The View from Bologna

Whatever you say, say nothing! Mafia, politics, and the golden rule of silence

In Roberto Benigni's film Johnny Stecchino, Benigni arrives in Sicily and is introduced to Palermo by a gangster. The mafia man talks about the great "piaghe" or curses that blight Sicily in the eyes of the world: Etna, the volcano, that, however destructive, is a part of nature and beautiful in its own way; drought, which again is a natural burden that has to be put up with; the final curse that blights Sicily, though, is a man made curse, and one which inspires fear in all those who encounter it, pitting brother against brother, family against family - (drum roll!)... the traffic!

Last week Rai Tre (one of the State TV channels) broadcast, as part of its Report series, a documentary on the Mafia in Sicily - which has created no end of controversy. President of the Sicilian region, Salvatore Cuffaro (member of the CDU party), and the mayor of Catania Scapagnini(Forza Italia),protested strongly that the programme defamed and offended their Sicily, repeating old stories. Their protests were repeated by some members of the public, for example one viewer wrote to Report that the programme presented a picture of a Sicily of mafia killings, where the people are virtually imprisoned by the Mafia - a partial picture.

Interestingly, none seems to have taken up the programme makers on the facts presented, but rather that they didn't balance them out with a prettier view of the beautiful island. According to the programme makers roughly 80% of firms and businesses in Sicily pay protection money to the Mafia, while the remaining 20% require police protection.

On the 19th of January, the chief anti-mafia investigator, Piero Luigi Vigna, in an address to union chiefs declared that the Mafia's earnings now place them as the biggest business in Italy bar none. Their earnings are calculated as being double that of FIAT or triple that of Telecom Italia.

Obviously not great news for anyone wishing to invest in Sicily, and you can understand, to a certain extent, the furore created. For an island with five million inhabitants, where unemployment has been traditionally high, investment is desperately needed, but global finance is generally shy of trouble zones. Understanding their anguish is one thing, dismissing the fact that there's a serious problem is another.

Some suggest that what is termed crime outside Sicily is termed Mafia in Sicily, with all that that entails. Indeed, there are widespread problems with the Camorra in Naples, the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria, and, outside Italy, we Irish can look to our own budding entrepreneurs in the Republican and Loyalist camps. The Mafia, though, is a curious hybrid: On the one hand it is an organised gang of hoodlums prepared to use violence at every step, while on the other it has the financial clout of a corporation, running business interests so great that any region associated with it would fear its disappearance, like a multinational pulling out of a small town in Ireland. It has its obvious 'businesses' (drugs, prostitution, arms trafficking, etc) while also controlling various public/private businesses such as refuse collection & road building. At the same time, through violence, or the threat of violence, it taxes businesses in its sphere of interest, but without providing any service. It is a State within a State. What allows this illegal organisation to wield that power is political collusion, and that's what separates it from ordinary crime. The Mafia time and time again has courted, with success, politicians at the highest levels of the Italian State.

Strange that prominent politicians, such as Salvatore Cuffaro, should take umbrage at the presentation of Mafia related facts. Cuffaro is currently under investigation for Mafia connections. In December of last year, Marcello Dell'Utri, a close friend of Silvio Berlusconi, and founding member of Forza Italia, was convicted of collusion with the Mafia. Forza Italia, coincidentally, currently holds 61 of the 61 constituencies in Sicily...

Well and good, you might say. Let them protest the facts contained in the programme, and, if it is found wanting, let the record be corrected. That should be the way to proceed, but the recent history of Italian TV suggests it will be otherwise. Negative coverage in the eyes of the Government has always been treated harshly on State Television, and particularly so since the arrival of Berlusconi's majority. A pattern has been created where programmes that are considered unacceptable by Berlusconi's majority (and in-depth investigations on the Mafia appear to be in that category) are lambasted in public while veiled threats are voiced to the RAI authorities - then, programme makers are driven to correct/neuter their programmes. Political satire was hit first, with anything remotely resembling hard hitting comedy being forced off the air*. Threats from the Government, who using their majority have already brought in extensive legislation on broadcasting, coupled with the financial power of Italy's richest inevitably leads to a self-censorship on the part of the media. Nobody can say that voices have been legally prohibited from Italian TV (indeed Rai Tre, traditionally left of centre, has become a home from home for some), but one can say without a shadow of a doubt that the Government has produced a climate of fear in the State broadcaster.

