Ciancimino junior shows his father's letter to B.: “ The State - mafia negotiation brought Forza Italia to life”. Alfano: a plan to strike us.

The “pizzino” (note) is undated, the handwriting belongs to don Vito Ciancimino, the names written in the note indicate the course of a parallel and obscure business saga: “ Berlusconi-Ciancimino, Marcello Dell'Utri Milan fraud and harcore Ciancimino, Alamia, Dell'Utri Alberto”.

A story that goes back thirty years, narrated today by the former mayor's son in a court room: “ Forza Italia is the result of the negotiation between mafia and State”.

To confirm his accusations, Ciancimino junior pulls out a letter written by his father but agreed upon with Provenzano. It was written in 1994 and is addressed to Dell'Utri (the heading of the note is gone), with copy to Berlusconi. In the “pizzino” don Vito threatens “to come out in the open after years of reserve”.

It's the final version, sent to receiver through Mr. Franco, of a far more intimidating “first draft” which threatened a “sad event”, the murder of of one of Berlusconi's children.

In perfect “mafioso” style, don Vito then changed the note and threatened to reveal everything he knew by speaking. And what, exactly, did he threaten to reveal? Massimo answers without a moment of hesitation “ that Forza Italia was born from the negotiation”. However, a relation between don Vito's blackmail and investments made on Milano 2 cannot be excluded since Ciancimino junior also spoke (after having handed them in to public prosecutors) of documents written by his father concerning the huge amounts of money (billions) which Cosa Nostra gave to construction sites. Cosa Nostra's money placed the future president of Council among the elite of Italian business.

Now, the “pizzino”, along with other documents and Massimo Ciancimino's newer statements, has been delivered to the attorney general who is going to take into consideration the possibility of calling Massimo Ciancimino to be heard again during the trial taking place against Dell'Utri, a trial which has now reached its final stage. The smell of the mafia's money continues to travel along the Palermo – Arcore route. The ghost of blackmai haunts institutions, it lurks within the court room of Ucciardone and speaks through Massimo Ciancimino's jarring testimony. His statements rock moods and ideas, just like Spatuzza's (justice collaborator) and send political debate into a tail spin.

Minister Alfano replies: “ Forza Italia managed to touch the hearts and souls of millions of people, never  has there been any type of contact with the mafia”. According to Dell'Utri the witness “is manipulated by Palermo's public prosecutors”. General Mario Mori (defendant in the trial concerning Provenzano's failed arrest) accidently lets a military metaphor slip out: “ He talks bullshit like he's spitting out bullets”. For the first time Ciancimino junior speaks of the negotiation between mafia and State as one undivided document. He places his father, don Vito, at the centre of the negotiation as a man who was betrayed and then substituted by Dell'Utri but who, nonetheless, remained Provenzano's “councillor”.

Let's hear Ciancimono junior on the “letter of threats”: “ I saw the note Provenzano gave me for the first time in 1994, I took it to my father who was being detained in Rebibbia (jail) and read it to him. He then wrote the letter. He told me he got the idea to write to Berlusconi after he had released an interview to Repubblica newspaper in 1977. In the interview Berlusconi says he would make one of his friend's television stations available should he become involved in politics”.

This how the letter of threats originated. Ciancimino junior explains it like this: “My father's role was to recall the party (Forza Italia,ndr) and remind them to keep things in line, Berlusconi was the result of these pacts”.

Forza Italia receives a scolding,in pure mafia style. However, a mystery hovers over the chronicle. Only years later was the “pizzino” found, in 2005, during a search of the premises in one of Massimo's industrial warehouses. The note was torn in half. The top part was missing.

“I emptied the safe, but I missed that sheet of paper, I saw it intact two months before the search in my warehouse” states the witness who once again accuses the carabinieri (italian State police force)of not having opened the safe in his home, at Addaura, but also “the bigger one”, the one in his Roman residence. Massimo also reveals the advice he received from secret services and Ros police official De Donno to keep quiet about the negotiation.

Finally, Ciancimino junior gives an explanation as to his apparent reluctant behavior when handing over documents to the court. Fifteen days before the arrest Massimo had been told to take all the documentation abroad. Getting it all back was not an easy task.

Giuseppe Lo Bianco (il Fatto Quotidiano, 9 febbraio 2010)

italian version

Comments: