Awful, but not new. From two centuries ago powerful US business interests could lobby government to send formal military assets to protect their profits. I posted an example of that once. The list is long. In my time, from the 80s those business interests simply hired local, psuedo-military "death squads" to protect their profits. They still do that today. Now I understand even that strategy is not necessary, that if the debtors try to default and, for example, re-issue a currency, the "vultures' vultures" have the power to impede or block trade with the country's trade partners all over the world, a "starve 'em out" siege.