Paris, response
The French when they use the term “caviar” (Gauche caviar) refer, in a derogatory way, to “cosmopolitan leftists” which they like “to play the Internationale on a grand piano”.
According to the newspaper “Le Monde”, this term first appeared some fifty years ago, but it joined French political slang with the election, in 1981, to the presidency of the French Republic.
The emblematic representative of “Gauche caviar” was and is undoubtedly o Jack Langto whom Mitterrand assigned the Ministry of Culture in 1981, doubling its funds.
Since then the bad tongues say that Lang always ate for free in the best restaurants in Paris, stayed for free in the best hotels in Cannes and had his suits made for free by the best representatives of French haute couture, which he treated, as he said, more as a form of culture and less as a commercial activity.
The Greek case
In Greece, the first to introduce the concept of “Gauche caviar” was probably , around the mid-1980s. However, despite his impeccable French, he preferred the term “Left of the salons”, implying that its representative in Greece was Leonidas Kyrkos – something that angered the historic leader of the resurgent Left at the time.
And probably not without reason, since Kyrkos did play the International, but with his favorite harmonica and not “on a grand piano”. Besides, to be honest, the International itself was anything but unrelated to Gauche caviar, since the author of the Communist Manifesto was not only the truly financially deprived Karl Marxbut also the extremely wealthy Friedrich Engels.
In 21st century France the “before the earth the hellish” it is no longer fashionable. Gauche caviar, however, not only is, but also two typical representatives of it are in the forefront of news lately.
The one, the Mathieu Pigas, because it “comes”. The other, O Francois Villerois de Gallobecause it “leaves”. Both are considered to be left-wing bankers, i.e. by definition Gauche caviar.
Debt specialist
Mathieu Pigas basically works as a public debt restructurer. He has from time to time undertaken the restructuring of the public debts of Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Ukraine, Argentina and of course Greece. With the compensation, of course, and with tariffs of tens of millions of euros for the major restructurings.
Mathieu Pigas has built bridges of communication with all the leaders of the French Left, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon
He came to Greece on the recommendation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (of whom he was an adviser at the end of the last century), during the prime ministership George Papandreou and remained until the period Tsipraseven developing particularly good relations with him Yanis Varoufakis.
At the time he was working at the Lazard bank and already had a reputation as a “leftist technocrat”, hoping that the then president of France Francois Hollande would appreciate his skills. Much to his dismay, however, Hollande preferred another “leftist technocrat”who worked at Rothschild, named Emmanuel Macron. Since then, Pigas has been the “best enemy” of Macron.
In 2019, Pigas leaves Lazard and takes over as head of the office of the American investment bank Centerview. At the same time, he begins to expand his business activities in the left-leaning media, building bridges of communication with all the leaders of the French Left, the Jean-Luc Mélenchon including.
The newspaper “Le Monde”, with which he had and still has extremely close relations, shows him as one of the possible left-wing candidates in the presidential elections to be held in the spring of 2027, provoking the bitter comments of “Liberation”.
In the last few weeks, however, the chances of Pigas claiming the presidency of the French Republic in the name of the Left are probably decreasing. And this because, as the American newspaper “Wall Street Journal” revealed, the president Trump entrusted him, in secret and in secret, with the restructuring of Venezuela’s public debt. Pigas knows this job very well, since it was entrusted to him in the past by both Chaves as well as Maduro!
The central banker
Francois Villeroy de Gallo, on the other hand, has been governor of the Central Bank of France for the past 11 years. But he has been retired for a few days now. He was chosen for this position during the presidency of Hollande, who appreciated his hard work, his social democratic stance, and his excellent knowledge of the German language.
François Villerois de Gallo served for more than ten years as governor of the Central Bank of France and played a key role in the creation of the euro
Villeroy de Gallo became involved in banking issues in the early 1990s as an adviser on European affairs to France’s socialist prime minister Pierre Beregovois. From a social point of view the two men did not have many points of contact.
Beregovois, the son of Ukrainian immigrants, started working at the age of 16 as a metal worker. He took part in the resistance against the Germans, was a trade unionist and together with Mitterrand drew up the Common Program with which the French Left won the 1981 elections.
On the other hand, Villeroy de Gallo belonged absolutely to the Franco-German bourgeoisie. His ancestors founded the Villeroy&Boch company in 1748, which has since dominated the world of bathroom, porcelain and tableware.
The relationship with the euro
In other words, if Villeroy de Gallo wanted, he could not work. He preferred, however, not only to work, not only to be firmly placed on the Left, but also to be one of the people who created the euro.
In fact he was France’s main negotiator in the Maastricht Treaty negotiations and then his man in Frankfurt where the European Central Bank is based.
He could certainly have been unemployed in 1991 when the French, with a percentage of only 51%, approved, after much suffering, the Treaty of Maastricht and the establishment of the single European currency.
Today the percentage of French people who support the euro is 79%. The explanation given by Villeroy de Gallo is that in the context of the European Central Bank there is no veto and therefore there are no delays in the adoption of decisions. Hence the strength of the euro.
