RISERVATO Sezione 01 del 08 NAPOLI 000.038 STATO SIPDIS PREGA DI PASS ONDCP; Tesoro per EO OFAC 12.958: decl: 2018/06/06 TAGS: PGOV KCRM ECON Snar KCOR IT
OGGETTO: III criminalità organizzata: contrasto alla criminalità organizzata IN ITALIA MERIDIONALE REF: ( A) NAPOLI 36, (B) NAPOLI 37 (C) 07 118 NAPOLI NAPOLI 00.000.038 001.2 del 008 classificate per: PATRICK TRUHN J., Console Generale, NAPOLI AMCONGEN, STATO. MOTIVO: 1.4 (b), (d)
 ¶ 1. (C) Oggetto: Questo è il terzo di una serie in tre parti (vedi reftels AB per le parti I e II); questo messaggio offre una vista sul modo di combattere la criminalità organizzata in Italia. Il governo degli USA ha una partecipazione significativa nella lotta contro la criminalità organizzata in Italia. I sindacati del crimine italiano contribuire a sostenere gruppi terroristici in Colombia e in Asia centrale attraverso il traffico di droga; violare i diritti di proprietà intellettuale delle imprese americane e artisti; contrafforte della criminalità organizzata negli Stati Uniti; rischi potenziali per la salute pubblica a militari statunitensi e dipendenti di stanza nel sud Italia ; e indebolire un alleato importante. cooperazione delle forze dell'ordine ha portato a molti arresti importanti, soprattutto in Sicilia, ma potrebbe essere rafforzato. Tuttavia, la cattura dei criminali non basta. Le prove devono essere più rapidi e pene più severe. Il sequestro dei beni mob, non solo nel Sud Italia, ma nel Nord e in altri paesi, è un altro modo per colpire duramente a questi gruppi, e l'economia ha bisogno di offrire ai giovani un'alternativa onesta al crimine. Educazione e sensibilizzazione tra i politici, i cittadini e gli studenti medi sono elementi essenziali di qualsiasi strategia di successo contro la criminalità organizzata. La Chiesa cattolica italiana può svolgere un ruolo più importante, come un paio di coraggiosi chierici hanno dimostrato. Possiamo anche pubblicamente sostenere le strategie di base per favorire un rifiuto sociale della criminalità organizzata. Congen Napoli sostiene fortemente gli OFAC decisione di aggiungere la 'ndrangheta per la sua lista Drug Kingpin. Fine riassunto.
 ¶ 2. (C) I primi due cavi in questa serie in tre parti erano descrittivi, spiegando come la criminalità organizzata è la maggiore minaccia alla crescita economica nel Sud Italia. Questo messaggio è prescrittiva, proponendo un approccio multi-sfaccettato per combattere efficacemente la criminalità organizzata di più in Italia. In particolare, proponiamo considerazione dei seguenti tattiche come parte di un approccio multi-sfaccettato dal governo USA: - Pubblicamente acknowleding sia la portata del problema della criminalità organizzata e sostenere l'Italia di sottosegretario per gli sforzi italiani per combatterlo. - La commissione di maggiori risorse alla cooperazione di polizia con l'Italia. - Favorire una più stretta cooperazione tra forze dell'ordine italiane e controparti in altri paesi chiave. - Trasmettere al governo indiano del parere che ha troppo pochi magistrati anti-mafia in Calabria, ospita la più grande organizzazione criminale del paese. - Premendo il governo indiano per sradicare la corruzione nei suoi porti. - Cooperare più strettamente con l'Italia della Banca Centrale, e premendo in altri paesi (ad esempio, Svizzera, Liechtenstein, Principato di Monaco) a collaborare di più, al fine di reprimere il riciclaggio di denaro. - Lavorare con il governo indiano per migliorare un sistema giudiziario viziato. Se la criminalità organizzata è quello di essere messo sotto controllo, le frasi devono essere più severe, appelli limitato, e il processo giudiziario più efficiente. condannati con sentenza definitiva non può essere lasciato libero perché i giudici non abbia completato il lavoro di ufficio in tempo. - Condividere l'esperienza di governo USA sulle istituzioni penali. Uno dei maggiori problemi in Italia è la mancanza di carceri, il che significa che molti degli imputati non vengono mai arrestati e condannati molti vengono rilasciati molto prima di completare la loro pena. - Dare un sostegno più visibile per indefessi sforzi per combattere la criminalità organizzata (per esempio, gruppi siciliani che stanno conducendo una rivolta contro il pubblico a pagamento estorsione). NAPOLI 00000038 002,2 DI 008 - Aiutare sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica sugli effetti deleteri della criminalità organizzata e di come è stata trattata negli Stati Uniti. - Assicurandosi l'aiuto della Chiesa Cattolica Romana ad essere più esplicito contro la criminalità organizzata. - Incoraggiare il governo indiano e dell'UE di investire in infrastrutture, in particolare i miglioramenti alla sicurezza pubblica, nel sud Italia e nello stesso tempo di stringere la responsabilità di come questo denaro viene speso. Why We Should Care ------------------
 ¶ 3. (SBU) Il governo degli USA può e deve diventare più impegnati per diversi motivi fondamentali: - Il traffico di droga dalla plebaglia italiano invia denaro a narcotrafficanti (e quindi, indirettamente ai gruppi terroristici) in Colombia e in Afghanistan, che riguardano la sicurezza nazionale degli Stati Uniti. - Un FBI intelligenza valutazione 2005 ha riferito che "l'interazione penale tra criminalità organizzata italiana ei gruppi islamici estremisti offre potenziali terroristi con accesso al finanziamento e supporto logistico da parte di organizzazioni criminali con rotte di contrabbando stabiliti e una presenza radicata negli Stati Uniti". In una dichiarazione pubblica data del 19 aprile 2004, nazionale contro gli-mafia procuratore Italia, Pierluigi Vigna, ha indicato un legame tra gruppi militanti islamici e la camorra, affermando che le prove esistenti che coinvolgono la camorra in uno scambio di armi per i farmaci con gruppi terroristici islamici . - La contraffazione e la pirateria di prodotti fatti in America (in particolare film, musica e software) direttamente impatto economico interessi degli Stati Uniti. - I rapporti tra criminalità organizzata italiana e degli Stati Uniti rafforzano reciprocamente questi gruppi. I legami tra Cosa Nostra siciliana e la mafia statunitense risalgono quasi un secolo, ma la camorra e 'ndrangheta hanno anche affiliate negli Stati Uniti, secondo l'FBI. - Residenti Amcit (tra cui migliaia di personale della Marina Militare e delle loro famiglie in Campania e Sicilia) e turisti sono colpiti dalla criminalità di strada e, potenzialmente, dalla crisi rifiuti in Campania (che risultano in gran parte dal crimine organizzato - reftels vedere) e illegale tossici dumping nella regione. - Le imprese degli Stati Uniti che vorrebbero investire in Italia meridionale astenersi dal farlo a causa delle preoccupazioni circa la criminalità organizzata. - La criminalità organizzata indebolisce un alleato importante sul piano politico, economico e sociale. Perché l'applicazione della legge da sola non basta ------------------------------------
 ¶ 4 . (U) nei suoi sforzi per sconfiggere la criminalità organizzata, il Governo italiano ha avuto più successo in Puglia, dove la Sacra Corona Unita è stata in gran parte smantellato, e la Sicilia, dove un approccio multi-sfaccettato ha portato all'arresto di decine di Cosa Nostra boss, sequestri di beni importanti folla, e una crescente ribellione da imprenditori contro il racket di protezione. Le forze dell'ordine è stata una delle chiavi del progresso in Sicilia, dove le autorità giro di vite dopo il 1992 gli omicidi di mafia anti-mafia magistrati Giovanni Falcone e Paolo Borsellino. Intercettazioni, gli accordi di contrattazione motivo, il rafforzamento di un programma di protezione dei testimoni, e una maggiore NAPOLI 00000038 003,2 del 008 di sicurezza per i giudici ei pubblici ministeri hanno portato alla cattura di centinaia di mafiosi e collaboratori. La cattura del boss Totò Riina in alto nel 1993, Bernardo Provenzano nel 2006, e Salvatore Lo Piccolo, nel 2007 si è rivelato colpi significativi a un'organizzazione costruita su una gerarchia piramidale. Tuttavia, i successi forze dell'ordine non sono state l'unico fattore di progresso in Sicilia contro la criminalità organizzata. 'Cittadini siciliani sforzi per respingere la mafia sono finalmente ricevendo trazione. La Confederazione Industriali (Confindustria) ha iniziato a espellere i membri che hanno pagato il pizzo e non denunciato alla polizia. Almeno due anti-racket nuove ONG sono stati formati, uno da parte dei consumatori e uno per i proprietari di affari (più sotto). E anche la Chiesa, a lungo considerato complice per non aver rifiutato di presiedere sontuosi funerali mafia, ha visto un vescovo costretto a cercare la protezione della polizia per questo.
 ¶ 5. (C) La situazione è completamente differenti, in Campania e Calabria. Perché la camorra in Campania non è una organizzazione, ma una moltitudine di bande armate, non c'è un capo la cui cattura potrebbe causare un significativo colpo alla criminalità organizzata nella regione. La guerra sulla 'ndrangheta in Calabria è stato ancora più difficile. Con i membri sono assunti sulla base di legami familiari, la 'ndrangheta è praticamente insensibile alla polizia infiltrazione. "Ogni cellula è composta da persone che appartengono alla famiglia, ed è per questo non ci sono collaboratori di giustizia", secondo Nicola Gratteri, senior anti di-mafia procuratore Calabria, il quale aggiunge che solo il 42 voltagabbana sono venuti dalla 'ndrangheta, a fronte di 700 a 1.000 da Cosa Nostra e 2.000 alla camorra. Sarebbe difficile da duplicare completamente la strategia di Sicilia in Campania e Calabria, ma ciò che è chiaro è che, contando solo sugli arresti non è sufficiente. Come un altro procuratore anti-mafia, Catania-based Giuseppe Gennaro, ci ha detto, "Si può comprendere mafiosi, ma la maggior parte sono rilasciati entro cinque anni."
