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DE RUEHNP #0052/01 1121428
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R 221428Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL NAPLES
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INFO RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 1130
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC 0001
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQ WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/COMSIXTHFLT
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 0153
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 0127
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NAPLES 000052 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/22/2019 
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL BEXP SNAR SOCI KCRM KCOR CASC IT
SUBJECT: REACHING OUT TO CALABRIA 
 
REF: A.  08 Naples 96,  B. 08 Naples 36,   C. 08 Naples 38 
 
NAPLES 00000052  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: J. Patick Truhn, Consul General, AmConGen Naples. 
 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  During an early April trip through Italy's 
most problematic region, Calabria, Consul General Truhn and 
ConGen Naples staff reached out to both government officials and 
the public to reiterate our common interest in development and 
rule of law.  In a region in which politicians are weak and 
exercise only limited control, outreach through NGOs, social 
groups and the media is essential.  A courageous anti-Mafia 
prosecutor in Reggio Calabria, Nicola Gratteri, was extremely 
critical of the GOI's underfunding and mismanagement of the 
judicial system; most prosecutor positions in Calabria go 
unfilled, and anti-Mafia investigators lack sufficient resources 
to travel in their districts.  Much of Gratteri's work centers 
on narcotics trafficking, the most lucrative business for the 
'Ndrangheta crime syndicate.  By all accounts, Europe's busiest 
transshipment port, Gioia Tauro, is controlled by the 
'Ndrangheta, which earns commissions on all containers and has 
power over hiring.  Italian customs officials have been 
threatened (one even being shot at); CG Truhn requested of the 
Prefect additional security for USG (Container Security 
Initiative) personnel at the port.  The anti-Mafia NGO 
"AmmazzateciTutti" continues to grow.  Our visit culminated with 
a major conference, organized by post, on promoting tourism in 
southern Italy; an improvement in this sector could be one way 
to drive development in Calabria and the rest of the 
impoverished South.  Although the problems in Calabria may seem 
intractable, people like Gratteri and our AmmazzateciTutti 
contacts inspire hope that honest people can make a difference. 
End summary. 
 
Anti-Mafia Prosecutor "Not Afraid to Die" 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Nicola Gratteri, an anti-Mafia prosecutor in Reggio 
Calabria and author of "Blood Brothers," a book about the 
'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, does not pull punches.  In a frank 
exchange, he was highly critical of counterparts in other EU 
states, the Italian judicial system (including the Justice 
Ministry and the Judicial Branch Council), and even his own 
colleagues.  Gratteri complained that EU criminal laws and 
procedures are not harmonized; for instance, electronic 
eavesdropping is not considered evidence in Germany, and search 
warrants cannot be served at night in Spain.  He also expressed 
frustration over alleged "rampant corruption" among Spanish 
officials.  Gratteri stated his disappointment with an Italian 
judicial system that leaves large numbers of magistrate 
positions unfilled in Calabria and other "hardship" regions.  He 
pointed out that in each of the districts of Locri and Palmi 
(characterized by a major 'Ndrangheta presence),only three of 
nine prosecutor positions are currently filled.  Gratteri 
himself has turned down positions in more attractive cities, 
preferring to remain in Calabria and fight the good fight.  He 
admitted that Judicial Branch incentives (such as danger pay) to 
serve in Mafia strongholds are inadequate.  He also railed 
against politicians who have continually failed to provide 
sufficient funding for magistrates to do their jobs; as such, 
they are overworked and frequently unable to travel for their 
investigations.  Gratteri asserted that what makes him effective 
is that he has realized he is not afraid to die.  He disparaged 
colleagues who did all they could to avoid hardship assignments, 
and others who had abused telephone wiretaps to such an extent 
that the Parliament had recently restricted their use. 
 
