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### Viewing cable 08NAPLES96, CAN CALABRIA BE SAVED?

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08NAPLES96 | 2008-12-02 15:03 | 2011-01-07 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL | Consulate Naples

`

    VZCZCXRO3993
    RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
    DE RUEHNP #0096/01 3371502
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 021502Z DEC 08
    FM AMCONSUL NAPLES
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6309
    INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0014
    RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC
    RUEABND/DEA HQ WASHDC
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
    RHMFISS/COMSIXTHFLT
    RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 1048
    RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 NAPLES 000096

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/2/2018
    TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL BEXP SENV SOCI KCRM KCOR IT
    SUBJECT: CAN CALABRIA BE SAVED?

    REF: A. NAPLES 36, B. NAPLES 37, C. NAPLES 38, D. NAPLES 73

    NAPLES 00000096 001.2 OF 004

    CLASSIFIED BY: J. Patrick Truhn, Consul General.
    REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
    ¶1. (SBU) Summary: If it were not part of Italy, Calabria would
    be a failed state. The 'Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate
    controls vast portions of its territory and economy, and
    accounts for at least three percent of Italy's GDP (probably
    much more) through drug trafficking, extortion and usury. Law
    enforcement is severely hampered by a lack of both sources and
    resources. Calabrians have a reputation as a distant, difficult
    people, and their politicians are widely viewed as ineffective.
    Much of the region's industry collapsed over a decade ago,
    leaving environmental and economic ruin. The region comes in
    last place in nearly every category of national economic
    assessments. Most of the politicians we met with on a recent
    visit were fatalistic, of the opinion that there was little that
    could be done to stop the region's downward economic spiral or
    the stranglehold of the 'Ndrangheta. A few others
    disingenuously suggested that organized crime is no longer a
    problem. Nearly every interlocutor complained that the region
    lacks a civil society. Amid the doom and gloom, there are a few
    positive signs, nearly all from young people. This most
    problematical of Italy's regions will continue to be a drag on
    the country until the national government devotes the necessary
    attention and resources to solving these thorny problems. End
    summary.

    ¶2. (U) Calabria, the foot and toe of the Italian boot, is beset
    by seemingly intractable problems. During a November 17-20
    visit to all five provinces, virtually every interlocutor
    painted a picture of a region of weak and corrupt government,
    throttled by the iron grip of Western Europe's largest and most
    powerful organized crime syndicate, the 'Ndrangheta. The formal
    economy is in a shambles, with GDP per capita only half that of
    northern regions and official unemployment rates over 20
    percent. No one believes the central government has much, if
    any, control of Calabria, and local politicians are uniformly
    seen as ineffective and/or corrupt. If Calabria were not part
    of Italy, it would be a failed state.

    Catanzaro: "We Are Used to Organized Crime"
    --------------------------------------------- -----------

    ¶3. (C) We spent our first night in the bleak and chaotic
    regional capital of Catanzaro, where, after repeatedly declining
    our requests for an appointment over the course of a year, the
    Regional President, Agazio Loiero, finally received us. Loiero
    complained about the region's negative image and noted that
    organized crime, relatively inaccessible markets and poor
    infrastructure combine to discourage investment in the region.
    The perceived high risk of investing in Calabria has also meant
    higher interest rates for entrepreneurs. However, Loiero was
    unable to offer any solution to the region's difficulties, other
    than an idea to make low-interest loans available to small and
    medium enterprises with EU structural funds. When the CG asked
    how Loiero envisioned utilizing the nearly 14 million euros that
    the EU has allocated for Calabria, the President gave a vague
    reply and changed the subject. When the CG asked whether
    Sicily, where citizens' and industrialists' associations have
    joined law enforcement in actively opposing organized crime,
    could serve as a model for Calabria, Loiero responded, "We are
    the real island."

    ¶4. (C) We got an even more downbeat assessment from Catanzaro's
    chief prosecutor, Antonio Lombardo. Lombardo echoed what we had
    heard from other prosecutors about the difficulty of combating
    the 'Ndrangheta: its family-based structure and the lack of
    informers make it nearly impossible to penetrate. He bitterly
    complained about the lack of funding and personnel resources in
    a province where organized crime seems to control almost every
    facet of society. Only 12 of the 18 prosecutor positions are
    currently filled, and there are only five anti-Mafia
    prosecutors; Lombardo bemoaned that few magistrates seek
    assignment to Calabria and the central judicial authorities do
    not consider it a priority to fill the vacant positions. He
    added that his office does not even have the resources for an
    effective wiretapping program. Organized crime is not
    considered an emergency in Italy, Lombardo observed: "It is a
    stable factor in our country. We are accustomed to losing part
    of our GDP to organized crime and we factor it in to our
    economic planning." In Calabria it is nearly impossible to
    avoid paying extortion or collaborating with the 'Ndrangheta, he
    went on; "People are victims and accomplices at the same time."
    While not denying the importance of law enforcement, Lombardo
    said that in an ideal environment it should have a marginal
    role. "We are no substitute for a clean and civil society and
    well-managed businesses."