 ¶ 6. (C) Le forze dell'ordine solo, tuttavia, non può risolvere problemi di criminalità organizzata in Italia. è successo in Puglia smantellamento Santa Corona Unita è stata certamente facilitata dallo sviluppo economico che ha offerto ai suoi cittadini una alternativa onesta, è la principale economica storia di successo del sud Italia (Rif. C). Cosenza sociologia professore Giap Parini ci ha spiegato che qualsiasi strategia globale deve includere, economico e socio-culturale componenti politiche in aggiunta agli elementi di contrasto. Banco di Napoli Antonio Nucci ha detto il presidente del CG che "la polizia può bloccare tutte le persone che vogliono, ma non sarà sufficiente se il crimine è l'unico lavoro che paga".
 ¶ 7. (SBU) Un approccio multi-sfaccettato deve necessariamente includere componenti destinate a cambiare l'atteggiamento del pubblico nei confronti del crimine organizzato. Ivan Lo Bello, il presidente degli industriali siciliani Confederazione, ci ha detto nel dicembre 2007 che il primo passo è quello di rifiutare "la prospettiva fatalista che le cose non possono cambiare. Per sconfiggere la mafia, è la società hanno bisogno di metterci insieme. Sanzione da parte della società fa più male di sanzione da parte dello Stato. Ottenere un maggiore consenso è la soluzione, non portando l'esercito ". Con questo in mente, la prescrizione deve includere l'educazione e la sensibilizzazione e il sostegno alle organizzazioni di base che sono in piedi fino ai criminali. Approcci Law Enforcement --------------------------
 ¶ 8. (C) Come notato sopra, i successi di polizia sono stati una delle chiavi per il progresso della Sicilia. A febbraio 2008 USA-italiano pungiglione congiunta, chiamata "Operazione Old Bridge" ha portato agli arresti di oltre 80 indagati negli Stati Uniti e oltre 30 in Sicilia e tentativi di esposti da Cosa Nostra per ristabilire i legami con gli Gambino Family di New York che avrebbe aumentato il traffico di droga in Italia. Ironia della sorte, ci sono Napoli 00000038 004,2 del 008 molto più anti-mafia procuratori e magistrati in Sicilia e Campania che in Calabria, dove e pericolosa mafia, la piu 'ndrangheta, si basa la più grande. Il governo degli USA dovrebbe considerare: - una maggiore cooperazione con le autorità italiane (su ordine di "Old Bridge"), che impegna più risorse e condivisione di intelligence per combattere la camorra e la 'ndrangheta, si potrebbe anche promuovere una più stretta cooperazione molto tra autorità italiane e le loro controparti in Colombia, Albania, Bulgaria, Turchia, Nigeria, Afghanistan e altrove. Almeno due pubblici ministeri si sono lamentati con noi circa l'inefficacia delle autorità in Spagna per combattere il traffico di droga da parte italiana e spagnola gruppi di criminalità organizzata. (Commento: DEA, al contrario, ha trovato la Spagna sia un partner fondamentale nelle indagini internazionali di droga Fine. Il problema può essere una scarsa cooperazione, piuttosto che una mancanza di impegno o di competenza su entrambi i commenti. Laterale.) - La necessità per impressionare le autorità italiane che di gran lunga più risorse delle forze dell'ordine sono necessari in Calabria, tra cui drammaticamente aumento del numero di magistrati anti-mafia e pubblici ministeri. - Premendo autorità italiane a sradicare la corruzione in Italia i porti. Ci sono USG Container Security Initiative funzionari presenti alcune porte, ma sono concentrati sui contenitori destinati agli Stati Uniti. Dopo aver visto le misure di sicurezza presso il porto di Gioia Tauro Calabria (Rif. A), Congen Napoli ritiene che il segnalato in-flusso di sostanze stupefacenti non può essere fatto solo con l'aiuto e la complicità del personale corrotto. economica e strategie finanziarie ----------------------------------
 ¶ 9. (C) Anti-mafia procuratore Gennaro ritiene che il sequestro dei beni è un molto più importante arma di arresti. "Per sconfiggere la mafia, devi attaccare i loro profitti e gli investimenti", ci ha detto a Catania, in Sicilia nel gennaio 2008. Gennaro ha espresso frustrazione per la scoperta che molte banche in Italia non segnalare le operazioni sospette a Banca Centrale. E 'stato anche molto difficile per le autorità italiane per ottenere informazioni dalle autorità bancarie in Svizzera, Liechtenstein e Principato di Monaco, dove i membri della mafia mettere da parte i loro redditi in conti segreti. Nel febbraio 2008, la Guardia di Finanza in Sicilia i beni confiscati mafia con un valore stimato di circa 309.000.000 € (USD 487 milioni) - "un colpo durissimo", secondo l'allora ministro dell'Interno, Giuliano Amato, uno che potrebbe portare a "un crisi per l'intera organizzazione ". Purtroppo, confische di questo tipo fosse molto meno frequentemente in Campania e Calabria, e tanto meno nel nord Italia, dove gran parte del riciclaggio di denaro si svolge. Il governo degli USA dovrebbe considerare: - una più stretta collaborazione con l'Italia della Banca Centrale e la Guardia di Finanza, magari attraverso una maggiore condivisione delle informazioni e dei dati ricavati dalle indagini, per identificare le attività della criminalità organizzata e assicurare che siano congelati o confiscati. - Aggiunta di tutte e tre le italiane mob importante per l'Ufficio di Controllo di Attivi's Drug Kingpin lista degli Esteri. OFAC ha inserito la 'ndrangheta nella lista di primo livello, che potrebbe condurre a sanzioni alle imprese che fare con il frontale e le aziende organizzazione che riciclare il denaro sporco. La 'Ndrangheta è da tutti i conti di uno più grande traffico di droga in Europa gruppi occidentali, ma Cosa Nostra e la Camorra sono anche fortemente impegnata nel commercio di stupefacenti. - Rafforzare e ri-orientare i programmi esistenti, come il NAPOLI 00000038 005,2 del 008 partenariato per la crescita, per aumentare la crescita economica, che creerà più ben pagato alternative alla criminalità organizzata. Armi giudiziaria -----------------
 ¶ 10. (C) Nel febbraio 2008, il figlio del boss di Cosa Nostra Totò Riina è stato rilasciato dal carcere con una legge che libera coloro che sono stati detenuti per cinque anni senza un processo, e un pubblico ministero è stato recentemente infilzato dalla stampa per aver permesso molti casi Mafia alla scadenza (con conseguente rilascio dei sospetti). Napoli-based ex senatore Lorenzo Diana, esperto di criminalità organizzata, ritiene che il sistema giudiziario italiano ha bisogno velocemente processi e condanne più rigido. E Gratteri (il procuratore anti-mafia top in Calabria) sostiene che, al fine di abbattere la 'ndrangheta, la nuova legislazione è necessaria. "Non abbiamo leggi che sono proporzionali alla forza della 'ndrangheta," ci ha detto, facendo eco's Lament Gennaro che ben educati detenuti possono uscire dal carcere dopo cinque anni. "Vorrei ... [loro] di non essere rilasciato prima di 30 anni". Diana crede inoltre che il sistema che esegue i controlli di fondo su tali offerte per contratti con il governo non funziona. Purtroppo, i politici del paese non si concentrano su questi temi, come è stato chiaramente dalla campagna elettorale 2008 marzo-aprile in cui la criminalità organizzata è stato appena menzionato. Rafforzare l'efficienza del sistema giudiziario e la sua capacità di imporre pene più forte dovrebbe essere una priorità per la prossima legislatura. Inoltre, l'Italia deve migliorare e penale giudice civile per far rispettare i contratti commerciali, tutela dei consumatori, diritto penale, la salute e gli standard di sicurezza, i codici edilizi, e la qualità generale del ciclo di vita standard. Finché i sistemi giudiziari sono disfunzionali, sarà impossibile ridurre la criminalità organizzata a un livello gestibile.
 ¶ 11. (C) Si può anche prendere in considerazione la condivisione con gli Stati Uniti il governo indiano ha esperienza nella costruzione, gestione e la privatizzazione delle carceri. Uno dei problemi più gravi di fronte applicazione della legge italiana è la mancanza di carceri. Alla fine del 2007, secondo il Ministero della Giustizia, carceri italiane detenuti 113 detenuti ogni 100 posti letto. Nel 2006, il governo indiano ha concesso liberazione anticipata a diverse migliaia di detenuti, nel tentativo di alleviare il sovraffollamento, statistiche MOJ l'aliquota recividism da 31 per cento. Un colonnello dei Carabinieri una denuncia al CG nell'aprile del 2008 che la polizia sono frustrati dalla loro incapacità di mantenere o presunti mafiosi imputati in carcere a causa della mancanza di cellule. Il sostegno al cambiamento Grassroots ----------------------------
 ¶ 12. (C) Lo Bello, il presidente della Confindustria siciliana, ha preso il passo coraggioso nel settembre 2007 di istituire una politica (approvato con voto unanime) dei membri espulsione che hanno pagato il pizzo alla mafia e non denunciato alla polizia. Da quel momento, circa 35 membri è stato chiesto di lasciare la Confederazione. Questa mossa coraggiosa è stato elogiato dai proprietari di imprese, i media ei leader politici. Lo Bello ci ha detto nel gennaio 2008 che "È arrivato il momento [per la Sicilia] per spostarsi da un arcaico, passato feudale alla modernità." Quando ci siamo incontrati con loro a fine 2007, gli industriali calabresi erano molto più timidi, guardando oltre le spalle prima di dirci che non è il momento giusto per gli imprenditori a prendere una posizione pubblica contro l'estorsione lì. (Nel giugno 2006, uno dei fondatori del movimento anti-racket associazione Calabria, Fedele Scarcella, è stato brutalmente assassinato, il suo cadavere carbonizzato è stato scoperto nella sua auto bruciato in quanto autorità descritto come "molto probabilmente di un omicidio mafioso.") Ciò nonostante, il media riportato nel marzo 2008, i colloqui tra le due regioni 'le Confederazioni Industriali a collaborare contro il crimine organizzato. Lo Bello è stato citato come dichiarando: "Può sembrare semplice, ma quello che è successo è NAPOLI 00000038 006.2 del 008 ha cambiato il quadro di tutta la regione: l'idea che la lotta alla mafia non può essere delegata solo allo Stato, ma deve includono una assunzione di responsabilità da parte della società italiana del sud: questo caso, il mondo dell'imprenditoria. in " Sempre a marzo, la Confederazione Industriali di Caserta (Campania) ha preso i primi passi verso una politica simile, disegnando la lode dalla procura anti-mafia. Lo Bello spera di arruolare altre imprese e associazioni di categoria ad adottare regole analoghe. Purtroppo, la maggior parte titolari di aziende siciliane sono ancora riluttanti a lamentarsi di estorsione. Nel maggio del 2008, un importante uomo d'affari, Vincenzo Conticello, che ha rifiutato di pagare il pizzo per il suo ristorante focaccia Palermo, ha detto al CG che aveva sentito (probabilmente dalla sua scorta di polizia) che 170 imprese di nome nei libri contabili di mafia arrestati boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, solo tre sono di proprietà fino ad esso, mentre gli altri sostengono i conti sono in errore.
