FTR-307 The Return of Il
Duce (One
30-minute segment) (Sources are noted in parentheses.) (
1. Supplementing numerous broadcasts about Silvio Berlusconi, this program
documents the May (2001) election of the Italian media mogul and the extent to
which his administration constitutes the return of the fascist government of Il
Duce (Mussolini). (For more on Berlusconi see: Miscellaneous Archive Show M-61, FTR #’s 28, 70-72, 94, 95, 113, 196,
217, 229, 252, 262, 267, 306.)
2. The broadcast begins with discussion of ideological and
functional continuity between the milieu of convicted Nazi war criminal Erich
Priebke and the Italian fascist forces grouped around Berlusconi. ("I Have
a Nazi for a Friend" by Giorgio Ferrini; L’Espresso;
3. Priebke has received financial support from Paolo Giachini, who has
used his considerable wealth to support the efforts of an array of Italian
fascists connected to the Berlusconi coalition. (Idem.)
4. Next, the program reprises an article discussed in FTR-306. This story highlights the explicitly fascist nature of
organizations grouped around Berlusconi, such as the Movimento Sociale Fiamma
Tricolore. ("Fascists Who Read" by Peter Gomez; L’Espresso;
2. Much of the rest of the
program consists of reading and analysis of an article about Berlusconi from
the British anti-fascist publication The
Searchlight. ("Mussolini’s Heirs Return to Power" by Alfio
Bernabei; The Searchlight; June/2001;
p. 32. Visit their web site at www.searchlightmagazine.com.)
3. This program documents,
among other points of information, Berlusconi’s membership in the fascist P-2
Lodge of Licio Gelli, Berlusconi’s formal alliance with Movimento Sociale
Fiamma Tricolore, connections between Berlusconi and the fascist cadre of
Roberto Fiore and Fiore’s connections to Guido Mussolini, nephew of the Italian
dictator. (Idem.) (For more about the P-2 lodge, see also: RFA #’s 17-21, 34, Miscellaneous
Archive Shows M #'s19, 21, 61 and FTR
#’s 2, 35, 42, 43, 53, 58, 64, 98, 154, 183.) (For more about Fiore, see FTR #’s 231, 267, 285.)
4. Berlusconi’s coalition
partner is Gianfranco Fini of the Alleanza Nazionale, the direct successor to
Mussolini’s fascist party. (As discussed in Miscellaneous Archive Show M-61 and FTR-229, Fini’s party was also a coalition partner with Berlusconi
in his 1994 government.)
5. FTR-307 highlights connections between Fini’s forces and the Forza Nuova of
Roberto Fiore. ("Political Posters of Forza Nuova" by Peter Gomez; L’Espresso;
10. The
program concludes with an examination of the institutional continuity between
Italian fascist terror groups and the milieu of Berlusconi and Fini.
("Blackshirts, Here’s Your Fascist ‘Cosa Nostra’" by Peter Gomez; L’Espresso;