    Vibo Valentia: An "Indifferent Society"
    --------------------------------------------- --

    NAPLES 00000096 002.2 OF 004

    ¶5. (C) The Prefect of Vibo Valentia province, Ennio Sodano, has
    practically written Calabria off. In his view, "the entire
    Calabrian society is involved" in perpetuating an intractable
    situation. "Business owners pay extortion, but don't complain.
    They don't pay their taxes," he said. "It's a cultural problem,
    this indifferent society." Sodano was highly critical of the
    lack of vision for spending the EU structural funds. He made no
    bones of his desire to transfer out of Calabria at the first
    opportunity.

    ¶6. (C) The mayor of Vibo Valentia apparently hoped our meeting
    would yield nothing more substantive than a photo op. He and
    his coterie clearly became uneasy when the CG asked how the city
    is confronting the problem of organized crime, and he
    continually tried to steer the conversation to more superficial
    topics. The Provincial President was not much more
    communicative, never speaking above a whisper.

    ¶7. (C) The regional president of the national environmental NGO
    Legambiente, Nino Morabito, who met us in Vibo, opined that
    Calabria has very few good politicians -- and none in leadership
    positions. Like Campania, Calabria has also experienced illegal
    dumping of toxic waste on its territory, but because the
    population is smaller, it often goes unnoticed. A lot of
    illegal waste comes into Calabria not by land but by sea. One
    of the issues Legambiente is following closely is the almost
    ubiquitous illegal construction along the coast. The week
    before our visit, the Legambiente representative in Vibo
    Valentia had his car set on fire, presumably to intimidate him
    from denouncing the rampant zoning and construction violations
    occurring in the province. He was able to extinguish the
    burning vehicle just before the fire spread to his house.

    "Now Kill Us All"
    ---------------------

    ¶8. (U) The morning of November 19, we traveled to the town of
    Polistena to meet with about 30 members of the group
    "Ammazzateci Tutti" -- "Now Kill Us All," so named in defiance
    of the 'Ndrangheta following the 2005 mob assassination of
    Calabria regional Vice President Francesco Fortugno. The young
    people had traveled from all over the region to meet with us.
    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. One
    of the group's organizers, law student Aldo Pecora, observed
    that organized crime and Masonic societies control virtually
    every facet of society, including the economic and political
    systems. He asserted that the 'Ndrangheta may be viewed as the
    armed forces of powerful people. Unlike the Sicilian Cosa
    Nostra, he said, the 'Ndrangheta has close ties to Calabrian
    government structures. The group formally asked the CG to "save
    Calabria."

    "Children of Pythagoras"
    -----------------------------

    ¶9. (U) Our next stop was Crotone, on the Ionian coast, where
    some 2,500 years ago Pythagoras taught math at one of the
    premier universities of the Ancient Greek world. Today Crotone
    is beset by economic and environmental ruin after its three
    factories shut down in the 1990's, leaving behind industrial
    slag and an unemployment rate of 24 percent. The local director
    of the Industrialists' Federation (Confindustria) pointed out
    that Crotone has the lowest income per capita of any province in
    Italy. The mayor and city council president told us that the
    city is trying to increase tourism by promoting the area's Greek
    heritage. "We are the children of Pythagoras," the city council
    president said proudly. But the officials observed that a major
    cleanup of the former industrial sites is a prerequisite;
    contaminated with millions of tons of industrial zinc and other
    waste, these sites are opposite a major archeological zone.
    They expressed concern about awarding a contract for the
    cleanup, given the pervasive presence of organized crime. At
    our meeting with the provincial president we noted the
    innovative technology of the California-based company,
    AdaptiveArc, which may be the ideal solution for Crotone's
    environmental cleanup, and which already has attracted potential
    waste-to-energy contracts in Cosenza and Vibo Valentia. In the
    evening, the CG addressed the local Rotary Club, reiterating
    that the United States is an engaged and dependable partner in a
    wide range of challenges from economic development to organized
    crime, but no one but the Calabrians themselves can create a
    civil society in their territory.