 ¶ 13. (SBU) le imprese siciliane, incoraggiato dagli arresti di boss mafiosi in alto, sono apertamente sfidando la mafia con la firma su una organizzazione di base denominato "Addiopizzo" (Goodbye "Pizzo", la parola italiana per i pagamenti estorsione), che riunisce le imprese Palermo che resistono estorsione. La campagna è stata lanciata nel 2004 da un gruppo di giovani pensando di aprire un pub. Hanno cominciato da intonaco Palermo con volantini anti-pizzo, leggendo "Un intero popolo che paga il pizzo è un popolo senza dignità", e alla fine hanno portato i loro campagna online dove è colpito una corda con i siciliani stufi di bullismo mafia. La ribellione si è poi diffusa a roccaforti dei clan più spietati della mafia, tra cui luoghi come Gela, una città costiera industriale, dove circa 80 titolari di aziende negli ultimi mesi hanno denunciato tentativi di estorsione. Questa è una svolta drammatica fin dai primi anni del 1990, quando un commerciante di Gela che ha denunciato l'estorsione è stato ucciso dalla mafia, e un rivenditore di auto di Gela, il cui showroom è stato più volte bruciato, dovuto spostare la sua famiglia e cambia il suo nome, dopo aver testimoniato in tribunale. "Addiopizzo" ha recentemente lanciato una vendita di prodotti da supermercato certificata come "pizzo" libera, e mantiene un elenco pubblico su internet delle imprese di rigetto estorsione. Un'altra ONG è stato lanciato nel novembre scorso da quaranta imprenditori siciliani per assistere gli imprenditori che rifiutano di pagare il denaro dell'estorsione. Il gruppo si chiama "Libero Futuro", che traduce "Free Future", ma rende anche omaggio a Libero Grassi, imprenditore siciliano che è stato assassinato nel 1991 per essersi rifiutato di pagare il pizzo. In risposta alla organizzazione della fondazione, Palermo sindaco Diego Cammarata ha promesso 50.000 € per aiutare i commercianti che sono stati vittime di estorsione. "Questa ribellione va al cuore della mafia", dice procuratore di Palermo Maurizio De Lucia, che ha studiato i casi di estorsione per anni. "Se funziona, avremo un grande vantaggio nella lotta contro la mafia".
 ¶ 14. (SBU) Per le autorità combattono la 'ndrangheta, un alleato di benvenuto è stato "Ammazzateci Tutti", ("Kill Us All") formato tre anni fa da giovani fino alimentato in seguito all'assassinio folla di Vice Presidente regionale Calabria Fortugno . In una intervista recente notizia, Bruno Marino, uno studente il cui padre è stato ucciso dalla 'ndrangheta, ha paragonato la' ndrangheta a "una piovra che cerca di controllare tutto e di uccidere tutti i pesci". Fin dalla sua fondazione, Ammazzateci Tutti ha organizzato manifestazioni volte a regolare la pressione dello Stato italiano a prendere misure contro la 'Ndrangheta. Nel febbraio 2007, una manifestazione di protesta a Reggio Calabria ha attirato migliaia nelle strade. Più tardi nel corso dell'anno, il gruppo ha organizzato proteste contro regolare in attesa di trasferire il governo di Luigi De Magistris, il procuratore anti-mafia indagando i legami tra i politici e la 'ndrangheta. "Ammazzateci Tutti è un messaggio che esprime sia la speranza e la sfida alla 'ndrangheta, dicendo:' Vedi se abbastanza hanno portato a uccidere tutti noi '", secondo Aldo Pecora, uno studente di legge e portavoce del gruppo. "E 'anche una sfida per le persone normali a ribellarsi contro il Napoli 00000038 007,2 del 008' Ndrangheta". Questi gruppi stanno avendo un impatto, ma rimangono le organizzazioni alle prime armi con l'appoggio ufficiale poco. Il governo degli USA può fornire un sostegno pubblico a questi gruppi (un utente di Addiopizzo, ad esempio, è stato selezionato per il Dipartimento di Stato International Visitor programma.) Educazione e Sensibilizzazione dell'opinione pubblica ----------------- -------------
 ¶ 15. (SBU) Molti dei nostri interlocutori ritengono che la soluzione a lungo termine con la criminalità organizzata è l'istruzione. Ciò significa rompere la cultura dilagante della criminalità organizzata che controlla le società attraverso il potere e la paura. Ciò significa distruggere l'immagine glamour che i giovani hanno di boss mafiosi e più apertamente e direttamente a sostegno coloro che sfidano la mafia. Significa ottenere ai consumatori di rendersi conto che i prezzi di una bottiglia di olio d'oliva, un vasetto di salsa di pomodoro, una bottiglia di vino - le graffette di vita italiana - sono stati gonfiati dalla criminalità organizzata, o che i prodotti stessi sono stati adulterato dalle stesse fonti. Significa anche rompere la cultura dell'illegalità che è così dilagante nel Sud Italia, ma anche sentito nazionale, cioè il palese disprezzo della legge da parte dei cittadini media e la mancanza di un senso di responsabilità civica. Napoli, Lepore procuratore capo GianDomenico ha detto al CG - mentre accende il sigaro in un ufficio non fumatori per sottolineare il suo punto - che i napoletani hanno qualcosa "nel loro DNA" che li induce a reagire a qualsiasi legge, rompendola. Carabinieri Campania generale Franco Mottola ha detto il CG che la camorra sfrutta una generale atmosfera di delinquenza a Napoli. Egli ha suggerito il cambiamento necessario per avviare nelle scuole, ma ha aggiunto che la formazione degli insegnanti prima sarebbe necessario ("non può insegnare quello che non so"). Potremmo forse incoraggiare il governo italiano a fare sforzi per raggiungere una maggiore nei quartieri poveri, e di offrire alternative ad una vita di reato per i giovani. Vi è una mancanza evidente di una presenza della polizia visibile in tutta Napoli, e ci sono stati innumerevoli casi di napoletani proteggere i criminali da polizia che cercava di fermare loro.
 ¶ 16. (U) Invece di mafioso, coloro che combattono bisogno di loro per essere considerati come i modelli di ruolo effettivo. Roberto Saviano, il cui libro "Gomorra" è stato un best-seller internazionale nel 2007, potrebbe essere sulla buona strada. Appare regolarmente nella stampa e media radiotelevisivi non solo come un'autorità nel campo della mafia, ma soprattutto come una bussola morale per coloro che sono disposti ad ascoltare. La versione del film, uscito nel maggio 2008, avrà probabilmente un impatto ancora maggiore, dato che sottolinea l'influenza della camorra in rifiuti tossici e la giovane hip attori caratteristiche e un punteggio da musicisti popolari. Il libro di Saviano e del film (di cui ha scritto la sceneggiatura) sono anche le chiavi per convincere gli italiani che la criminalità organizzata non è solo un problema meridionale, ma un problema italiano. Alla domanda su come il governo degli USA potrebbe meglio contribuire alla lotta contro la criminalità organizzata al di là di cooperazione di polizia, Saviano ha detto il baricentro nel mese di aprile 2008, "Just a parlarne, vi darà la questione una credibilità che il resto del mondo, tra cui gli italiani, non può ignorare ". Il ruolo della Chiesa -----------------------
SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS TO ONDCP; TREASURY FOR OFAC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/6/2018
TAGS: PGOV KCRM ECON SNAR KCOR IT
SUBJECT: ORGANIZED CRIME III: CONFRONTING ORGANIZED CRIME IN
SOUTHERN ITALY
REF: (A) NAPLES 36, (B) NAPLES 37 (C) 07 NAPLES 118
NAPLES 00000038 001.2 OF 008
CLASSIFIED BY: J. PATRICK TRUHN, CONSUL GENERAL, AMCONGEN
NAPLES, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
¶1. (C) Summary: This is the third of a three-part series (see
reftels A-B for parts I and II); this message offers views on
how to combat organized crime in Italy. The USG has a
significant stake in the fight against organized crime in Italy.
The Italian crime syndicates help support terrorist groups in
Colombia and Central Asia through drug trafficking; violate the
intellectual property rights of American businesses and artists;
buttress organized crime in the United States; pose potential
public health risks to U.S. military and dependents stationed in
southern Italy; and weaken an important ally. Law enforcement
cooperation has led to many important arrests, particularly in
Sicily, but could be strengthened. However, the apprehension of
criminals is not enough. Trials need to be swifter and
sentences tougher. The seizure of mob assets, not only in
Southern Italy but in the North and in other countries, is
another way to hit hard at these groups, and the economy needs
to offer young people an honest alternative to crime. Education
and awareness-raising among politicians, average citizens and
students are essential elements to any successful strategy
against organized crime. The Italian Catholic Church can also
play a more prominent role, as a couple of brave clerics have
demonstrated. We can also publicly support grassroots
strategies to foster a societal rejection of organized crime.
ConGen Naples strongly supports OFAC's decision to add the
'Ndrangheta to its Drug Kingpin list. End summary.
