July 3 was Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s greatest moment. In front of a huge crowd in Syntagma Square, he gave an electrifying speech in favor of a “no” vote, evoking the words of the great poet Andreas Kalvos: “freedom requires virtue and courage.” Unfortunately, in the long night of the negotiations with the European Union, he showed neither virtue nor courage.

July 13 is the end of the road for both Syriza and Tsipras. In spite of the massive popular vote in favor of “no,” in spite of the evident acceptance by large segments of the people that a rupture with the eurozone is a possible solution, in spite of the alignment of a broad spectrum of left and progressive social and political forces in favor of an exit from the iron cage of eurozone austerity, Tsipras and the leading group of Syriza chose to quickly and fully capitulate to the demands of Greece’s creditors.

In a state of panic regarding any thought of an exit from the eurozone, unable to realize that Greek society was more than ready for such a development, totally unprepared both for the blackmail of the EU but also for an eventual Grexit, Tsipras and the negotiating team could offer no actual resistance to the proposals of Greece’s lenders.