Their target was the national mint, where they believed 22 billion euros were held in reserves, enough to cover pensions and other essential government bills until they had rolled out a new national currency. If the central bank governor, Yannis Stournaras, resisted, as they expected he would, they would have him arrested. The meeting was far from clandestine. There were journalists swarming outside the hotel. It is hard to know how seriously to take such talk. But as one participant recalled: “Obviously it was a moment of high tension. . . . [Y]ou were . . . aware of a real revolutionary
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