The Italian Government values the outlawing of the neo-fascist party whose militants devastated the headquarters of a union in Rome
“Our mistake was to act during the weekend. We should have gone one business day and caught all those bloody communists in the union in there. ” It is first thing in the morning and on the terrace of a cafeteria in the center of Rome, three friends comment on the attack that the CGIL headquarters, the country’s main union, suffered last Saturday during a demonstration against the use of the covid passport, that will be required from this Friday to all workers in Italy, both in the public and private sectors.
The protests led to a pitched battle through the streets of Rome orchestrated by the neo-fascist party Forza Nuova, with which the three friends, two of them in their 60s and the third a little younger, have no problem in expressing their support despite the presence of a stranger at the next table. Next time he will be fatter. Overall, we already know the days when the Police have fewer agents available in Rome, “says one of the three friends without giving more details about the origin of this disturbing information. Then he says goodbye while adjusting his helmet and riding off on a Harley-Davidson whose sudden roar scares passersby.
This serendipitous conversation reflects the increasing impudence that Italian neo-fascists display in everyday life. With the polls in voting intention led by the far-right party Hermanos de Italia, led by Giorgia Meloni, who last weekend was in Madrid hosting an act of Vox, including an extra-parliamentary political force with openly phil-Nazi and anti-Semitic positions, As with Forza Nuova, he dares to try to set the political agenda. Also outside its borders, as evidenced by the fact that, last Sunday, twelve of its members were arrested in Warsaw, where they planned to support the nationalist groups that wanted to blow up the march in favor of the European Union.
Forza Nuova has found a vein both in the economic malaise generated by the pandemic and in the reluctance of a part of Italians to use the ‘covid passport’, which has become an essential element for life in society in the pías. With the attack on the CGIL headquarters, however, it is possible that this political force has signed its own death sentence, as the Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation that could end its illegalization.
It is a decision on which the Government is also “reflecting”, as acknowledged on Tuesday by the Prime Minister himself, Mario Draghi, who the day before had visited the union’s headquarters to show his solidarity. The Democratic Party, the main progressive group in the country, has already asked Draghi to ban Forza Nuova, although the conservative forces of the heterogeneous coalition that supports the Executive have been against this decision.
Precedents
If finally the Justice or the Government, by means of a decree, choose to dissolve the ultra party, which would mean the closure of its headquarters, the seizure of its assets and the prohibition of the use of its symbols, it would not be the first time that This is how it works with a fascist-inspired group. It has already happened on other occasions since the 70s. “It is an effective measure because it makes political action difficult. It is not easy to rebuild after a forced dissolution, “explained Savero Ferrari, an expert on far-right movements from Italy, on Radio Popolare.
Forza Nuova also has its leader arrested since last Sunday. This is Roberto Fiore, 62, a well-known militant of the Roman neo-fascist movements who founded this party in 1997 with an ideology that mixes fascism with anti-globalization slogans and ultra-Catholic precepts. Since then he has appeared in numerous electoral appointments but has never managed to exceed 1% of the votes. Among the other 11 arrested after the attack on the CGIL headquarters is also his henchman, Giuliano Castellino, 44, who was already imprisoned in 2019 for assaulting two journalists.
Forza Nuova’s benchmark is the Romanian Iron Guard, an anti-Semitic terrorist movement that collaborated with the Nazis and committed massacres of Jews during World War II. The fascist character of the party led by Fiore was even confirmed by the Court of Cassation, the highest Italian court of appeal, which in 2010 ruled that Forza Nuova “is inspired” by the ideology of the regime led by Benito Mussolini.
Mandatory covid passport for workers
As of this Friday, all Italian workers, both those in the public and private sectors, are required to have a covid passport, which certifies that the vaccination has been completed, the disease has been overcome in the last six months or has been has performed a test for the pathogen with a negative result in the last 48 hours. This measure, applied by the Government of Mario Draghi to promote the immunization campaign, threatens to cause chaos in sectors such as the port and the transport of goods by road.
A day of protests against the so-called ‘green certificate’ is announced at the docks of Trieste, which could be extended to other ports in the country. There are also fears in the distribution, as a part of the truckers working in Italy come from Eastern European countries and are vaccinated with sera not recognized by the EU.
It is estimated that more than 3 million workers have not yet been vaccinated in Italy. If they show up at their jobs this Friday without the covid passport, they can be fined between 600 and 1,500 euros and also be suspended from salary.
The entry into force of this measure has multiplied the reserves in pharmacies and laboratories to undergo the test that detects the pathogen and allows obtaining the long-awaited certificate. According to the latest data, about 81% of the Italian population over 12 years of age has already completed the vaccination schedule.
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