As U.S. voters prepare to head to the polls, Greeks remain in the dark over whether European bailout plans will allow them to remain in the euro.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
As U.S. voters prepare to head to the polls, Greeks remain in the dark over whether European bailout plans will allow them to remain in the euro.
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Marathon negotiations with European leaders -- and civil unrest -- have been a recent feature of Athens. Yanis Varoufakis says Greeks are no longer looking to Washington for rays of hope.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Marathon negotiations with European leaders -- and civil unrest -- have been a recent feature of Athens. Yanis Varoufakis says Greeks are no longer looking to Washington for rays of hope.
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Varoufakis says his first memory of a U.S. election was hearing that Democratic frontrunner Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated on the campaign trail in 1968.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Varoufakis says his first memory of a U.S. election was hearing that Democratic frontrunner Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated on the campaign trail in 1968.
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Kennedy was killed in 1968, a year into what Varoufakis calls the "dark ages" of the military dictatorship of Georgios Papadopoulos (C) that lasted from 1967 to 1973.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Kennedy was killed in 1968, a year into what Varoufakis calls the "dark ages" of the military dictatorship of Georgios Papadopoulos (C) that lasted from 1967 to 1973.
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But now, as roughly a quarter of Greeks remain out of work, Athenians see the U.S. as just as impotent in the face of the global recession.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
But now, as roughly a quarter of Greeks remain out of work, Athenians see the U.S. as just as impotent in the face of the global recession.
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Varoufakis says Greeks today aren't looking toward American presidents for cues, but from European leaders like French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Varoufakis says Greeks today aren't looking toward American presidents for cues, but from European leaders like French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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Varoufakis says America's ability to influence the world was shown when "inane" European finance ministers ignored U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's advice in 2011 on how to address the euro crisis.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Varoufakis says America's ability to influence the world was shown when "inane" European finance ministers ignored U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's advice in 2011 on how to address the euro crisis.
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Many now fear that European Central Bank officials and other leaders are merely waiting for the U.S. to vote before cutting Greece loose from the euro.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Many now fear that European Central Bank officials and other leaders are merely waiting for the U.S. to vote before cutting Greece loose from the euro.
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Varoufakis says almost everyone he speaks to is interested in the election -- and that most of the Greeks he knows want four more years of Barack Obama.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Varoufakis says almost everyone he speaks to is interested in the election -- and that most of the Greeks he knows want four more years of Barack Obama.
No one's afraid of a Mitt Romney presidency, however, says Varoufakis -- and in fact Greeks are coming to see America as a kindred spirit.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
No one's afraid of a Mitt Romney presidency, however, says Varoufakis -- and in fact Greeks are coming to see America as a kindred spirit.
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Most think the U.S. understands what Greeks -- or the Irish and Portuguese -- are going through in the hands of a German-dominated austerian Europe.
Election 2012: Postcard from Athens —
Most think the U.S. understands what Greeks -- or the Irish and Portuguese -- are going through in the hands of a German-dominated austerian Europe.
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