I couldn't sleep well last night thinking at what I would have written in the review of the latest book by Michele Santoro, one of the most beloved reporters and TV journalists, authors of historical talk shows that made history like Samarcanda.
This book, Nient'altro che la Verità,
is in fact a book on an affiliated of Cosa Nostra, Maurizio Avola, a killer. When we say mafia I become worried and scared.
The italian mafia exists because no one talks of it for fear: there is a wall of omertà still pretty high.
But, this book is a revelation after revelation: a big surprise! interesting, captivating.
Maurizio Avola, the killer interviewed assassinated more than 80 people; he was the one who had put some bombs in the house of the TV presenter Pippo Baudo, and the mansion jumped in the real sense of the word, because Baudo said something of nasty against Cosa Nostra; Avola was the one, this one is an exclusive! who killed Paolo Borsellino. Avola said that his eyes were the last thing that Borsellino had seen when in life. After the departure of Falcone, Borsellino knew that his new condition was the one of the "dead man walking": he knew that the next one would have been him and lived constantly worried. The end was close.
I thought that these judges were killed because...well... they knew too much; maybe, of course it was true, but... there was also another reason: the pact established between the State and Cosa Nostra was changing with these judges and Cosa Nostra wasn't happy; Cosa Nostra couldn't anymore be as powerful as it was: it couldn't manipulate anymore trials, corrupting judges for setting free immediately their affiliates. Avola told that before the advent of Falcone and Borsellino no one was worried when some people of Cosa Nostra went in jail because the person incriminated would have been set free more or less immediately, paying, corrupting here and there: with these two judges, guidelines, let's use this word, changed and also for this reason it was important their elimination.
But...Who is Avola? He was born in a good family, the father had a pastry shop and was a great baker; same work would have wanted for this kid. Maurizio went in a school owned by some sisters, but he didn't like the place and didn't love to go to school. Then the family ended up in Alassio, but the situation of Maurizio, talking about school didn't better. Returned to Sicily, started soon the criminal activity, at first stealing; there is to say that there is a honor code also in that field.
At the end, being intelligent, and with a great ability of shooting, Cosa Nostra, and the family of Nitto Santapaola started to observe him more closely. He soon became a killer. For several chapters it's just a story of homicides. People killed because they said too much as it happened to Fava, a beloved italian journalist, or, no sure why this homicide captured my attention a lot, because a young man, driving with his car, didn't let pass the man of honor that was behind him; so later they killed him.
What appear more than clear was that Sicily wasn't in the hand of the State, but controlled by Cosa Nostra considering these homicides. Most of the times bodies were burned, destroyed, so that no one would have found anymore anything: people had to die, so in general killers destroyed their heads.
Other times bodies were abandoned along the streets, but no one called the police men for telling them anything, because the guideline: "Iddu lo sa" a sicilian expression that can be translated as "he knows why he has been killed" for the rest of the citizenship is more than sufficient: they do their own business and don't tend to enter in the business of Cosa Nostra and their internal settlement of accounts.
Maurizio Avola has had wagons of women, most of them famous ones, but he didn't want to confess these relationships for not putting in difficulty these ladies.
The women these mafiosi had were famous ones, models, starlets, interested in cocaine as well.
The thoughts of Maurizio: he still thinks that his destiny was the one of shooting, and killing people, and that maybe if he would re-born he would do that again.
He feels that drugs shouldn't be commercialized because cocaine and drugs in general ruin people: once he killed a man because raped a beautiful girl; he knew this girl, still little, not yet 18 years old; she also tried to come up to Maurizio but he refused. When he discovered that a certain man had raped her, he killed that paedophile.
Once they organized a big robbery and the person corrupted was the vice-manager of the bank they assaulted. A big power of Cosa Nostra is the possibility of "buying" people in the italian State tissue, in the masonry, police men, and every field you can think at. Maurizio hates these people, the so-called respectable ones, the first dishonest ones he adds.
There was the law of the three days after a robbery. Everything stolen had to keep away and not sold for three days. They killed people who would have violated this code.
There are chapters dedicated to the advent of Berlusconi, like also to the latest governments.
What appear clear is that Cosa Nostra was a sort or organical part of Italy and after all of the deviated State.
Mafia can also be classified like a situation, a city where a bunch of people do the good and the bad weather and other people are like trapped: it musn't be the sicilian mafia. Mafia is synthesis of less growth, less development and less freedom for all the citizens.
Great book, let's hope to see Michele Santoro back on TV soon.
Highly recommended.
I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of this book.
Anna Maria Polidori
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