http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2015/images/kke_270215.jpgSyriza's real dilemma in other words arises from a contradiction in the attitudes of the Greek people themselves: on the one hand they want an end to "austerity", but on the other hand they want to stay on in the Eurozone. . . . Syriza surely cannot be naïve enough to believe that it can get rid of the "austerity" measures being imposed on Greece without confronting German finance capital and hence being prepared to leave the European Union which is dominated by German finance capital. True, the Americans have been selling this illusion to the Syriza leadership that they can help the Syriza government to get a better deal from the EU, basically as a means of preventing Syriza from making any attempts to link with Putin's Russia; and there may be some in the Syriza leadership who nurture this illusion, both as a means of escaping a harsh reality and also because a segment of the contemporary Left, alas, is quite prone to getting hegemonised by progressive liberal thinking. But this cannot be true of the overwhelming bulk of Syriza. And if so, ie, if the Syriza leadership is aware of the contradiction between clinging on to EU membership and resisting "austerity", a contradiction stressed by the Greek Communists, then it should be preparing the Greek people to shed the illusion that these two can be reconciled. Speaking the truth to them is a precondition for this, while presenting a compromise (the February 20 agreement), and that too not a very favourable one for Greece, as a victory, is to keep them trapped within that illusion. It is not enough however that the Greek people should be prepared for a possible break with the EU if their desire to get rid of "austerity" is to be realised. Alternative arrangements about how Greece can cope with such a break have to be worked out. Alternative openings for international financial assistance in the event of such a break, or even as a means of putting pressure on German finance capital so that it accedes to Greece's demand for debt restructuring/reduction which may even prevent a break, have to be explored right now, during precisely the breathing period that Greece has obtained because of the February 20 agreement. Likewise, it is important for Syriza to mobilise European public opinion, and even work out common strategies with other Left forces, especially with the Spanish Left alliance that is tipped to repeat in that country, in the elections due in a few months' time, what Syriza has achieved in Greece. These strategies can only be worked out by a proactive government coping with a "problem", not by a government that calls the February 20 agreement a "victory" and hence denies the very existence of any "problem" whatsoever. Similarly as many Syriza leaders themselves have pointed out, to prevent disillusionment among the people and to mobilise them for marching ahead, Syriza needs to have a programme for taking on the domestic oligarchy which both evades taxes and is steeped in corruption. The breathing space provided by the February 20 agreement should be making Syriza draw up its plans for fighting "austerity" and taking the Greek people forward. The real test for assessing the February 20 agreement consists not so much in looking at the agreement itself, which any Left government could well get forced into signing in exceptionally difficult circumstances, but in what follows. On this score however, as of now, the record is not very enthusing.

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