    Business Environment

    NAPLES 00000096 003.2 OF 004

    ---------------------------

    ¶10. (U) American business interests are limited. General
    Electric has a small plant (producing air coolers and steam
    condensers) in Vibo Valentia, and the provincial president
    unrealistically hopes to get a second one. The savvy general
    manager of one of the best hotels in the region has spent two
    years and over one million euros to obtain authorizations for a
    five-star Marriott resort on the Tyrrhenian coast, but has been
    waiting for months for a ministry in Rome to move the necessary
    paper. (Embassy Rome is assisting.) AdaptiveArc's gasification
    plants are the only other potential investments on the horizon.

    ¶11. (SBU) We had a useful meeting with the Calabria
    Confindustria young entrepreneurs in Catanzaro, where the CG
    explained many of the Mission's initiatives to promote
    innovation and growth. Unfortunately, an expected with regional
    Confindustria president Umberto de Rose was canceled -- the
    third time he has missed a meeting with the CG. The local
    Confindustria director in Crotone told us that de Rose has not
    taken a strong stand against members who pay extortion (unlike
    in Sicily, where Confindustria expels those who do) because he
    considers them to be victims who need support rather than
    expulsion. She added that law enforcement successes have not
    been as numerous in Calabria as in Sicily, and therefore
    business owners do not feel so bold. A year ago, when the CG
    met with Confindustria members in Reggio Calabria, and asked
    whether they were prepared to follow the Sicily's lead, he
    received a decidedly nervous reaction.

    ¶12. (C) Tourism remains one of the region's hopes, despite
    inadequate infrastructure (the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway
    has been under construction for decades and rail connections to
    and from anywhere off the Tyrrhenian coast are terrible),
    environmental degradation, and organized crime. A year ago the
    CG suggested that the President of the Province of Reggio
    Calabria talk to tour operators representing the booming U.S.
    cruise ship industry, whose thousands of customers regularly
    call at Sicilian ports, just across the Strait of Messina, about
    including a day in Reggio to see the prized Greek bronze statues
    and perhaps visit the archaeological site of Locri. The
    President's response was, "What's a tour operator?" When asked
    by Confindustria's young entrepreneurs in Catanzaro how to
    attract U.S. tourists, the CG emphasized the need for the region
    to create a tourist identity, a brand that would set it apart
    from dozens of other possible destinations.

    Not Entirely Hopeless
    ----------------------

    ¶13. (C) Despite the myriad difficulties facing the region, not
    everything is doom and gloom in Calabria. During our November
    17 stop in Cosenza, the CG discussed the U.S. elections with a
    group of smart, articulate and well-prepared political science
    students at the University of Calabria, one of the few bright
    spots in the region and where post has established a strong
    relationship (the university is also developing an innovative
    technology transfer center, about which Regional President
    Loiero surprisingly seemed to know nothing). Our final stop, on
    November 20 in the town of San Giovanni in Fiore, was an
    unexpected and welcome ray of hope. The town was home to
    Gioacchino da Fiore, the medieval theologian whose message of
    hope President-elect Obama repeatedly mentioned during the
    recent campaign, leading the town to invite him to visit. The
    remarkably upbeat, dynamic mayor had just returned from the
    U.S., where he negotiated a simulation training center for
    doctors and nurses with the University of Pittsburgh Medical
    Center (which already runs the highly successful ISMETT
    transplant center in Palermo). The city of 19,000 has a small
    but active American center, where our AmCit warden serves
    residents and visitors alike, and where the city offers English
    lessons to young and old.

    ¶14. (C) Comment: Throughout Calabria, we heard the same
    laments over and over: the 'Ndrangheta calls the shots and
    there is little hope for the region. The lack of optimism has
    resulted in a continuous brain drain, with the best and
    brightest young people emigrating to the North or to other
    countries in search of opportunity. As was the case during our
    previous visits to Calabria, we were struck by the lack of
    vision and energy on the part of its politicians (see refs A and
    D). Indeed, if Calabria's problems are going to be solved, it
    will take a concerted effort by the central government to
    reclaim the region as part of the Italian state. While law
    enforcement successes (which so far have been modest) would no
    doubt contribute, there also needs to be a revolution in the way
    Calabrians themselves view organized crime, corruption and above
    all civil society. We can help -- by encouraging the young

    NAPLES 00000096 004.2 OF 004

    members of Ammazeteci Tutti, by spreading our message of shared
    values, and by implementing USG initiatives such as Mission
    Italy's Partnership for Growth. In the absence of strong
    government and institutions, we need to network with
    non-governmental interlocutors; we productively used this trip
    to identify an important array of new audiences. But unless the
    central government gives greater priority to the region,
    Calabria will continue to be a drain on the national economy and
    a territory in the hands of extortionists and drug smugglers.
    TRUHN

`