¶2. (C) The first two cables in this three-part series were
descriptive, explaining how organized crime is the greatest
threat to economic growth in Southern Italy. This message is
prescriptive, proposing a multi-faceted approach to more
effectively combat organized crime in Italy. Specifically, we
propose consideration of the following tactics as part of a
multi-faceted approach by the USG:
-- Publicly acknowleding both the scope of Italy's organized
crime problem and USG support for Italian efforts to combat it.
-- The committing of greater resources to law enforcement
cooperation with Italy.
-- Fostering closer cooperation between Italian law enforcement
officials and counterparts in other key countries.
-- Conveying to the GOI the view that it has far too few
anti-Mafia magistrates in Calabria, home to the country's
largest criminal organization.
-- Pressing the GOI to root out corruption at its ports.
-- Cooperating more closely with Italy's Central Bank, and
pressing other countries (e.g., Switzerland, Liechtenstein,
Monaco) to cooperate more, in order to crack down on money
laundering.
-- Working with the GOI to improve a flawed judicial system. If
organized crime is to be brought under control, sentences must
be tougher, appeals limited, and the judicial process made more
efficient. Convicted prisoners cannot be set free because
judges failed to complete paperwork on time.
-- Sharing the USG experience on penal institutions. One of
Italy's biggest problems is a lack of prisons, which means many
of the accused are never jailed and many convicts are released
far in advance of completing their sentences.
-- Giving more visible support for grassroots efforts to fight
organized crime (e.g., groups in Sicily that are leading a
public rebellion against paying extortion).
NAPLES 00000038 002.2 OF 008
-- Helping raise public awareness about the deleterious effects
of organized crime and how it has been dealt with in the United
States.
-- Enlisting the assistance of the Roman Catholic Church to be
more outspoken against organized crime.
-- Encouraging the GOI and EU to invest in infrastructure,
particularly improvements to public security, in southern Italy
and at the same time to tighten accountability for how this
money is spent.
Why We Should Care
------------------
¶3. (SBU) The USG can and should become more engaged for several
key reasons:
-- Drug trafficking by Italian mobs sends money to
narcotraffickers (and thus indirectly to terrorist groups) in
Colombia and Afghanistan, affecting U.S. national security.
-- A 2005 FBI intelligence assessment reported that "Criminal
interaction between Italian organized crime and Islamic
extremist groups provides potential terrorists with access to
funding and logistical support from criminal organizations with
established smuggling routes and an entrenched presence in the
United States." In a public statement given on April 19, 2004,
Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, Pierluigi Vigna,
indicated a link between Islamic militant groups and the
Camorra, stating that evidence existed implicating the Camorra
in an exchange of weapons for drugs with Islamic terrorist
groups.
-- Counterfeiting and piracy of American-made products
(particularly movies, music and software) directly impact U.S.
economic interests.
-- Ties between Italian and U.S. organized crime mutually
reinforce these groups. The links between the Sicilian Cosa
Nostra and the U.S. Mafia go back nearly a century, but the
Camorra and 'Ndrangheta also have affiliates in the United
States, according to the FBI.
-- Amcit residents (including thousands of Navy personnel and
their families in Campania and Sicily) and tourists are affected
by street crime and potentially by the Campania waste crisis
(which result in large part from organized crime -- see reftels)
and illegal toxic dumping in the region.
-- U.S. businesses that would like to invest in Southern Italy
refrain from doing so because of concerns about organized crime.
-- Organized crime weakens an important ally politically,
economically and socially.
Why Law Enforcement Alone is Not Enough
----------------------------------------
¶4. (U) In its efforts to defeat organized crime, the Italian
government has been most successful in Apulia, where the Sacra
Corona Unita has been mostly dismantled, and Sicily, where a
multi-faceted approach has led to the arrests of dozens of Cosa
Nostra bosses, important seizures of mob assets, and a growing
rebellion by business owners against the protection racket. Law
enforcement has been one of the keys to progress in Sicily,
where authorities cracked down following the 1992 mob
assassinations of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and
Paolo Borsellino. Wiretapping, plea-bargaining agreements, the
strengthening of a witness protection program, and greater
NAPLES 00000038 003.2 OF 008
security for judges and prosecutors have resulted in the
apprehension of hundreds of Mafia members and associates. The
captures of top bosses Toto Riina in 1993, Bernardo Provenzano
in 2006, and Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007 proved to be
significant blows to an organization built on a pyramidal
hierarchy. However, law enforcement successes have not been the
only factor in Sicily's progress against organized crime.
Sicilian citizens' efforts to reject the Mafia are finally
getting traction. The Industrialists Confederation
(Confindustria) has started expelling members who have paid
protection money and not complained to police. At least two new
anti-racket NGOs have been formed, one by consumers and one by
business owners (more below). And even the Church, long
considered complicit for not refusing to preside at lavish Mafia
funerals, has seen a bishop forced to seek police protection for
just that.
¶5. (C) The situation is starkly different in Campania and
Calabria. Because the Camorra in Campania is not one
organization, but a multitude of armed gangs, there is no one
boss whose capture could cause a significant blow to organized
crime in the region. The war on the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria has
been even more difficult. With members recruited on the basis
of family ties, the 'Ndrangheta is virtually impervious to
police infiltration. "Every cell is composed of people who
belong to family, and this is why there are no justice
collaborators," according to Nicola Gratteri, Calabria's senior
anti-Mafia prosecutor, who adds that only 42 turncoats have come
from the 'Ndrangheta, compared with 700 to 1,000 from the Cosa
Nostra and 2,000 from the Camorra. It would be difficult to
completely duplicate the Sicilian strategy in Campania and
Calabria, but what is clear is that relying merely on arrests is
not enough. As another anti-Mafia prosecutor, Catania-based
Giuseppe Gennaro, told us, "You can apprehend mobsters, but most
are released within five years."
¶6. (C) Law enforcement alone, however, cannot solve Italy's
organized crime problem. Apulia's success in dismantling Santa
Corona Unita was certainly facilitated by economic development
which offered its citizens an honest alternative; it is southern
Italy's principal economic success story (ref C). Cosenza
sociology professor Giap Parini explained to us that any overall
strategy must include political, economic, and socio-cultural
components in addition to law enforcement elements. Banco di
Napoli President Antonio Nucci told the CG that "the police can
lock up all the people they want, but it won't be enough if
crime is the only job that pays."
¶7. (SBU) A multi-faceted approach must necessarily include
components designed to change public attitudes towards organized
crime. Ivan Lo Bello, the President of the Sicilian
Industrialists Confederation, told us in December 2007 that the
first step is to "reject the fatalist perspective that things
cannot change. To defeat the Mafia, you need society to band
together. Sanction by society hurts more than sanction by the
state. Gaining greater consensus is the solution, not bringing
in the army." With this in mind, the prescription must include
education and awareness-raising, and support for grassroots
organizations that are standing up to the criminals.
Law Enforcement Approaches
--------------------------
¶8. (C) As noted above, law enforcement successes have been one
of the keys to the progress in Sicily. A February 2008 joint
U.S.-Italian sting, called "Operation Old Bridge," resulted in
the arrests of over 80 suspects in the United States and over 30
in Sicily, and exposed attempts by the Cosa Nostra to
reestablish ties with New York's Gambino family that would have
increased drug trafficking to Italy. Ironically, there are
NAPLES 00000038 004.2 OF 008
significantly more anti-Mafia prosecutors and magistrates in
Sicily and Campania than in Calabria, where the largest and most
dangerous mob, the 'Ndrangheta, is based. The USG should
consider:
-- Greater cooperation with Italian authorities (on the order of
"Old Bridge"), committing more resources and
intelligence-sharing to fighting the Camorra and the
'Ndrangheta; we could also foster much closer cooperation
between Italian authorities and their counterparts in Colombia,
Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Nigeria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
At least two prosecutors have complained to us about the
ineffectiveness of authorities in Spain to combat drug
trafficking by Italian and Spanish organized crime groups.
(Comment: DEA, by contrast, has found Spain to be an
outstanding partner in international drug investigations. The
issue may be one of poor cooperation, rather than any lack of
dedication or competence on either side. End comment.)
-- The need to impress on Italian authorities that far more law
enforcement resources are needed in Calabria, including
dramatically increased numbers of anti-Mafia judges and
prosecutors.
-- Pressing Italian authorities to root out corruption at
Italy's ports. There are USG Container Security Initiative
officials present at some ports, but they are focused on
containers destined for the United States. Having seen the
tight security at Calabria's Gioia Tauro port (ref A), ConGen
Naples believes that the reported in-flow of narcotics there can
only be done with the assistance and complicity of corrupt
personnel.
Financial and Economic Strategies
----------------------------------
¶9. (C) Anti-Mafia prosecutor Gennaro believes that seizure of
assets is a much more important weapon than arrests. "To defeat
the Mafia, you have to attack their profits and investments," he
told us in Catania, Sicily in January 2008. Gennaro expressed
frustration over the discovery that many banks in Italy do not
report suspicious transactions to the Central Bank. It has also
been very difficult for Italian authorities to obtain
information from banking authorities in Switzerland,
Liechtenstein and Monaco, where Mafia members stash away their
earnings in secret accounts. In February 2008, the Treasury
Police in Sicily confiscated mob assets with an estimated worth
of nearly 309 million euros (USD 487 million) -- "a tremendous
blow," according to then-Interior Minister Giuliano Amato, one
that could lead to "a crisis for the entire organization."
Unfortunately, confiscations of this sort happen much less
frequently in Campania and Calabria, let alone in northern
Italy, where much of the money laundering takes place. The USG
should consider:
-- Working more closely with Italy's Central Bank and Fiscal
Police, perhaps via greater sharing of intelligence and
information obtained from investigations, to identify organized
crime assets and ensure that they are frozen or confiscated.
-- Adding all three major Italian mobs to the Office of Foreign
Assets Control's Drug Kingpin list. OFAC has included the
'Ndrangheta on the Tier One list, which could eventually lead to
sanctions on companies dealing with the organization and front
companies that launder money. The 'Ndrangheta is by all
accounts one of Western Europe's biggest drug trafficking
groups, but the Cosa Nostra and Camorra are also heavily engaged
in the narcotics trade.
