Why Italian Mafiosi Bring Violence to a Deeper Level
And another dialogue from Mr. DeLucca, our foreign correspondent, in which he describes why the Italians tend to take violence to a far deeper level than is known to happen in the U.S. Is he writing fact or fiction? You decide...
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| Antonio Bardellino, first Casalesi boss. |
Anyway, in the book, camorristi are presented as brutal, blood-lovers, savage animals who would not have any old-fashioned Christian consideration for the life of women, children, senior citizens and pets. The anonymous reader of the blog asked me "what did I think about that?"
Well... honestly, our anonymous friend is on to something...
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Roy DeMeo ran a workhorse
crew for the Gambino family. |
That said, my opinion is that, in some ways, America's LCN has an element of glamour, or mystique, that other Italian criminal groups do not have. That element makes a big difference because it creates the perception that certain things are expected. Like, for example, the rule of not having facial hair for both associates and made members. I don't understand that. Many Sicilians I know, many camorristi and I myself have full black beards. Not a major thing, but a good example of what I am referring to.
Another issue: Believing that certain things are beneath you, or that they are behaviour that is out of bounds. I am speaking here specifically of violence.
And here's the main point of my article: The power of a criminal organization is measure by the strength, power, capacity and willingness of its workhorse-crews to do whatever is necessary.
Reading this blog, I have learned a lot about Roy DeMeo. As I understand it, he was an Angel of Death among American goodfellas. But to me, he sounds like just a regular, typical member of a criminal gang. The "brutal things" DeMeo did are "the rule," and not the exception, where I come from.
I recall a time when certain camorristi in the Avellino area had to kill some young men. I won't mention ages, but if you read Saviano's book you will have the idea. These younger members were a burden on the clan, stupid junkies.
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| Tommy Karate Pitera was considered a workhorse for the Bonanno family. |
Another case I can recall: one member had to kill his wife... or so I'd heard. This was because the woman, under the influence of alcohol, insulted the boss of the clan. The boss demanded that the ritual be carried out in a certain way -- in a symbolic manner to represent the vendetta. In Italy it is not enough to put two behind the ear, as they like to say in America. In Italy, how a hit is complete, what happens to the body afterward -- all these things send a message -- and sending messages is important; it keeps things stable. Both insiders and outsiders no that this is a serious business -- a deadly serious business. No one is kidding in this life.
I can only imagine what would happen if they tried to create a show like Mob Wives in Naples; silicone would be sprayed all over the place.
Strong work-horse crews are necessary -- these are the ones with the stomach to do what must sometimes be done, and in the manner in which it must be done.
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Greg "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa was one
of the Persico faction's key shooters during
the Colombo war of the early 1990s.
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I recall how one a time a certain rival clan started to move heroin and cocaíne with some Mexicans who were from, I believe, the Sinaloa Cartel but I'm not sure. The problem was that this the men in the cartel were like mad dogs and we knew that eventually they would start to move in to our territory. When they started to cross the rubicon, we knew some things:
They were good with an AK-47, but so were we. (If you have never shot an AK-47, you are missing a great and powerful experience.)
Also it was said that these guys were willing to kill anybody, including their mother...but so did we. (Again, "we" refers to some members of the clan.)
It was said that some of these people were actually former military and had received U.S. training to fight the cartels -- only they later joined the cartels and also formed some new ones. We could make no such claim, but we did have the best: We on the other side have always fought for our land.
On top of that, many clans came together, forming a group of 150 guys who were armed with AK-47s and M16s. They spoke with the Mexicans (30 of them) about certain issues involving territory. It is true we had larger numbers -- but backing that was the willingness of the camorristi to do anything to defend what is theirs, no matter what it takes, no matter what the boss asks of you.
A couple of years later I was in Sao Paulo trying to move in with some clan brothers and we encountered other Cartel people. Then, it was us who were short on manpower. We still had weapons -- and we had a meeting. We were ready to shoot every cocksucker there. How did the meeting end? Who can say...
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| Camorra violence in Italy. |
I always ask myself if the story with the Albanians in the gas station could have gone wrong. What would have had to happen? When your life then becomes a constant war, you carry the machine gun with you all day, drive around in your car all day long hunting the motherfuckers one by one until you and your crews are done with your rivals. Every day is war, every day you come face to face with your own death. But in Naples we know that, and we uphold the rules. We run a tight ship.
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| Heading toward Casalesi, Italy. |
Camorristi, mafiosi or American Goodfellas -- we have something in common, if I remember correctly: Our true nation, our true family, our true everything is that thing to which we belong. So nothing is more important than this thing of ours -- this cosa nostra, as you call it in America, or LCN.
Back in Naples and Sicily, that stills mean something.
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On a completely different topic, I'm glad to see an Italian Pope once again. I mean, it is true that he is the son of Italians born in Argentina -- but 6 out of 10 people in Buenos Aires are of Italian origin. The new Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, speaks in perfect Italian. I don't know about some of you, but I feel proud that an Italian entity that is the oldest political organization still alive is run by an Italian once again.
Viva la Italia.