europe united, but those who reject the notion that independent nations must surrender to global banking institutions in order to exist.

Recognizing that the euro zone is at “a turning point not only in its debt crisis, which has lasted three years, but in its thirteen year history,” Rehn said. He added that in the past two years they have made “significant progress” , giving the example of Ireland and Portugal and even Greece, which “has achieved more than is generally recognized.” What Mr. Rehn means is that in the case of Greece, the bankers have been able to fully gain control of its government and its economy, much like they did in Argentina at the turn of the millennium, when the country went from having first world status to becoming a dungeon with more people than living in poverty than ever before.

Rehn defended the measures taken by the Spanish government “to create a product and services markets more competitive, reform labor laws that have hindered the creation of jobs and bring stability to public finances.” These are always the promises made by politicians: more jobs, more production, more competitiveness, but in reality all they achieve is more big government controlled by outside forces that intend to curtail development and progress and whose only intention is to starve nations to death as a policy for control.

He added that rescuing the banking system in Spain last month was a move to provide “restructured and recapitalized banks that are effectively regulated and monitored rigorously.” He forgot to add that such regulation and monitoring will be done by bigger, more powerful banks and not the states where those banks operate.

Rehn also reminded in writing that the U.S. and the EU are “in this together”, so he called for support, “instead of blaming” each other, to work “on both sides of the Atlantic to learn the lessons of the past and ensure that emerge stronger from the current crisis. ” A stronger centralized control in the hands of the bankers, that is.

Italy ready to beg for a Bailout

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | JULY 17, 2012

The time for handouts doesn’t seem to end in Europe. After ‘solving’ the Spanish problems, the European bankers are now looking forward to ‘rescuing’ Italy from financial disaster. Italy will be the sixth nation to request and receive a financial bailout of its banking system before the country is officially absorbed by the international banking institutions that have, to a great extent, caused the current crisis.

Today, Italy is the third largest economy in the Euro zone and a shiny holder of a G-7 membership card. But that shiny membership is worth nothing as the Italians are also the third largest holder of sovereign debt. The debt to GDP ratio in Italy surpasses 120%. Italy’s dire situation has not been widely publicized due to the fact it is been hiding behind Spain’s  economically genocidal financial agreement with the bankers, which is the same agreement that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has in mind for his country.

Monti’s policies, although fairly accepted in his country, have failed to take Italy out of the hole. Instead of pulling the country out of the recession or depression — depending on who you ask — Monti’s so-called reforms aided a contraction of the economy by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2012. With such contraction also came the reduction in economic activity including the manufacturing, services and retail sectors. Retail sales fell below estimates in the past two months, and they are expected to continue the slide to levels between -0.8% and -1.6%.

The same measures taken by Spain before the bailout, a series of conditions imposed by the European bankers as a condition to start looking into a possible financial bailout of the Spanish banking system, were also applied by Monti’s-led government. Much austerity and the transfer of Italian infrastructure to the European lenders was the prelude to the upcoming rescue. Neither the people of Italy nor the markets liked Monti’s plan, but then again, it is not them who Monti works for, is it?

Despite the inevitability of the rescue, some issues have arisen regarding Italy’s standing in Europe and whether these conditions would be limiting when it comes to requesting and getting the funds to bailout its banks. For example, financial consultants cite the fact that the European Stability Mechanism has not been approved by all EU members. They also say that the current measures may not be enough to rescue Italy due to the fact its debt is much larger than that of Spain or Greece, for example.

“Placing Italy in a bailout scheme casts an even bigger shadow over the euro-zone,” says Yohay Elam at Forex Crunch. An Italian bailout, Elam says, would create a bigger hole in the debt crisis, because Italy itself has functioned as a supporter of past bailouts, so having to rescue the Italians would mean a larger burden for the region.

But neither Italy’s standing in Europe not the approval of the ESM by all countries is the big enchilada here. Italy will be absorbed by the banks just as Greece and Spain were. The matter is not if, but how. Should things run the bankers way as it happened with Greece and Spain, Italy will also have to surrender complete sovereignty to Brussels, as explained in the memo of understanding signed by both rescuers and rescues. “Spanish authorities will take all the necessary measures to ensure a successful implementation of the programme. They will also provide the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF with all information required to monitor progress in programme implementation and to track the financial situation.”

In the case of Spain, and most likely with Italy, Portugal, France and then Germany, Brussels will begin as a negotiator, but will end as a manager of all European economies. After receiving the proposals for financial bailouts, the World Bank, IMF, European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority and the Prime Ministers will sit down and agree to accept the request for aid and write the conditions for the rescues to occur. However, once the agreement is signed by all parties, the sole management of the programme falls on the hands of the ESM, a banker controlled institution.

Under the ESM, banking institutions that do not belong to large powerhouses will be either absorbed by mandating that they take bailout money, or dissolved. At this time, their assets will be given to the banks. The money that comes from the financial rescue will be given to partner banks, those who are owned by powerful European bankers, and the toxic financial assets will be re-circulated into other nations or financial entities. (MoU page 3)

Most likely, as in the case of Spain, Italy will have to meet the requirements established by the ESM, which are based on a timeline that begins at the signing of the MoU and goes well into 2013 and 2014. The rescue of banks in Spain may work as a model to be utilized in Italy. According to the MoU the losses incurred into by those participating in the financial rescue will be shared by equity holders and subordinated debt holders who may participate voluntarily of these losses, or otherwise be mandated to accept the mandatory Subordinated Liability Exercises (SLEs).

Through the execution of these supposed rescue plans, the European bankers also reassure their position and that of their decaying model as the only ‘legitimate’ way to take on the current crisis, even though that exact same model is the origin of the crisis itself. In Spain, for example, more independence is warranted to the Spanish Central Bank, which is a branch of the powerful European banking institutions.

“A further strengthening of the operational independence of the Banco de España is warranted. The supervisory procedures of Banco de España will be further enhanced based on a formal internal review,” says the MoU. The central bank will be more of a vigilante for the European bankers.

Spain to receive up to 125 Billion Euros in Bailout

REUTERS | JUNE 10, 2012

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to shore up its teetering banks and Madrid said it would specify precisely how much it needs once independent audits report in just over a week.

After a 2 1/2-hour conference call of the 17 finance ministers, which several sources described as heated, the Eurogroup and Madrid said the amount of the bailout would be sufficiently large to banish any doubts.

“The loan amount must cover estimated capital requirements with an additional safety margin, estimated as summing up to 100 billion euros in total,” a Eurogroup statement said.

Spain said it wanted aid for its banks but would not specify the precise amount until two independent consultancies – Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger – deliver their assessment of the banking sector’s capital needs some time before June 21.

“The Spanish government declares its intention to request European financing for the recapitalization of the Spanish banks that need it,” Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said at a news conference in Madrid.

He said the amounts needed would be manageable and that the funds requested would amply cover any needs.

A bailout for Spain’s banks, beset by bad debts since a property bubble burst, would make it the fourth country to seek assistance since Europe’s debt crisis began.

With the rescue of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and now Spain, the EU and IMF have now committed around 500 billion euros to finance European bailouts.

Washington, which is worried the euro zone crisis could drag the U.S. economy down in an election year, welcomed the announcement.

“These are important for the health of Spain’s economy and as concrete steps on the path to financial union, which is vital to the resilience of the euro area,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.

Likewise, the Group of Seven developed nations – the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and Canada – heralded the move as a milestone as the euro zone moves toward tighter financial and budgetary ties.

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