-- Reinforcing and re-orienting existing programs such as the
NAPLES 00000038 005.2 OF 008
Partnership for Growth, to increase economic growth, which will
create more well-paying alternatives to organized crime.
Judicial Weapons
-----------------
¶10. (C) In February 2008, the son of Cosa Nostra boss Toto
Riina was released from jail under a law that frees those who
have been held for five years without a trial, and a prosecutor
was recently skewered by the press for allowing several Mafia
cases to expire (resulting in the release of suspects).
Naples-based former Senator Lorenzo Diana, an organized crime
expert, believes that the Italian justice system needs quicker
trials and stiffer sentences. And Gratteri (the top anti-Mafia
prosecutor in Calabria) contends that, in order to bring down
the 'Ndrangheta, new legislation is needed. "We have no laws
that are proportional to the force of the 'Ndrangheta," he told
us, echoing Gennaro's lament that well-behaved convicts can
leave prison after five years. "I would like ... [them] not to
be released before 30 years." Diana also believes the system
that conducts background checks on those bidding on government
contracts is not working. Unfortunately, the country's
politicians are not focused on these issues, as was clear from
the March-April 2008 election campaign in which organized crime
was barely mentioned. Strengthening the efficiency of the
judiciary and its ability to impose stronger sentences should be
a priority for the next parliament. Furthermore, Italy must
improve civil and criminal courts to enforce commercial
contracts, consumer protections, criminal law, health and safety
standards, building codes, and general quality-of-life
standards. As long as the court systems are dysfunctional, it
will be impossible to reduce organized crime to a manageable
level.
¶11. (C) We may also want to consider sharing with the GOI the
U.S. experience in construction, management and privatization of
prisons. One of the most serious issues facing Italian law
enforcement is the lack of prisons. At the end of 2007,
according to the Justice Ministry, Italian jails held 113
inmates for every 100 beds. In 2006, the GOI granted early
release to several thousand convicts in an effort to alleviate
the overcrowding; MOJ statistics show the recividism rate to be
31 percent. A Carabinieri colonel complained to the CG in April
2008 that police are frustrated by their inability to keep
accused or suspected mobsters in jail because of the lack of
cells.
Support for Grassroots Change
----------------------------
¶12. (C) Lo Bello, the President of the Sicilian Confindustria,
took the bold step in September 2007 of instituting a policy
(adopted by unanimous vote) of expelling members who have paid
protection money to the Mafia and not complained to police.
Since that time, around 35 members have been asked to leave the
Confederation. This courageous move has been praised by
business owners, the media and political leaders. Lo Bello told
us in January 2008 that "The time has come [for Sicily] to move
from an archaic, feudal past to modernity." When we met with
them in late 2007, the Calabrian Industrialists were much more
timid, looking over their backs before telling us that the time
is not right for business owners to take a public stand against
extortion there. (In June 2006, one of the founders of the
Calabria anti-racket association, Fedele Scarcella, was brutally
assassinated; his charred corpse was discovered in his burned
car in what authorities described as "very probably a Mafia
homicide.") Nonetheless, the media reported in March 2008 on
talks between the two regions' Industrialists Confederations on
collaborating against organized crime. Lo Bello was quoted as
declaring, "It may seem simple, but what has happened has
NAPLES 00000038 006.2 OF 008
changed the framework of the entire region: the idea that the
fight against the Mafia cannot be delegated only to the State,
but needs to include an assumption of responsibility on the part
of Southern Italian society: in this case, the world of
entrepreneurship." Also in March, the Industrialists
Confederation in Caserta (Campania) took initial steps toward a
similar policy, drawing praise from the anti-Mafia prosecutor.
Lo Bello hopes to enlist other business and trade associations
to adopt similar rules. Unfortunately, most Sicilian business
owners are still unwilling to complain about extortion. In May
2008, a prominent businessman, Vincenzo Conticello, who has
refused to pay protection money for his Palermo focaccia
restaurant, told the CG that he had heard (probably from his
police escort) that of 170 companies named in the accounting
books of apprehended Mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, only three
have owned up to it, while the others claim the accounts are in
error.
¶13. (SBU) Sicilian businesses, emboldened by the arrests of top
Mafia bosses, are openly defying the Mafia by signing on with a
grassroots organization called "Addiopizzo" (Goodbye "Pizzo,"
the Italian word for extortion payments), which brings together
businesses in Palermo that are resisting extortion. The
campaign was launched in 2004 by a group of youths thinking of
opening a pub. They started off by plastering Palermo with
anti-pizzo fliers, reading "AN ENTIRE PEOPLE THAT PAYS THE PIZZO
IS A PEOPLE WITHOUT DIGNITY," and eventually brought their
campaign online where it struck a chord with Sicilians fed up
with Mafia bullying. The rebellion has since spread to other
strongholds of the most ruthless Mafia clans, including places
such as Gela, an industrial coastal town, where some 80 business
owners in recent months have denounced extortion attempts. This
is a dramatic turn since the early 1990's, when a Gela merchant
who denounced extortion was slain by the Mafia, and a Gela car
dealer, whose showroom was repeatedly torched, had to move his
family and change his name after he testified in court.
"Addiopizzo" has recently launched a supermarket selling
products certified as being "pizzo" free, and maintains a public
list on the internet of businesses rejecting extortion. Another
NGO was launched last November by forty Sicilian business owners
to assist entrepreneurs who refuse to pay extortion money. The
group is called "Libero Futuro," which translates "Free Future,"
but also pays homage to Libero Grassi, a Sicilian businessman
who was murdered in 1991 for refusing to pay protection money.
In response to the organization's founding, Palermo mayor Diego
Cammarata promised 50,000 euros to assist merchants who have
been victims of extortion. "This rebellion goes to the heart
of the Mafia," says Palermo prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia, who
has investigated extortion cases for years. "If it works, we
will have a great advantage in the fight against the Mafia."
¶14. (SBU) For authorities battling the 'Ndrangheta, a welcome
ally has been "Ammazzateci Tutti," ("Kill Us All") formed three
years ago by fed-up young people in the wake of the mob
assassination of Calabria regional Vice President Fortugno. In
a recent news interview, Bruno Marino, a student whose father
was killed by the 'Ndrangheta, likened the 'Ndrangheta to "an
octopus that tries to control everything and to kill all of the
fish." Since its founding, Ammazzateci Tutti has held regular
demonstrations designed to pressure the Italian state into
taking action against the 'Ndrangheta. In February 2007, a
protest in Reggio Calabria drew thousands into the streets.
Later in the year, the group staged regular protests against the
government's pending transfer of Luigi De Magistris, an
anti-Mafia prosecutor investigating links between politicians
and the 'Ndrangheta. "Ammazzateci Tutti is a message that
expresses both hope and challenge to the 'Ndrangheta, saying,
'See if you have enough lead to kill us all,' " according to
Aldo Pecora, a law student and spokesman for the group. "It is
also a challenge to normal people to rebel against the the
NAPLES 00000038 007.2 OF 008
'Ndrangheta." These groups are having an impact, but they
remain fledgling organizations with little official backing.
The USG can lend public support to these groups (a member of
Addiopizzo, for example, was selected for the State Department's
International Visitor program.)
Education and Public Awareness
------------------------------
¶15. (SBU) Many of our interlocutors believe that the long-term
solution to organized crime is education. This means breaking
the pervasive culture of organized crime which controls
societies through power and fear. It means destroying the
glamorous image that young people have of Mafia bosses and more
openly and directly supporting those who defy the Mafia. It
means getting consumers to realize that the prices of a bottle
of olive oil, a jar of tomato sauce, a bottle of wine -- the
staples of Italian life -- have been inflated by organized
crime, or that the products themselves have been adulterated by
the same sources. It also means breaking the culture of
illegality that is so rampant in Southern Italy but also felt
countrywide; that is, the blatant disregard for the law by
average citizens and the lack of a sense of civic
responsibility. Naples Chief Prosecutor GianDomenico Lepore
told the CG -- while lighting a cigar in a no-smoking office to
underscore his point -- that Neapolitans have something "in
their DNA" that causes them to react to any law by breaking it.
Campania Carabinieri General Franco Mottola told the CG that the
Camorra exploits a general atmosphere of delinquency in Naples.
He suggested the change needed to start in the schools, but
added that first teacher training would be required ("they can't
teach what they don't know"). We could perhaps encourage the
Italian government to make greater outreach efforts in poor
neighborhoods, and to offer alternatives to a life of crime for
young people. There is a conspicuous lack of a visible police
presence throughout Naples, and there have been countless cases
of Neapolitans protecting criminals from police trying to
apprehend them.
¶16. (U) Instead of Mafia dons, those fighting them need to be
regarded as the real role models. Roberto Saviano, whose book
"Gomorrah" was an international best-seller in 2007, may be well
on his way. He appears regularly in print and broadcast media
as not just an authority on the mob, but more importantly as a
moral compass for those willing to listen. The film version,
released in May 2008, will probably have an even bigger impact,
as it underscores the Camorra's influence in toxic waste dumping
and features hip young actors and a score by popular musicians.
Saviano's book and the film (for which he wrote the screenplay)
are also keys to convincing Italians that organized crime is not
just a southern problem, but an Italian problem. When asked how
the USG could best assist in the fight against organized crime
beyond law enforcement cooperation, Saviano told the CG in April
2008, "Just talking about it, you give the issue a credibility
that the rest of the world, including the Italians, cannot
ignore."
The Role of the Church
-----------------------
¶17. (C) The Italian Catholic Church has often come under fire
for not taking a stronger public stance against organized crime.
One of the few priests who have, Father Luigi Merola, is now
under police escort after working against the Camorra in the
poor Naples neighborhood of Forcella. In February 2008, he
inaugurated a foundation for at-risk youth in the confiscated
villa of a former Camorra boss. ConGen Naples and local U.S.