And so, faced with brave voices pointing to a problem that all know exists, what do you do? Avert your gaze, cut anti-Mafia resources, and count your votes.

* A case in point being last year's Raiot programme, hosted by comedian and impressionist Sabina Guzzanti. The programme, which leaned heavily on the Rory Bremner school - i.e. mixing political arguments with satirical impression sketches - was pulled off the air after only one episode, partly due to a libel action presented by Mediaset for €20 million. The libel case was eventually dismissed, but the programme and Guzzanti did not return to the screens.

There's no smoke without... a violent/non-violent protest

News from the frontlines in the war against smoke, and smokers, here in Italy is relatively subdued. Fines have been few, and the streets are crowded with smokers. It may just be coincidence, but Bologna has been obscured by fog for the last couple of days!

Of course there are some exceptions to the rule. Various voices in the lead up to the ban suggested that the police would have enough problems in Napoli, and Bari, where there has been ongoing gang warfare with frequent murders and shootouts of late, without having to persuade reluctant Dons to extinguish their cigars. There's often a touch of racism when the South gets discussed in the North, so it was with a certain amusement (and, naturally, disapproval) that I greeted the news that the first violent opposition recorded to the ban came not from the South, but from that most civilised of cities, Bologna!

In the early hours of Tuesday morning a man in a city centre pizzeria was asked by the staff to put out his cigarette, in accordance with the law. A heated argument took place, during which the smoking customer drew a pistol! There were no injuries, and the only things fired were strong insults (The Corriere della Sera emphasised that the staff member was of Bangladeshi origin, while the offending/offensive customer was Italian). The Police are investigating.

Meanwhile, as happened in Ireland last year, a number of parliamentarians have been found in contravention of the law in Government buildings. Most are using a common defense that many have seen fit to use over the last few days - that they had simply forgotten about the new law, smoking out of force of habit.

The leader of the Comunisti Italiani, Oliviero Diliberto has made it clear, according to the Corriere della Sera his intention to continue smoking indoors - as a form of non-violent protest against a law that seeks to impose health on citizens. Often, to the horror of centre/right leaning friends, I find Diliberto a voice of reason - but it would seem here that he's lost the plot. This Monkey doesn't smoke tobacco, and has no strong opinions on the ban, but in 2005 it's ridiculous to suggest that smoking in public is a personal choice - smoke knows no boundaries political or physical. Strange that a communist should take to defending the rights of the individual, when it coincides with a personal vice...

The Roman Salute

As he guided Lazio to a conclusive victory over hated Roman rivals Roma, Paolo di Canio couldn't resist celebrating by racing over to the Lazio Ultras and saluting them, with his right arm stretched at an angle, with palm flattened.

The debate of the week then has been as to what the gesture meant, was it deliberate, and should it be allowed. It seems slightly disengenuous of Di Canio's agent, Matteo Roggi to suggest as he has that the photos of Di Canio are unrepresentative of his gesture, a trick of the camera as it were. In reality few people, including Di Canio, are uncertain of what the gesture was. It was the famous Roman salute. The question though is what was intended by it.

Speaking to his team mate Ousmane Dabo, who is as the papers put it "a Frenchman of colour", Di Canio explained that he had given a salute typical in ancient Rome to honour the emporors - and that it certainly wasn't an extremist gesture. Quicker than you could say 'hmm, he would say that though, wouldn't he', Alessandra Mussolini, a member of parliament, is promising to send him a thank you card for the beautiful gesture, which is as much associated with her Grandfather Benito Mussolini and Fascism as it's ever been with Julius Caesar. Di Canio has denied that it was a political gesture, pointedly responding to La Mussolini by her married name of Mrs. Floriani.

That's not to suggest that Di Canio, or indeed Lazio's fans, don't have a sentimental attachment to il Duce -Di Canio has DUX tattooed on his arm, and has stated clearly his fascination for the Italian Fascist leader. He belongs to the school of thought that suggests Mussolini was "basically a very principled, ethical individual" and "deeply misunderstood"[1].

So, why the reticence to admit the fascist salute on Di Canio's part? Well, to put it simply it becomes an illegal act if associated with Fascism, which is constitutionally forbidden. The police are investigating tapes of the match, and there is an investigation underway by the Football Federation. Lazio fans, the irriducibili are incensed, citing the gestures of players on the left wing (politically rather than technically) such as Cristiano Lucarelli of Livorno, who has been known to make the clenched fist gesture associated with the Partisan movement. It seems, as with loyalist marches in Ulster, there needs to be a parity of esteem between the two predominant traditions in Italy. The fans are threatening to take to the streets in protest if there is any disciplinary action - no idle threat with a support base of about 30,000.