¶3.  (C) Turning to the 'Ndrangheta, undoubtedly the largest 
organized crime syndicate in Western Europe (ref B), Gratteri 
noted that his investigations have led to the captures of 180 of 
its members.  He is currently overseeing 80 ongoing 
investigations of the group.  Gratteri praised the cooperation 
his office has with Embassy Rome's FBI, DOJ and DEA Attaches. 
The narcotics trade is the 'Ndrangheta's most lucrative 
business, and the syndicate has members and affiliates operating 
in places like Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada and 
Colombia to facilitate that trade.  A large amount of incoming 
cocaine transits West African countries, where, Gratteri noted, 
Italy has no bilateral cooperation agreements or diplomatic 
presence.  As many other 'Ndrangheta observers have noted, 
Gratteri confirmed that its members, once arrested, almost never 
reveal information, and that this family-based loyalty limits 
the tools of law enforcement to technology (i.e., electronic 
surveillance and eavesdropping).  'Ndrangheta clans operate with 
collusion and support of the local population, Gratteri 
explained.  In the absence of the state, the Mafia is the only 
alternative for services, employment and protection.  Keeping a 
low profile and resolving internal disputes peacefully have been 
successful strategies, Gratteri told us; the August 2007 
assassination of six mafiosi at a pizzeria in Duisburg, Germany, 
 
NAPLES 00000052  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
was an error the organization would not like to repeat, he said. 
 
¶4.  (C) Gratteri's team is conducting an investigation into 
'Ndrangheta involvement in Gioia Tauro, Europe's busiest 
transshipment port located on southern Calabria's Tyrrhenian 
coast.  Gratteri stated that the mob practically runs both the 
legal and illegal activities of the port, earning a commission 
on every container and controlling the hiring of personnel 
("including even the guy who operates the access gate"). 
However, Gratteri dismissed the common media portrayal of the 
port as Europe's main gateway for narcotics, noting that the 
'Ndrangheta traffics drugs through every port in Italy and 
several other European ports. 
 
Prefect Working to Gain Control Over Public Works Contracts 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The Prefect of Reggio Calabria, Francesco Antonio 
Musolino, told us he was working to safeguard enormous amounts 
of EU and GOI funds earmarked for Calabria.  The 'Ndrangheta 
clans are trying to get their hands on some six billion euros in 
EU structural funds, as well as 4.5 billion euros budgeted by 
the GOI still available to finish the ongoing (twenty years!) 
construction of the Salerno-Reggio highway, 1.4 billion for the 
first stages of the Sicilian Strait Bridge and one billion for 
the construction of a regasification facility at Gioia Tauro. 
The Prefecture is developing a strategy for more effective 
control of public contracts in order to lock the mob out of 
construction projects.  One of Musolino's ideas is to require 
contractors to specify daily what persons and vehicles will be 
present at every worksite the next day, and for Prefecture 
inspectors to conduct spot checks enforce compliance.  The CG 
noted our concerns for the security of AmCit DHS (Container 
Security Initiative - CSI) personnel working at Gioia Tauro; 
Musolino confessed he was unaware of their presence, and 
undertook to be helpful in any way he could.  (Note:  Italian 
Customs personnel at the port have received serious threats in 
recent months, with one even being shot at while driving.  So 
far USG personnel have not been threatened or attacked, but have 
taken a heightened security posture in light of these incidents. 
 End note.) 
 
CSI Ops Going Well Despite Security Concerns 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) During a visit to the CSI office at Gioia Tauro, CSI 
personnel reiterated that they experience outstanding 
cooperation with port, customs and Treasury Police officials. 
No WMD components have been detected in any of the cargo checked 
at the facility.  The CSI personnel related numerous first- and 
second-hand accounts of corruption at the port and 'Ndrangheta 
intimidation of both Italians and foreigners in the local 
communities.  For USG personnel at Gioia Tauro, a concern 
related to the Mafia presence is the substandard health care 
available in the area; according to Prosecutor Gratteri, 
physician and nursing degrees can be bought, and (in his words) 
there are few doctors in Calabria qualified to practice 
medicine.  The hospital in Vibo Valentia, where most CSI 
personnel live, attracted extensive press attention last year 
after two easily preventable deaths, due in one instance to the 
lack of a back-up power system.  (Note:  ConGen Naples remains 
in frequent contact with CSI personnel stationed in both Naples 
and Gioia Tauro, and has urged them to keep us apprised of any 
security or other concerns.  End note.) 
 
