Wikileaks Revealed Stratfor Knew About Greek Debt Crisis … In Advance

The economic crisis in Greece and the possible financial support by International Monetary Fund was been monitored by the US think tank Stratfor long before the country officially sought the aid of IMF and before then PM George Papandreou had relevant talks with then IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn in December 2009, shortly after he won the September elections.

There revelations came after Wikileaks released over 5 million communication e-mails between Stratfor employees and their informants in several countries. Greek daily TA NEA published some of these e-mails that definitely raise eyebrows as to why the Stratfor – also known as “the shadow CIA“-  had such an interest on the IMF aid to Greece. The e-mails also revealed connections betweetn Stratfor and the IMF.

“According to several e-mails that were published by the Greek newspaper TA NEA, the US private intelligence agency Stratfor monitored the moves of Greece in connection with the International Monetary Funds already in June 2009, half a year before the exploratory talks between Papandreou and Strauss-Kahn and ten whole months before the Greek decision to appeal to IMF support mechanism in May 2010.

In an e-mail acquired by Wikileaks, on June 19, 2009 a Stratfor employee responsible for the countries of Central Europe, Baltic and the Balkans sent to colleagues involved in the region of Eurasia a message entitled “Detailed Instructions Europe – Tier 3. ” In this text message a file was attached giving details of the issues that needed to be paid attention. Specifically for Greece, i was mentioned among other instructions that  “we need to know exactly what happens if / when Greece will apply for a loan from the IMF. It is very likely to witness a complete economic collapse in a eurozone country. Please, pay attention to any signs of trading bonds. Greece has a large debt, how they will act it may also depend on what happens with their debt.

Another e-mail sent beginning of November 2011 revelas the close connections between Stratfor and the IMF. In this e-mail, a IMF employee briefed Stratfor that “Greece cash reserves were decreasing and that the country would run out of cash in December (2009).

The e-mail with the instructions was sent in June 2009, that is before EUropean Commission head Jose Immanuel Barroso had revelead his rpediction about the high levels of the Greek deficit. Barroso’s report was drafterd a month later.  That the Greek deficit was at 10% was revealed at the end of summer 2009.” (Source:Ta Nea via Real.gr  and in.gr)

Stratfor had two informants in Greece covered with the code names GR001 and GR101.