List of Cables released 2011-01-07, 2011-01-09, 2011-01-10, 2011-01-11 + Summaries
Sicilian mafia reeling from police and business actions
Created 2007-12-06 15:03
Released 2011-01-07 21:09
Reference ID 08NAPLES37
Sensitive but unclassified - handle accordingly.
Summary: A series of law enforcement successes in Sicily, including the arrest of a major mafia boss in November and a raid that netted 70 suspects on December 4, has the Cosa Nostra reeling. Business owners have increasingly banded together, refusing to pay the protection money that has traditionally been a major source of mafia income. The success in combating organized crime in Sicily stands in stark contrast to the general lack thereof in other regions of southern Italy.
Organized crime in Italy II: How organized crime distorts markets and limits Italy's growth
Created 2008-06-06 10:10
Released 2011-01-07 21:09
Reference ID 08NAPLES37
CLASSIFIED
Summary: This is the second of a three-part series; this message examines the economic dimension of organized crime in Southern Italy. According to a recent study, organized crime is the biggest individual segment of the Italian economy, accounting for seven percent of GDP. Wherever it occurs, organized crime in Italy distorts markets. While in some instances it lowers prices (but usually with adverse side effects), in general its activities (e.g., extortion, rigging of public contracts) lead to higher costs for the government, business owners and consumers. Estimates of how much organized crime costs the country are at best approximate, and do not always take into account the lost opportunities for foreign investment, the pernicious environmental and health effects, the losses due to corruption and inefficiency, and social costs related to higher rates of drug dependency and drug-related crimes. The three main organized crime groups in Italy earn tens to hundreds of billions of euros a year, depending on the estimate.
Organized crime crime III: Confronting organized crime in southern Italy
Created 2008-06-06 17:05
Released 2011-01-07 21:09
Reference ID 08NAPLES38
CLASSIFIED
Summary: This is the third of a three-part series (see reftels A-B for parts I and II); this message offers views on how to combat organized crime in Italy. The USG has a significant stake in the fight against organized crime in Italy. The Italian crime syndicates help support terrorist groups in Colombia and Central Asia through drug trafficking; violate the intellectual property rights of American businesses and artists; buttress organized crime in the United States; pose potential public health risks to U.S. military and dependents stationed in southern Italy; and weaken an important ally. Law enforcement cooperation has led to many important arrests, particularly in Sicily, but could be strengthened. However, the apprehension of criminals is not enough. Trials need to be swifter and sentences tougher. The seizure of mob assets, not only in Southern Italy but in the North and in other countries, is another way to hit hard at these groups, and the economy needs to offer young people an honest alternative to crime. Education and awareness-raising among politicians, average citizens and students are essential elements to any successful strategy against organized crime. The Italian Catholic Church can also play a more prominent role, as a couple of brave clerics have demonstrated. We can also publicly support grassroots strategies to foster a societal rejection of organized crime. ConGen Naples strongly supports OFAC's decision to add the 'Ndrangheta to its Drug Kingpin list.
Can Calabria be saved?
Created 2008-12-02 15:03
Released 2011-01-07 21:09
Reference ID 08NAPLES96
CLASSIFIED
Summary: If it were not part of Italy, Calabria would be a failed state. The 'Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate controls vast portions of its territory and economy, and accounts for at least three percent of Italy's GDP (probably much more) through drug trafficking, extortion and usury. Law enforcement is severely hampered by a lack of both sources and resources. Calabrians have a reputation as a distant, difficult people, and their politicians are widely viewed as ineffective. Much of the region's industry collapsed over a decade ago, leaving environmental and economic ruin. The region comes in last place in nearly every category of national economic assessments. Most of the politicians we met with on a recent visit were fatalistic, of the opinion that there was little that could be done to stop the region's downward economic spiral or the stranglehold of the 'Ndrangheta. A few others disingenuously suggested that organized crime is no longer a problem. Nearly every interlocutor complained that the region lacks a civil society. Amid the doom and gloom, there are a few positive signs, nearly all from young people. This most problematical of Italy's regions will continue to be a drag on the country until the national government devotes the necessary attention and resources to solving these thorny problems.