Navy personnel are lending their support to the foundation by
volunteering to teach English, build sports facilities and coach
the kids who participate in the foundation's programs, which are
NAPLES 00000038 008.2 OF 008
designed to offer the kids an alternative to crime. Another
Church official, Bishop Michele Pennisi of Piazza Armerina in
Sicily, is also under police escort after refusing to preside
over funerals of mafiosi. We may want to consider seeking
greater Church cooperation against organized crime, perhaps
through channels at the Holy See or with Italian Church leaders.
"Heal the Periphery" - Improve Infrastructure
--------------------------------------------- -
¶18. (SBU) The GOI and European Union should be encouraged to
review the way public money is invested in Southern Italy. As
noted in ref B, infrastructure contracts often wind up going to
mob-owned businesses, who steal millions while building
sub-standard roads, tunnels, bridges and public housing.
Instead, recommends Naples-based former Senator Diana, "Heal the
periphery. Take ten places and invest 100 - 200 million euros
in them." He says that money could be spent building parks and
improving security (e.g., with lighting and video cameras),
creating conditions unfavorable to organized crime.
¶19. (C) Comment: Although law enforcement, business
associations, citizens' groups, and the church, at least in some
locations, are demonstrating promising engagement in fighting
organized crime, the same cannot be said of Italy's politicians,
particularly at the national level. As Roberto Saviano has
reminded us, the subject was virtually absent from the
March-April election campaign. At the national level it is
generally referred to, if at all, as a "southern" issue,
although it affects the entire country and although the South's
criminal organizations have made worrying advances in the North.
Even in Sicily, where regional elections were precipitated by
former governor Cuffaro's conviction for Mafia-related crimes,
discussion of crime was not a major part of the campaign (and
Cuffaro was elected to the Senate). We should work to convey to
Italy's new government that organized crime is a serious USG
priority, and that the dramatic economic costs of organized
crime present a convincing argument for immediate action.
However, we should not limit our support for Italy's organized
crime efforts to private conversations; on the contrary, our
public advocacy for the efforts of Confindustria, Addiopizzo,
Church clerics, and others will give them both greater
visibility and enhanced credibility, just as many Italians
ignored the impressive innovations of their own research
institutions before the Mission's Partnership for Growth program
began to champion them. End comment.
¶20. (U) This three-part cable series was coordinated with and
cleared by relevant agencies and sections in Embassies Rome and
Vatican.
TRUHN
 ¶ 17. (C) La Chiesa cattolica italiana si è spesso sotto accusa per non prendere una posizione pubblica più forte contro la criminalità organizzata. Uno dei pochi sacerdoti che hanno, don Luigi Merola, è ora sotto scorta della polizia, dopo aver lavorato contro la camorra nel quartiere povero di Napoli, Forcella. Nel febbraio 2008, ha inaugurato una fondazione per giovani a rischio nella villa confiscata di un ex boss della camorra. Congen Napoli e locali degli Stati Uniti personale della Marina Militare di aver dato sostegno alla Fondazione per il volontariato per insegnare l'inglese, la costruzione di impianti sportivi e pullman i ragazzi che partecipano ai programmi della Fondazione, dei quali sono NAPOLI 00000038 008,2 del 008 progettato per offrire ai ragazzi un'alternativa alla criminalità . Un altro funzionario della Chiesa, il vescovo Michele Pennisi di Piazza Armerina in Sicilia, è anche sotto scorta della polizia dopo essersi rifiutato di presiedere funerali di mafiosi. Possiamo prendere in considerazione la ricerca di una maggiore cooperazione Chiesa contro la criminalità organizzata, magari attraverso i canali presso la Santa Sede o con i dirigenti della Chiesa italiana. "Guarire la periferia" - Migliorare le infrastrutture ------------------------------------------ --- -
 ¶ 18. (SBU) Il governo indiano e Unione europea dovrebbero essere incoraggiati a rivedere il modo in cui è investito il denaro pubblico nel Sud Italia. Come osservato in rif B, i contratti di infrastrutture spesso il vento per andare a imprese di proprietà di folla, che rubano milioni mentre il sub-standard di costruzione di strade, tunnel, ponti e case popolari. Invece, consiglia di Napoli-based Diana ex senatore, "Heal the periferia -. Prendere dieci posti e di investire 100 milioni di euro di loro. 200" Egli dice che il denaro potrebbe essere speso parchi costruire e migliorare la sicurezza (ad esempio, con macchine fotografiche e video di illuminazione), creando le condizioni sfavorevoli per la criminalità organizzata.
 ¶ 19. (C) Commento: Anche se l'applicazione della legge, associazioni di categoria, 'gruppi di cittadini, e la chiesa, almeno in alcune zone, stanno dimostrando un impegno promettente nella lotta alla criminalità organizzata, lo stesso non si può dire dei i politici in Italia, in particolare a livello nazionale. Come Roberto Saviano ci ha ricordato, il tema era praticamente assente dalla campagna elettorale di aprile-marzo. A livello nazionale è in genere di cui, se non del tutto, come un meridionale "problema", anche se colpisce l'intero paese e anche se al Sud le organizzazioni criminali hanno fatto preoccupante progressi nel Nord. Anche in Sicilia, dove le elezioni regionali sono stati precipitati da ex governatore Cuffaro di condanna per reati legati mafia, la discussione di un reato non è stato una parte importante della campagna (e di Cuffaro è stato eletto al Senato). Dovremmo lavorare di trasmettere al nuovo governo l'Italia che la criminalità organizzata è una priorità USG serio, e che i costi economici drammatico della criminalità organizzata presentare un argomento convincente per un'azione immediata. Tuttavia, non dobbiamo limitare il nostro sostegno, organizzato sforzi della criminalità in Italia per conversazioni private, al contrario, il nostro patrocinio pubblico per gli sforzi di Confindustria, Addiopizzo, chierici della Chiesa, e gli altri daranno loro sia una maggiore visibilità e maggiore credibilità, così come molti Italiani ignorato le innovazioni impressionanti del loro istituti di ricerca, prima missione di partenariato per il programma di crescita ha cominciato a campione loro. Fine commento.
 ¶ 20. (U) Questa parte del cavo tre serie è stata coordinata con e autorizzato dagli organismi competenti e sezioni in Ambasciate Roma e il Vaticano. TRUHN
TESTO ORIGINALE:
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 08 NAPLES 000038
SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS TO ONDCP; TREASURY FOR OFAC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/6/2018
TAGS: PGOV KCRM ECON SNAR KCOR IT
SUBJECT: ORGANIZED CRIME III: CONFRONTING ORGANIZED CRIME IN
SOUTHERN ITALY
REF: (A) NAPLES 36, (B) NAPLES 37 (C) 07 NAPLES 118
NAPLES 00000038 001.2 OF 008
CLASSIFIED BY: J. PATRICK TRUHN, CONSUL GENERAL, AMCONGEN
NAPLES, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
¶1. (C) Summary: This is the third of a three-part series (see
reftels A-B for parts I and II); this message offers views on
how to combat organized crime in Italy. The USG has a
significant stake in the fight against organized crime in Italy.
The Italian crime syndicates help support terrorist groups in
Colombia and Central Asia through drug trafficking; violate the
intellectual property rights of American businesses and artists;
buttress organized crime in the United States; pose potential
public health risks to U.S. military and dependents stationed in
southern Italy; and weaken an important ally. Law enforcement
cooperation has led to many important arrests, particularly in
Sicily, but could be strengthened. However, the apprehension of
criminals is not enough. Trials need to be swifter and
sentences tougher. The seizure of mob assets, not only in
Southern Italy but in the North and in other countries, is
another way to hit hard at these groups, and the economy needs
to offer young people an honest alternative to crime. Education
and awareness-raising among politicians, average citizens and
students are essential elements to any successful strategy
against organized crime. The Italian Catholic Church can also
play a more prominent role, as a couple of brave clerics have
demonstrated. We can also publicly support grassroots
strategies to foster a societal rejection of organized crime.
ConGen Naples strongly supports OFAC's decision to add the
'Ndrangheta to its Drug Kingpin list. End summary.
¶2. (C) The first two cables in this three-part series were
descriptive, explaining how organized crime is the greatest
threat to economic growth in Southern Italy. This message is
prescriptive, proposing a multi-faceted approach to more
effectively combat organized crime in Italy. Specifically, we
propose consideration of the following tactics as part of a
multi-faceted approach by the USG:
-- Publicly acknowleding both the scope of Italy's organized
crime problem and USG support for Italian efforts to combat it.
-- The committing of greater resources to law enforcement
cooperation with Italy.
-- Fostering closer cooperation between Italian law enforcement
officials and counterparts in other key countries.
-- Conveying to the GOI the view that it has far too few
anti-Mafia magistrates in Calabria, home to the country's
largest criminal organization.
-- Pressing the GOI to root out corruption at its ports.
-- Cooperating more closely with Italy's Central Bank, and
pressing other countries (e.g., Switzerland, Liechtenstein,
Monaco) to cooperate more, in order to crack down on money
laundering.
-- Working with the GOI to improve a flawed judicial system. If
organized crime is to be brought under control, sentences must
be tougher, appeals limited, and the judicial process made more
efficient. Convicted prisoners cannot be set free because
judges failed to complete paperwork on time.
-- Sharing the USG experience on penal institutions. One of
Italy's biggest problems is a lack of prisons, which means many
of the accused are never jailed and many convicts are released
far in advance of completing their sentences.
-- Giving more visible support for grassroots efforts to fight
organized crime (e.g., groups in Sicily that are leading a
public rebellion against paying extortion).
NAPLES 00000038 002.2 OF 008
-- Helping raise public awareness about the deleterious effects
of organized crime and how it has been dealt with in the United
States.
-- Enlisting the assistance of the Roman Catholic Church to be
more outspoken against organized crime.
-- Encouraging the GOI and EU to invest in infrastructure,
particularly improvements to public security, in southern Italy
and at the same time to tighten accountability for how this
money is spent.
Why We Should Care
------------------
¶3. (SBU) The USG can and should become more engaged for several
key reasons:
-- Drug trafficking by Italian mobs sends money to
narcotraffickers (and thus indirectly to terrorist groups) in
Colombia and Afghanistan, affecting U.S. national security.