Anti-Mafia NGO Continues to Grow 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) In the town of Polistena, the spokesman for the 
anti-Mafia NGO "AmmazzateciTutti" ("Kill Us All" - see ref C), 
Aldo Pecora, told us the group continues to grow.  It will 
shortly open a new headquarters in the town of Nicotera, and has 
strengthened its contacts with other anti-Mafia groups around 
the country, such as Sicily's "AddioPizzo" and Campania's 
"Students Against the Camorra."  AmmazzateciTutti has had some 
problems finding local organizers, though; Pecora noted that its 
representative in one city in the region of Apulia is a 
fifteen-year-old girl.  The group is planning public 
commemorations of the murders of two anti-Mafia magistrates in 
August (the CG will attend one).  Pecora himself has matured 
considerably since we last met him, and at age 23, is completing 
a book about the 'Ndrangheta and plans to take the national exam 
to become a magistrate.  Like Gratteri, he told us he, too, if 
no longer afraid to die. 
 
ConGen Outreach Program 
 
NAPLES 00000052  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
----------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Our three-and-a-half-day trip through Calabria included 
three separate speeches on U.S. foreign policy by the CG to some 
500 Rotary Club members in Reggio, Catanzaro and Vibo Valentia. 
These addresses followed two speeches to university and Rotary 
groups in Cosenza the week before.  In addition, the PAO and PA 
staff met with rectors and professors at the universities in 
Reggio Calabria and Catanzaro, to learn more about their 
academic exchanges with U.S. universities and identify possible 
projects for the future.  PA also met with representatives of 
various media outlets in both cities, including with a new 
on-line paper based in Reggio Calabria, www.strill.it.  The PAO 
gave interviews to the Gazzetta del Sud in Reggio, and to a 
local television station in Catanzaro.  Post's outreach program 
culminated in a major conference on April 2 in Vibo Valentia, 
hosted by ConGen Naples, on strategies for promoting tourism in 
southern Italy.  The CG gave an introductory speech stressing 
the need for a regional touristic identity, infrastructure 
development and improved customer service.  Other participants 
included the President of the Vibo Valentia Chamber of Commerce, 
who challenged the Calabria regional government to fill the 
long-standing leadership gap in tourism promotion; Massimo 
Loquenzi, the Italian representative of the U.S. Travel 
Association, who described his experience successfully promoting 
Philadelphia; Harry Charles Mills Scio, Development Consultant 
for Marriott, who explained expectations of American hotel 
brands (rarely represented in southern Italy); Senator Giovanni 
Mauro, who urged southern regions to make better use of 
available project financing to further economic development; as 
well as a cultural archaeologist, the President of Italia 
Turismo, and the Regional Commissioner for Tourism.  The CG also 
gave a number of press and media interviews on the margins. 
This outreach activity dramatically increased the number of USG 
interlocutors in a region in which we have traditionally had 
little influence.  We even gained a warden for the consular 
section's warden system. 
 
¶9.  (C) Comment:  It is difficult to visit Calabria and not come 
away pessimistic.  As noted in ref A, if it were not part of 
Italy, Calabria would be a failed state.  The question posed in 
ref A, "Can Calabria be saved?" remains a valid one.  With the 
'Ndrangheta so firmly entrenched and the state so noticeably 
absent, it is difficult to imagine a region in Western Europe 
with more intractable problems.  Prosecutor Gratteri believes 
that, "As long as the human race exists, the 'Ndrangheta will 
exist."  Yet it is people like Gratteri, Pecora, and others -- 
brave, honest and on the front lines of the fight against this 
scourge -- who offer a glimmer of hope for the future.  ConGen 
Naples will continue to engage Calabrians on the key issues of 
development, rule of law and organized crime; our new surge of 
interlocutors are clearly encouraged by our interest.  The goal 
of changing attitudes is an uphill climb with a very steep 
slope, but the cost of ignoring Calabria means the region will 
continue to be an economic and social weight dragging down a key 
ally of the United States. 
TRUHN