Sicily: Regional government in turmoil while the mafia is down, but not out
Created 2009-06-15 07:07
Released 2011-01-07 21:09
Reference ID 09NAPLES69
CLASSIFIED
Summary: As host to an important U.S. Navy base, location of recently discovered gas reserves, and home to 17,000 U.S. citizens, Sicily's future is clearly of interest to the United States. For now, political feuding has replaced the war on organized crime in the headlines: Regional President Raffaele Lombardo dissolved the regional cabinet on May 25 after months of tensions with his coalition partner, Prime Minister Berlusconi's party. The rocky relations between Palermo and Rome have resulted in Berlusconi's blockage of four billion euros in EU structural funds for the region. Political grandstanding blocked an American gas drilling operation last year, and threatens to at least delay an important U.S. Navy satellite communications system. However, the major challenge to economic development remains the Mafia, which may well be the principal beneficiary if the bridge over the Strait of Messina, talked about for centuries, is eventually built. A variety of interlocutors in several Sicilian cities told us during recent visits that the grip of organized crime has loosened through a combination of law enforcement success and civil society rebellion against the Cosa Nostra. Anti-Mafia prosecutors are optimistic they can continue to make progress against the mob, but note that ongoing budgetary and personnel constraints (particularly the difficulty in filling magistrate positions) hamper their effectiveness. The one exception we have heard to the optimistic outlook is from a journalist under police protection from the mob, who believes that most anti-Mafia measures have been superficial and have not taken root in society.
France's Changing Africa Policy: Part III
Created 2008-09-09 16:04
Released 2011-01-09 00:12
Reference ID 08PARIS1698
CONFIDENTIAL
SUMMARY: France's new Africa policy may have its most immediate impact on France's military presence in Africa. The French are planning to consolidate their military presence and want to orient it towards cooperation with Africa's sub-regional groupings (e.g., ECOWAS, SADC, et al.) and away from bilateral efforts. They foresee their military presence coalescing into two hubs, one on the Atlantic Ocean (Senegal or Gabon) and one on the Indian Ocean (Djibouti or French overseas department Reunion Island). Even these bases may eventually disappear if Africans prove capable of maintaining peace and security. Another priority will be the renegotiation of France's Defense Agreements with eight African countries, which now feature outdated provisions from the colonial era. The French announced in June 2008 the set of priorities that will henceforth frame French economic assistance to Africa. The Foreign Ministry is creating a fourth "sous-direction" (akin to a Department Office) that will more closely match Africa's sub-regional groups, and may also reconfigure French Embassies in Africa on a large, medium, and small basis to align priorities with budget constraints.
Subject: Brazil: Ambassador's Meeting With Costa Rican President Pacheco, 5 November 2004
Created 2004-11-09 16:04
Released 2011-01-10 00:12
Reference ID 04BRASILIA2787
SECRET
Summary: Ambassador Danilovich met over dinner in Rio de Janeiro on 5 November 2004 with Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco and vice foreign minister Vargas, who were in the city for the Rio Group meeting. Pacheco provided some candid and provocative observations...
Subject: Tocumen International Airport flying high but corruption causing drag
Created 2009-12-18 18:06
Released 2011-01-11 12:12
Reference ID 09PANAMA893
CONFIDENTIAL
Summary: A series of law enforcement successes in Sicily, including the arrest of a major mafia boss in November and a raid that netted 70 suspects on December 4, has the Cosa Nostra reeling. Business owners have increasingly banded together, refusing to pay the protection money that has traditionally been a major source of mafia income. The success in combating organized crime in Sicily stands in stark contrast to the general lack thereof in other regions of southern Italy.