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In Tarpon Springs, cheers for Greek bailout no-vote

 
Men play rummy as they watch voting results on TV in Kooneli Kafenio, a Tarpon Springs coffee shop they visit almost daily.
Men play rummy as they watch voting results on TV in Kooneli Kafenio, a Tarpon Springs coffee shop they visit almost daily.
Published July 6, 2015

TARPON SPRINGS — The group of Greek men played rummy and smoked tobacco in their usual Tarpon Springs cafe on Sunday as they watched the historic voting results pour in on Greek television.

They watched the masses of people dancing in the streets of Athens, celebrating the news that, with most of the votes in, the majority of Greeks had voted against the bailout offered by European leaders.

In Tarpon Springs, one of the largest Greek communities in the United States, most Greeks were thrilled to hear the country voted "no."

One of the men playing cards in Kooneli Kafenio on Athens Street was 80-year-old John Vouros. He said the decision was a statement to European leaders that Greece needed a better deal with better terms.

"Now they're going to give Greece more respect," Vouros said.

John Giannas was the only person in the room of about a dozen men who supported voting for the bailout.

"He's the richest, that's why," said Taki Katsaros, who sat across from him at the card table.

Giannas said that without the bailout, Greek leaders will not know where to go next.

"If they fall apart in Europe, it's bad for the U.S., too," the 57-year-old Palm Harbor resident said.

Down the street, the cashier at an imported clothing and jewelry store spoke on the phone with her 23-year-old son, who lives on the Greek island of Santorini.

Marilena Korfias, 54, moved to the United States from Athens about three years ago. She had been watching the voting results on her tablet throughout the day and spoke to her son, Marios Santamouris, about the celebration events taking place in Greece.

Santamouris was working in a hotel in Santorini all day, so he wasn't able to vote. If he had the chance, he would have voted no, he said. His mother agreed.

For Korfias, the decision wasn't based on whether Greece would stick with the euro or revert to its former currency, the drachma. It was about rejecting a deal that would have worsened the situation for working-class people in Greece, she said. She feared the bailout would have caused taxes to increase in the country, damaging the tourism industry.

"They borrow money to save the banks not to save the people," Korfias said.

The debt crisis and bank closures during the last few weeks have caused a ripple effect in Korfias' family. She always makes a point of sending a monthly check to help support her son and mother in Greece, but this month, the bank closures prevented her from being able to send the money.

At Hellas Restaurant and Bakery in front of the Sponge Docks, waiter Dimitri Kostakis said he expected and hoped for the "no" majority vote. The referendum, and overall Greek debt crisis, has become a part of daily conversations for customers and staff in the popular Greek restaurant.

The Tarpon Springs father of three moved to the United States in 1984 with $200 in his pocket. He now owns two homes with his wife, a schoolteacher. But his parents, his sister and his sister's children all remain in Greece, about five hours north of Athens. They all live in the same house and split the rent, a common situation in Greece, Kostakis said, especially lately.

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"Otherwise you can't survive," he said.

Luckily his sister, who works for the government as a nurse in a major hospital, has been able to receive her usual paychecks. But Kostakis' parents, who depend on their pension, saw their monthly check cut from $200 to $150 this month.

With the banks closed, his parents were extremely low on cash. They were forced to rely on the food they had in the refrigerator, or whatever they could grow in the garden. Kostakis heard stories of people waiting for six hours at ATMs for cash and fainting from heat stroke, or being robbed by desperate thieves shortly after.

For Kostakis, the bailout would have meant 60 years of continued debt to European countries. His family would rather see the country declare bankruptcy and transition back to the drachma.

"Now they're going to have something else to be hopeful for," Kostakis said.

Contact Samantha Schmidt at sschmidt@tampabay.com or (813) 435-7308. Follow @schmidtsam7.