-- A 2005 FBI intelligence assessment reported that "Criminal
interaction between Italian organized crime and Islamic
extremist groups provides potential terrorists with access to
funding and logistical support from criminal organizations with
established smuggling routes and an entrenched presence in the
United States." In a public statement given on April 19, 2004,
Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, Pierluigi Vigna,
indicated a link between Islamic militant groups and the
Camorra, stating that evidence existed implicating the Camorra
in an exchange of weapons for drugs with Islamic terrorist
groups.
-- Counterfeiting and piracy of American-made products
(particularly movies, music and software) directly impact U.S.
economic interests.
-- Ties between Italian and U.S. organized crime mutually
reinforce these groups. The links between the Sicilian Cosa
Nostra and the U.S. Mafia go back nearly a century, but the
Camorra and 'Ndrangheta also have affiliates in the United
States, according to the FBI.
-- Amcit residents (including thousands of Navy personnel and
their families in Campania and Sicily) and tourists are affected
by street crime and potentially by the Campania waste crisis
(which result in large part from organized crime -- see reftels)
and illegal toxic dumping in the region.
-- U.S. businesses that would like to invest in Southern Italy
refrain from doing so because of concerns about organized crime.
-- Organized crime weakens an important ally politically,
economically and socially.
Why Law Enforcement Alone is Not Enough
----------------------------------------
¶4. (U) In its efforts to defeat organized crime, the Italian
government has been most successful in Apulia, where the Sacra
Corona Unita has been mostly dismantled, and Sicily, where a
multi-faceted approach has led to the arrests of dozens of Cosa
Nostra bosses, important seizures of mob assets, and a growing
rebellion by business owners against the protection racket. Law
enforcement has been one of the keys to progress in Sicily,
where authorities cracked down following the 1992 mob
assassinations of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and
Paolo Borsellino. Wiretapping, plea-bargaining agreements, the
strengthening of a witness protection program, and greater
NAPLES 00000038 003.2 OF 008
security for judges and prosecutors have resulted in the
apprehension of hundreds of Mafia members and associates. The
captures of top bosses Toto Riina in 1993, Bernardo Provenzano
in 2006, and Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007 proved to be
significant blows to an organization built on a pyramidal
hierarchy. However, law enforcement successes have not been the
only factor in Sicily's progress against organized crime.
Sicilian citizens' efforts to reject the Mafia are finally
getting traction. The Industrialists Confederation
(Confindustria) has started expelling members who have paid
protection money and not complained to police. At least two new
anti-racket NGOs have been formed, one by consumers and one by
business owners (more below). And even the Church, long
considered complicit for not refusing to preside at lavish Mafia
funerals, has seen a bishop forced to seek police protection for
just that.
¶5. (C) The situation is starkly different in Campania and
Calabria. Because the Camorra in Campania is not one
organization, but a multitude of armed gangs, there is no one
boss whose capture could cause a significant blow to organized
crime in the region. The war on the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria has
been even more difficult. With members recruited on the basis
of family ties, the 'Ndrangheta is virtually impervious to
police infiltration. "Every cell is composed of people who
belong to family, and this is why there are no justice
collaborators," according to Nicola Gratteri, Calabria's senior
anti-Mafia prosecutor, who adds that only 42 turncoats have come
from the 'Ndrangheta, compared with 700 to 1,000 from the Cosa
Nostra and 2,000 from the Camorra. It would be difficult to
completely duplicate the Sicilian strategy in Campania and
Calabria, but what is clear is that relying merely on arrests is
not enough. As another anti-Mafia prosecutor, Catania-based
Giuseppe Gennaro, told us, "You can apprehend mobsters, but most
are released within five years."
¶6. (C) Law enforcement alone, however, cannot solve Italy's
organized crime problem. Apulia's success in dismantling Santa
Corona Unita was certainly facilitated by economic development
which offered its citizens an honest alternative; it is southern
Italy's principal economic success story (ref C). Cosenza
sociology professor Giap Parini explained to us that any overall
strategy must include political, economic, and socio-cultural
components in addition to law enforcement elements. Banco di
Napoli President Antonio Nucci told the CG that "the police can
lock up all the people they want, but it won't be enough if
crime is the only job that pays."
¶7. (SBU) A multi-faceted approach must necessarily include
components designed to change public attitudes towards organized
crime. Ivan Lo Bello, the President of the Sicilian
Industrialists Confederation, told us in December 2007 that the
first step is to "reject the fatalist perspective that things
cannot change. To defeat the Mafia, you need society to band
together. Sanction by society hurts more than sanction by the
state. Gaining greater consensus is the solution, not bringing
in the army." With this in mind, the prescription must include
education and awareness-raising, and support for grassroots
organizations that are standing up to the criminals.
Law Enforcement Approaches
--------------------------
¶8. (C) As noted above, law enforcement successes have been one
of the keys to the progress in Sicily. A February 2008 joint
U.S.-Italian sting, called "Operation Old Bridge," resulted in
the arrests of over 80 suspects in the United States and over 30
in Sicily, and exposed attempts by the Cosa Nostra to
reestablish ties with New York's Gambino family that would have
increased drug trafficking to Italy. Ironically, there are
NAPLES 00000038 004.2 OF 008
significantly more anti-Mafia prosecutors and magistrates in
Sicily and Campania than in Calabria, where the largest and most
dangerous mob, the 'Ndrangheta, is based. The USG should
consider:
-- Greater cooperation with Italian authorities (on the order of
"Old Bridge"), committing more resources and
intelligence-sharing to fighting the Camorra and the
'Ndrangheta; we could also foster much closer cooperation
between Italian authorities and their counterparts in Colombia,
Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Nigeria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
At least two prosecutors have complained to us about the
ineffectiveness of authorities in Spain to combat drug
trafficking by Italian and Spanish organized crime groups.
(Comment: DEA, by contrast, has found Spain to be an
outstanding partner in international drug investigations. The
issue may be one of poor cooperation, rather than any lack of
dedication or competence on either side. End comment.)
-- The need to impress on Italian authorities that far more law
enforcement resources are needed in Calabria, including
dramatically increased numbers of anti-Mafia judges and
prosecutors.
-- Pressing Italian authorities to root out corruption at
Italy's ports. There are USG Container Security Initiative
officials present at some ports, but they are focused on
containers destined for the United States. Having seen the
tight security at Calabria's Gioia Tauro port (ref A), ConGen
Naples believes that the reported in-flow of narcotics there can
only be done with the assistance and complicity of corrupt
personnel.
Financial and Economic Strategies
----------------------------------
¶9. (C) Anti-Mafia prosecutor Gennaro believes that seizure of
assets is a much more important weapon than arrests. "To defeat
the Mafia, you have to attack their profits and investments," he
told us in Catania, Sicily in January 2008. Gennaro expressed
frustration over the discovery that many banks in Italy do not
report suspicious transactions to the Central Bank. It has also
been very difficult for Italian authorities to obtain
information from banking authorities in Switzerland,
Liechtenstein and Monaco, where Mafia members stash away their
earnings in secret accounts. In February 2008, the Treasury
Police in Sicily confiscated mob assets with an estimated worth
of nearly 309 million euros (USD 487 million) -- "a tremendous
blow," according to then-Interior Minister Giuliano Amato, one
that could lead to "a crisis for the entire organization."
Unfortunately, confiscations of this sort happen much less
frequently in Campania and Calabria, let alone in northern
Italy, where much of the money laundering takes place. The USG
should consider:
-- Working more closely with Italy's Central Bank and Fiscal
Police, perhaps via greater sharing of intelligence and
information obtained from investigations, to identify organized
crime assets and ensure that they are frozen or confiscated.
-- Adding all three major Italian mobs to the Office of Foreign
Assets Control's Drug Kingpin list. OFAC has included the
'Ndrangheta on the Tier One list, which could eventually lead to
sanctions on companies dealing with the organization and front
companies that launder money. The 'Ndrangheta is by all
accounts one of Western Europe's biggest drug trafficking
groups, but the Cosa Nostra and Camorra are also heavily engaged
in the narcotics trade.
-- Reinforcing and re-orienting existing programs such as the
NAPLES 00000038 005.2 OF 008
Partnership for Growth, to increase economic growth, which will
create more well-paying alternatives to organized crime.
Judicial Weapons
-----------------
¶10. (C) In February 2008, the son of Cosa Nostra boss Toto
Riina was released from jail under a law that frees those who
have been held for five years without a trial, and a prosecutor
was recently skewered by the press for allowing several Mafia
cases to expire (resulting in the release of suspects).
Naples-based former Senator Lorenzo Diana, an organized crime
expert, believes that the Italian justice system needs quicker
trials and stiffer sentences. And Gratteri (the top anti-Mafia
prosecutor in Calabria) contends that, in order to bring down
the 'Ndrangheta, new legislation is needed. "We have no laws
that are proportional to the force of the 'Ndrangheta," he told
us, echoing Gennaro's lament that well-behaved convicts can
leave prison after five years. "I would like ... [them] not to
be released before 30 years." Diana also believes the system
that conducts background checks on those bidding on government
contracts is not working. Unfortunately, the country's
politicians are not focused on these issues, as was clear from
the March-April 2008 election campaign in which organized crime
was barely mentioned. Strengthening the efficiency of the
judiciary and its ability to impose stronger sentences should be
a priority for the next parliament. Furthermore, Italy must
improve civil and criminal courts to enforce commercial
contracts, consumer protections, criminal law, health and safety
standards, building codes, and general quality-of-life
standards. As long as the court systems are dysfunctional, it
will be impossible to reduce organized crime to a manageable
level.
¶11. (C) We may also want to consider sharing with the GOI the
U.S. experience in construction, management and privatization of
prisons. One of the most serious issues facing Italian law
enforcement is the lack of prisons. At the end of 2007,
according to the Justice Ministry, Italian jails held 113
inmates for every 100 beds. In 2006, the GOI granted early
release to several thousand convicts in an effort to alleviate
the overcrowding; MOJ statistics show the recividism rate to be
31 percent. A Carabinieri colonel complained to the CG in April
2008 that police are frustrated by their inability to keep
accused or suspected mobsters in jail because of the lack of
cells.
