It was April 30, 1982 when the Fiat 131 driven by Rosario Di Salvo with Pio La Torre on board was hit by a barrage of shots. The fatal bullets were for the regional secretary of the Italian Communist Party who, in the ambush in via Li Muli, lost his life together with his driver. The order to assassinate the trade unionist came from Cosa Nostra and today, 42 years later, Palermo does not forget: this morning, in fact, the PCI leader and his collaborator were remembered during a commemoration ceremony, right in the place of the double murder .
A heartfelt moment, which comes at the culmination of days full of activities which involved, as every year, hundreds of students mobilized by the Pio La Torre Center. Yesterday the unveiling of the mural dedicated to the trade unionist which stands out on the facade of the Vittorio Emanuele technical institute where the national assembly against the mafia and corruption of the CGIL was celebrated. Vito Lo Monaco, president emeritus of the Pio la Torre Study Center, specified that “we have always explained to the young people we addressed, but indeed not only the young people, that repression is the responsibility of the State, prevention is up to us”.
VIDEO | The mural dedicated to Pio La Torre was inaugurated
President Mattarella: “Firmness and self-sacrifice to fight the mafia”
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, wanted to remember Pio La Torre with a message sent to the president of the center of studies and cultural initiatives named after him. “On the 42nd anniversary of the killing by the cowardly hands of the mafia of Pio La Torre and Rosario Di Salvo, the institutions and civil society unite in expressing feelings of great gratitude to their memory – writes the head of state -. The firmness and Their dedication in combating organized crime makes them emblematic figures of the values of justice and legality which are the foundation of a civil coexistence based on the rule of law. The fight against mafias requires above all acute awareness of their pervasiveness, in particular on the part of the young generations, in order to consolidate those principles at the basis of a society built on respect for the dignity of all citizens and free from any form of intimidation.
Governor Schifani: “His legacy is a turning point in the fight against gangs”
Even the governor of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani addressed a thought to the trade unionist on the anniversary of the killing. “I address to the memory of Pio La Torre the sense of profound gratitude of the entire Sicilian community – said the president – for his political and legislative commitment in the fight against the mafia. An extraordinary legacy that represented a turning point in the fight against gangs. The law that bears his name and that of Rognoni has made it possible to codify the crime of mafia association and hit Cosa Nostra in its most sensitive part, that of its assets. A strategy that has proven to be fundamental and which, as president of the Senate, I have personally wanted to carry forward by tightening the rules on kidnappings to always make the ideal legacy of a man and a great Sicilian like Pio La Torre alive in all of us.”
Mayor Lagalla: “Indelible memory, legacy impossible to erase”
In via Li Muli, at the ceremony for the anniversary of the assassination, among those present was the mayor Roberto Lagalla, who laid a wreath of flowers in his memory. “42 years after the mafia-style massacre – said the mayor – Palermo remembers the Honorable Pio La Torre and Rosario Di Salvo. A memory that will remain indelible because Pio La Torre’s legacy will forever be impossible to erase. his foresight and knowledge of the mafia phenomenon have made it possible to translate into law those that still represent cornerstones of the fight against organized crime: the crime of mafia association and the confiscation of assets from bosses must represent a beacon for all those who decide to dedicate their efforts within public institutions”.
Fontana (Chamber) and La Russa (Senate): “We remember the courage and sacrifice”
Among the interventions also that of the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana. “On the painful anniversary of the barbaric murder of Pio La Torre and Rosario Di Salvo we remember the courage and sacrifice of those who believed in the values of legality and justice – he said – for the love of their land. La Torre’s commitment also in parliament it allowed the introduction of new and concrete measures to combat the mafia. The memory and relevance of this teaching are alive and represent a perennial reference for the new generations, so that the antibodies are increasingly consolidated in every forum. to organized crime”. Echoing him is the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa: “Remembering their figures means passing on values of justice and legality, foundations of the Italian Republic. Our gratitude to those who have spent their lives fighting against organized crime and at a distance of many years it still represents a virtuous example for the generations of today and tomorrow”.
Furlan and Barbagallo (Pd): “Working to affirm the culture of legality”
The ceremony, created on the initiative of the PD, saw the participation, among others, of the Democratic Party senator Annamaria Furlan. “A great privilege to be able to participate in person. Today we remember the commitment of a great Sicilian political leader like Pio La Torre, whose example has pushed many generations to political and social commitment. We must not stop working for the affirmation of culture of legality, especially among the youngest. Keeping the memory of those who fought the mafias alive by paying with their lives is a necessary step to build social anti-mafia”. To his words were added those of the regional secretary of the Democratic Party, Anthony Barbagallo, who said that “La Torre’s thoughts are more relevant than ever: he was the first to understand that the economic dimension of mafia crime had to be targeted” .
Pietro Grasso: “Rognoni-La Torre law necessary for the maxi-trial”
Among the various testimonies, there is also that of Pietro Grasso, who was the side judge of the maxi-trial and then national anti-mafia prosecutor: “Without the Rognoni-La Torre law – he said – the maxi-trial could not have been held”. Grasso recalled that only with that law was it possible to judge the protagonists of twenty years of massacres and shed light on over 120 murders of which many men from institutions, journalism, the police force and politics were also victims. The importance of that law, which also introduced the confiscation of assets, was grasped by the leaders of Cosa Nostra. “Salvatore Greco – said Grasso – had sensed that the political air had changed: La Torre himself had somehow taken many deputies by the collar to get the law presented two years earlier passed”.
Cracolici (Anti-Mafia commission at Ars): “The mafia can be breathed but not seen”
Antonello Cracolici, president of the Anti-Mafia commission at the Ars, also spoke at the demonstrations in memory of Pio La Torre and Rosario Di Salvo, which began first in via Li Muli, the site of the ambush, then at the Architecture department of the University of Palermo. “The tools put in place 42 years ago by Pio La Torre to fight the mafia are still the most effective – he said -. Recognizing the mafia as a mafia organization and targeting the bosses’ assets. Today we are faced with a mafia that does not shoot almost anymore, you can breathe it but you can’t see it, but we have a duty to understand it to identify new tools, including legislative ones, to effectively combat it. One frontier on which we need to work more is the reuse of confiscated assets, some data tell us today that on this front the State has not had great success: over 95% of companies are put into liquidation and at the same time a large part of the confiscated assets are not returned to the community. On this front we must work harder and better”.
