“Today we celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of our country from Nazi-fascism. It is a day of celebration, but above all it must be a moment of reflection, remembrance and gratitude”. The mayor says so Franz Caruso which continues: “of memory because, as I like to reiterate, to project ourselves into the future it is necessary to know our past by remembering it so as not to repeat its mistakes. Of gratitude towards those, women and men, who opposed 20 years of dictatorship, restoring freedom to Italy.”
“Our very Cosenza identity has historical roots in that struggle for democracy and freedom and bears the name of Paolo Cappello, the socialist bricklayer murdered by fascists on 21 September 1924, a few months after the Matteotti murder. We must all be proud of this because that of Paolo Cappello and the many partisans and members of the resistance movements was a commitment marked by sacrifice, in the desire to lead us into a better and more just future. They succeeded.”
“They gave us a free and democratic society, which still belongs to us as Italians today, but which we cannot take for granted. Our Constitution which represents “the basis and guarantee of our freedom, of our democracy” is, today, under attack by the Meloni Government with the introduction of the premiership and with differentiated autonomy, which will divide Italy into 20 small little republics, increasing the gap between territories and inequality between individuals”.
“As Mayors we are doing everything in our power to block the legislative measure desired by the League. But the laws are approved in Parliament and by parliamentarians who, on this issue, have no sensitivity. This is because they do not have to give an account to their voters but to their political leaders who nominate them and send them to sit on the benches of Montecitorio and Palazzo Madama evidently to carry out the team’s orders”.
“Among these there are also the Calabrian senators, with the sole exception of Nicola Irto. Furthermore, violence, individualism and intolerance are still present in the world, in Italy and in Europe, where for too long now war has found a home and hospitality, generating death and destruction”.
“This is why all of us, even today, must feel like we are on the front line in defense of the values of democracy, freedom, tolerance and Peace, enshrined in our Constitutional Charter. In this renewed battle, creating awareness and spreading knowledge, which represent essential weapons to counter any attempt to return to that unfortunate past, is therefore a duty.”
“I therefore thank you – concludes Franz Caruso – how many, simple citizens, institutions and Resistance and Partisan associations, are committed to cultivating memory and transferring it to younger people, also fighting against absurd attempts at historical revisiting”.
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