In Italy, a cooperative resists the country's most dangerous mafia
Audio 02:35
A police car patrols next to a bullet-ridden road sign during a traffic check activity on November 18, 2021 in Vibo Valentia, Calabria.
(Illustrative image) AFP - GIANLUCA CHININEA
By: Blandine Hugonnet
3 min
Already 70 mafia convicted during the maxi-trial which has been held since the beginning of the year in Italy against the Ndrangheta, the most powerful of the Italian mafias.
This historic trial gives hope to the Calabrians who are organizing to change mentalities and revive the economy of the poorest region of the country
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Between sea and mountains, in the heights of Locride, under the sole of the Italian boot, we meet in the restaurant of Pino Trimbolli.
It is a popular address in the region that has aroused the interest of the mafia.
But this cook has chosen his camp: “
In Calabria, you cannot afford to remain neutral, it is all black or all white here.
I took the side of legality, that's what I believe in.
"
In the middle of a crowded room, this father of four boys tells us: after a series of intimidation, he is threatened with death by the Mafiosi in 2019. In order not to be alone in his fight, he therefore joined the
Goel group
, a cooperative that brings together entrepreneurs, farmers and workers victims of the Calabrian mafia, a group of 350 people who, like him, refuse to give in.
"Since then, the threats have stopped"
“
I didn't sleep at night, I felt lonely, so having another family - the Goel group in support - and having the opportunity to tell everything publicly because here again there is a real omerta, well, it attracted attention. Right away, there were plenty of people who chose to come to the restaurant, precisely because we had the courage to denounce. And since then, the threats have stopped.
"
The group effect, solidarity and media coverage of mafia attacks, these are the tools to protect oneself from the Ndrangheta, assures Vincenzo Linarello.
He is the manager of the Goel cooperative.
And for 20 years, he has fought alongside those who resist the Mafia.
“
They poured gallons and gallons of flammable liquids and a huge fire broke out here.
The flames were so strong that the roof collapsed.
"
Develop without going through the mafia
We are in a farm, overlooking the sea. Here at the entrance, a completely charred tractor, behind the floor of a burnt building. The scars of the last mafia fires suffered by this farm: seven in seven years. So to take the opposite view, after each intimidation we organize big parties. “
When the Ndrangheta strikes, people say, 'See, nothing will ever change here!' And a depressed people are better off on a leash. So we mobilize the inhabitants, national opinion around the victim and the party creates a surge of solidarity
, explains Vincenzo Linarello.
The more you attack us, the more you will strengthen us.
"
To challenge the most powerful of the mafias, which controls the poorest of the Italian regions, we must play on the economic ground, he assures us.
Boost employment and promote the area, often neglected.
The south of Calabria is difficult to access, lacks infrastructure and holds the record for unemployment among young Italians.
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To read also:
• The biggest trial against the 'Ndrangheta mafia opens in Calabria
• 'Ndrangheta trial: "most of the accused come from regional civil society"
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