Support for Grassroots Change
----------------------------
¶12. (C) Lo Bello, the President of the Sicilian Confindustria,
took the bold step in September 2007 of instituting a policy
(adopted by unanimous vote) of expelling members who have paid
protection money to the Mafia and not complained to police.
Since that time, around 35 members have been asked to leave the
Confederation. This courageous move has been praised by
business owners, the media and political leaders. Lo Bello told
us in January 2008 that "The time has come [for Sicily] to move
from an archaic, feudal past to modernity." When we met with
them in late 2007, the Calabrian Industrialists were much more
timid, looking over their backs before telling us that the time
is not right for business owners to take a public stand against
extortion there. (In June 2006, one of the founders of the
Calabria anti-racket association, Fedele Scarcella, was brutally
assassinated; his charred corpse was discovered in his burned
car in what authorities described as "very probably a Mafia
homicide.") Nonetheless, the media reported in March 2008 on
talks between the two regions' Industrialists Confederations on
collaborating against organized crime. Lo Bello was quoted as
declaring, "It may seem simple, but what has happened has
NAPLES 00000038 006.2 OF 008
changed the framework of the entire region: the idea that the
fight against the Mafia cannot be delegated only to the State,
but needs to include an assumption of responsibility on the part
of Southern Italian society: in this case, the world of
entrepreneurship." Also in March, the Industrialists
Confederation in Caserta (Campania) took initial steps toward a
similar policy, drawing praise from the anti-Mafia prosecutor.
Lo Bello hopes to enlist other business and trade associations
to adopt similar rules. Unfortunately, most Sicilian business
owners are still unwilling to complain about extortion. In May
2008, a prominent businessman, Vincenzo Conticello, who has
refused to pay protection money for his Palermo focaccia
restaurant, told the CG that he had heard (probably from his
police escort) that of 170 companies named in the accounting
books of apprehended Mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, only three
have owned up to it, while the others claim the accounts are in
error.
¶13. (SBU) Sicilian businesses, emboldened by the arrests of top
Mafia bosses, are openly defying the Mafia by signing on with a
grassroots organization called "Addiopizzo" (Goodbye "Pizzo,"
the Italian word for extortion payments), which brings together
businesses in Palermo that are resisting extortion. The
campaign was launched in 2004 by a group of youths thinking of
opening a pub. They started off by plastering Palermo with
anti-pizzo fliers, reading "AN ENTIRE PEOPLE THAT PAYS THE PIZZO
IS A PEOPLE WITHOUT DIGNITY," and eventually brought their
campaign online where it struck a chord with Sicilians fed up
with Mafia bullying. The rebellion has since spread to other
strongholds of the most ruthless Mafia clans, including places
such as Gela, an industrial coastal town, where some 80 business
owners in recent months have denounced extortion attempts. This
is a dramatic turn since the early 1990's, when a Gela merchant
who denounced extortion was slain by the Mafia, and a Gela car
dealer, whose showroom was repeatedly torched, had to move his
family and change his name after he testified in court.
"Addiopizzo" has recently launched a supermarket selling
products certified as being "pizzo" free, and maintains a public
list on the internet of businesses rejecting extortion. Another
NGO was launched last November by forty Sicilian business owners
to assist entrepreneurs who refuse to pay extortion money. The
group is called "Libero Futuro," which translates "Free Future,"
but also pays homage to Libero Grassi, a Sicilian businessman
who was murdered in 1991 for refusing to pay protection money.
In response to the organization's founding, Palermo mayor Diego
Cammarata promised 50,000 euros to assist merchants who have
been victims of extortion. "This rebellion goes to the heart
of the Mafia," says Palermo prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia, who
has investigated extortion cases for years. "If it works, we
will have a great advantage in the fight against the Mafia."
¶14. (SBU) For authorities battling the 'Ndrangheta, a welcome
ally has been "Ammazzateci Tutti," ("Kill Us All") formed three
years ago by fed-up young people in the wake of the mob
assassination of Calabria regional Vice President Fortugno. In
a recent news interview, Bruno Marino, a student whose father
was killed by the 'Ndrangheta, likened the 'Ndrangheta to "an
octopus that tries to control everything and to kill all of the
fish." Since its founding, Ammazzateci Tutti has held regular
demonstrations designed to pressure the Italian state into
taking action against the 'Ndrangheta. In February 2007, a
protest in Reggio Calabria drew thousands into the streets.
Later in the year, the group staged regular protests against the
government's pending transfer of Luigi De Magistris, an
anti-Mafia prosecutor investigating links between politicians
and the 'Ndrangheta. "Ammazzateci Tutti is a message that
expresses both hope and challenge to the 'Ndrangheta, saying,
'See if you have enough lead to kill us all,' " according to
Aldo Pecora, a law student and spokesman for the group. "It is
also a challenge to normal people to rebel against the the
NAPLES 00000038 007.2 OF 008
'Ndrangheta." These groups are having an impact, but they
remain fledgling organizations with little official backing.
The USG can lend public support to these groups (a member of
Addiopizzo, for example, was selected for the State Department's
International Visitor program.)
Education and Public Awareness
------------------------------
¶15. (SBU) Many of our interlocutors believe that the long-term
solution to organized crime is education. This means breaking
the pervasive culture of organized crime which controls
societies through power and fear. It means destroying the
glamorous image that young people have of Mafia bosses and more
openly and directly supporting those who defy the Mafia. It
means getting consumers to realize that the prices of a bottle
of olive oil, a jar of tomato sauce, a bottle of wine -- the
staples of Italian life -- have been inflated by organized
crime, or that the products themselves have been adulterated by
the same sources. It also means breaking the culture of
illegality that is so rampant in Southern Italy but also felt
countrywide; that is, the blatant disregard for the law by
average citizens and the lack of a sense of civic
responsibility. Naples Chief Prosecutor GianDomenico Lepore
told the CG -- while lighting a cigar in a no-smoking office to
underscore his point -- that Neapolitans have something "in
their DNA" that causes them to react to any law by breaking it.
Campania Carabinieri General Franco Mottola told the CG that the
Camorra exploits a general atmosphere of delinquency in Naples.
He suggested the change needed to start in the schools, but
added that first teacher training would be required ("they can't
teach what they don't know"). We could perhaps encourage the
Italian government to make greater outreach efforts in poor
neighborhoods, and to offer alternatives to a life of crime for
young people. There is a conspicuous lack of a visible police
presence throughout Naples, and there have been countless cases
of Neapolitans protecting criminals from police trying to
apprehend them.
¶16. (U) Instead of Mafia dons, those fighting them need to be
regarded as the real role models. Roberto Saviano, whose book
"Gomorrah" was an international best-seller in 2007, may be well
on his way. He appears regularly in print and broadcast media
as not just an authority on the mob, but more importantly as a
moral compass for those willing to listen. The film version,
released in May 2008, will probably have an even bigger impact,
as it underscores the Camorra's influence in toxic waste dumping
and features hip young actors and a score by popular musicians.
Saviano's book and the film (for which he wrote the screenplay)
are also keys to convincing Italians that organized crime is not
just a southern problem, but an Italian problem. When asked how
the USG could best assist in the fight against organized crime
beyond law enforcement cooperation, Saviano told the CG in April
2008, "Just talking about it, you give the issue a credibility
that the rest of the world, including the Italians, cannot
ignore."
The Role of the Church
-----------------------
¶17. (C) The Italian Catholic Church has often come under fire
for not taking a stronger public stance against organized crime.
One of the few priests who have, Father Luigi Merola, is now
under police escort after working against the Camorra in the
poor Naples neighborhood of Forcella. In February 2008, he
inaugurated a foundation for at-risk youth in the confiscated
villa of a former Camorra boss. ConGen Naples and local U.S.
Navy personnel are lending their support to the foundation by
volunteering to teach English, build sports facilities and coach
the kids who participate in the foundation's programs, which are
NAPLES 00000038 008.2 OF 008
designed to offer the kids an alternative to crime. Another
Church official, Bishop Michele Pennisi of Piazza Armerina in
Sicily, is also under police escort after refusing to preside
over funerals of mafiosi. We may want to consider seeking
greater Church cooperation against organized crime, perhaps
through channels at the Holy See or with Italian Church leaders.
"Heal the Periphery" - Improve Infrastructure
--------------------------------------------- -
¶18. (SBU) The GOI and European Union should be encouraged to
review the way public money is invested in Southern Italy. As
noted in ref B, infrastructure contracts often wind up going to
mob-owned businesses, who steal millions while building
sub-standard roads, tunnels, bridges and public housing.
Instead, recommends Naples-based former Senator Diana, "Heal the
periphery. Take ten places and invest 100 - 200 million euros
in them." He says that money could be spent building parks and
improving security (e.g., with lighting and video cameras),
creating conditions unfavorable to organized crime.
¶19. (C) Comment: Although law enforcement, business
associations, citizens' groups, and the church, at least in some
locations, are demonstrating promising engagement in fighting
organized crime, the same cannot be said of Italy's politicians,
particularly at the national level. As Roberto Saviano has
reminded us, the subject was virtually absent from the
March-April election campaign. At the national level it is
generally referred to, if at all, as a "southern" issue,
although it affects the entire country and although the South's
criminal organizations have made worrying advances in the North.
Even in Sicily, where regional elections were precipitated by
former governor Cuffaro's conviction for Mafia-related crimes,
discussion of crime was not a major part of the campaign (and
Cuffaro was elected to the Senate). We should work to convey to
Italy's new government that organized crime is a serious USG
priority, and that the dramatic economic costs of organized
crime present a convincing argument for immediate action.
However, we should not limit our support for Italy's organized
crime efforts to private conversations; on the contrary, our
public advocacy for the efforts of Confindustria, Addiopizzo,
Church clerics, and others will give them both greater
visibility and enhanced credibility, just as many Italians
ignored the impressive innovations of their own research
institutions before the Mission's Partnership for Growth program
began to champion them. End comment.
¶20. (U) This three-part cable series was coordinated with and
cleared by relevant agencies and sections in Embassies Rome and
Vatican.
TRUHN
