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St. Louis Greek community leaders not surprised by rejection of European bailout
Leaders of the Greek community in St. Louis say they weren't surprised after Greek citizens soundly rejected a bailout plan from the country's Europeans creditors.
They said the vote reflected the resilience of a proud nation that's learned to cope with adversity.
Whether it'll secure more favorable terms from other European nations is unclear, however.
Ricardo Farias Nicolopulos, president and CEO of the Brownsville International Air Cargo, said the vote gave the government led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a mandate to secure a better deal for debt repayment.
"This is a political achievement for the Greek government," Nicolopulos said. "The Greek people said the rules of negotiations need to be changed. Now worldwide opinion is in the hands of the Greek people and not on the European bankers."
An exporter who has two children living in Greece, Nicolopulos cited a comment President Barack Obama made to German Chancellor Angela Merkel that European debt forgiveness would need to be a part of a solution to the Greek debt crisis.
"No one is saying we want out of the euro immediately," he said. "We want to pay off our debts differently."
Leon Spanos, 82, was born in Pireaus, Greece. He emigrated to St. Louis in 1956. He operated a dental laboratory for 25 years until he stopped in 1985. He is a founder of the Ahepa National Housing Corporation which provides affordable housing to senior citizens in St. Louis and across the U.S. He was eight years old in 1940 when Greece entered World War II and remembers "what it is like to go hungry because we had nothing."
Spanos said that over history "Greece has learned to cope with any disaster that comes along," although he is worried about the future because he feels the most talented and educated individuals in Greece will likely emigrate due to the debt crisis.
Euripides Kastaris, a local artist born in Athens, came to the United States as a baby. He still has close ties to his native country: During the 2004 Athens Olympic Games a group of American community leaders raised money to commission a mural painted by Kastaris for the VIP area of the Olympic stadium in Greece.
Kastaris said that Greek people are proud of their history and feel deeply about their country wherever they live in the world. He said that the Sunday's overwhelming "no" vote was part of a long history of Greek people telling others Greeks can't be tread on. He also said that it is "no surprise given that 'ego,' 'politics' and 'narcissism' all come from Greek words."
Like Spanos, Kastaris said he was worried that the ongoing debt crisis would cause a continuing brain drain of the most talented and educated Greek people leaving the country.
"If Greece is going to be saved, it will come from a miracle outside its borders," he said, citing different times in history when Greeks living outside of Greece were able to convince leaders of greater powers to aide the country at times of great need.
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