This Monkey doesn't like Di Canio, or Lazio - partly out of bitterness because they beat Bologna 2-1, but also because the club's fans have consistently displayed ugly, fascist and racist(is there a difference?) attitudes[1]. The reality though is that it would be unfair to discipline Di Canio for the gesture. Unfair because there are plenty of more overt displays of fascism to deal with first.

Mussolini's tomb, in the foothills of Forli, is an open pilgrimage site for neo-nazis from all over Italy and Europe. There is a paramilitary guard and the display of fascist paraphenalia everywhere. Every year in April, on the anniversary of his death, coachloads of uniformed fascists arrvie to pay homage. In the town, and in tourists sites all around Italy you can buy fascist trinkets ranging from a Mussolini bust through to an Adolf Hitler bottle of vino.

If people are really serious about preventing open displays of fascism, that's the place to start.

[1]From Di Canio's Autobiography, as quoted by the Guardian
[2]UEFA last December censured Lazio for the racism of its fans. In a report by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia on Racism, Football and the Internet, Lazio's fan site gained specific mention for its racist content.

Latitude and the Law - the smoking ban comes into effect in Italy

And so, after much talk (it's been proposed on and off for years), Italy has followed Ireland's example and banned smoking in public places. As of today Italy's bars and restaurants, as well as workplaces, will be theoretically smoke free.

There's a certain sense of déjà vu for an Irish observer, with, as one might expect, no small amount of polemic about the ban - various organisations and spokespeople have predicted financial catastrophe for bars and restaurants. The law is slightly more flexible than that in Ireland, allowing for smoking rooms in establishments, provided that they have costly air filtering units installed. To date only 2% of Italy's bars and restaurants have the required systems.

Application of the law has been gentle enough so far, with the Corriere della Sera reporting that smokers in Milan were cautioned but not immediately fined. In some cities fines have been given out, but it appears, according to Health minister, Girolamo Sirchia, that there will be a brief period where the authorities will endeavour to "educate the 'rebel' smokers, without fines"[1]

There's talk of forcing a referendum on the law, from FIPE, the representative body of the bar and restaurant trade, primarily because the law as it stands will punish bar/restaurant owners who don't inform the authorities of smokers on their premises.
At the same time a new association, iofumo (I smoke) has been founded with the aim of getting the law repealed.

The hidden effects of the ban? First, according to the Corriere della Sera, there has been a run on liquorice across Italy, as smokers look to substitute their cravings. The second, again according to the Corriere, is that major pharmaceutical companies are set to blitz us with multi million euro campaigns for their various patches/gums/inhalers. Lastly, with what might yet have international ramifications, Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini is using the occasion to attempt to quit smoking.

The final word,as is fitting, goes to one of Italy's finest singers, Paolo Conte. In an intriguing interview with the gravel voiced Conte, singer of many a smoky tune, the reporter mentioned that a similar law exists in Finland though they have no fine there associated with the offense. Conte, who contrary to expectations is broadly supportive of the measure, scoffed at the idea of imposing the law without fines. "If there's a law that isn't accompanied by some sanction it'll be of little use - Conte said, sagely - at least in our latitude"[2].

[1]"La prima fase, al massimo due o tre mesi, servirà per monitorare la situazione. Punterà a educare i fumatori 'ribelli' evitando le multe" - La Repubblica 10/01/2005
[2]"Sono anche convinto che se una norma non è accompagnata dalla previsione di una sanzione abbia ben poca efficacia, almeno alle nostre latitudini" - La Repubblica 10/01/2005

La Bella Figura - a form of respect.

Berlusconi continues to blaze a trail in maverick thinking, inspiring awe and confusion in all he encounters.

In his end of year press conference he was asked about this year's "Lifting" episode and his much talked about hair transplant surgery. He smiled and replied "I like to see myself young, and it's a form of respect towards others".[1]

With this philosophical backing this Monkey will be taking to the streets of Bologna haranguing disrespectful pensioners for looking their age - after dyeing his own prematurely greying hair it should be added.

[1] "Mi Piace vedermi giovane, ed è una forma di rispetto verso gli altri" - La Repubblica 31/12/2004