Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi (born
Benedetto Craxi in
Milan, Italy on
February 24,
1934, died in
Hammamet,
Tunisia on
January 19,
2000) was an Italian politician, the Prime Minister of
Italy from
1983 to
1987, and head of the
Italian Socialist Party from
1976 to
1993.
The diminutive of Benedetto used to be
Benito between revolutionary Italian families, as a Spanish reference to
Benito Juárez, until
Benito Mussolini made it inexpedient to use that form.
He is the second longest-serving
Prime Minister in
Italy since
1945, after
Silvio Berlusconi, and had strong influence in
Italian politics throughout the
eighties; for some time, he was a close ally of two key figures of
Democrazia Cristiana,
Giulio Andreotti and
Arnaldo Forlani, in a loose cross-party alliance often dubbed
CAF. Craxi had a firm grasp on a party previously troubled by factionalism, and tried to distance it from the communists bringing it closer to
Christian Democrats and other parties; his objective was to create an Italian version of Socialist parties like the German
SPD or the
French Socialist Party. The party reached its apex when it increased its share of votes in the general election of
1983, after temporarily abandoning its coalition with the Christian Democrats. However, the Italian Socialist Party never outgrew the much larger
Italian Communist Party, whose highly charismatic leader,
Enrico Berlinguer, was a fierce adversary of Craxi's policies throughout the years.
The main dynamic of Italian post-war politics was to find a way to keep the
PCI (
Partito Comunista Italiano) out of power. This led to the constant formation of political alliances between parties keen on keeping the
Communists at bay. Things were further complicated by the fact that many parties had internal currents that would have welcomed the Communists in the government coalition; in particular, within the DC,
Democrazia Cristiana (
Christian Democrats), the largest party in
Italy from
1945 to end of the "
Prima Repubblica".
Craxi was precocious and ascended to many levels public office at very early ages. In the international arena, he helped dissidents and Socialist Parties throughout the world organise and become independent. Notable recipients of his logistical help are the
PSOE "Partido Socialista Obrero Español" during
Francisco Franco's dictatorship, and dramaturg Jiri Pelikan, in the then
Czechoslovakia. A rare footage of Craxi trying to lay flowers at the tomb of
Salvador Allende has been unearthed from
RAI's (RAdiotelevisione Italiana) archives. There is also proof that part of Craxi's illegally earned money were personally given by him in secret to Arafat and his organization because of Craxi's sympathy for the Palestinian cause.
On
July 16,
1976, Bettino Craxi was elected to the vacant secretary's position, following years of factional fighting within his party. Ironically, the "old guard" saw him as short-lived leader, allowing each faction time to regroup. However, he was able to hold on to power and implement his policies. In particular, he sought and manage to distance his Party away from the
communists bringing it closer to
Christian Democrats and other center and center-right parties.
During Craxi's tenure as prime minister
Italy became the fifth largest industrial nation and gained entry into the
G-7 Group of most Industrialised nations.
Inflation was however often in the two-digits, and this was dealt with eliminating a wage-price increase link known as
scala mobile ("escalator"); under this system, wages were increased automatically depending on inflation. Abolishing the system did reduce inflation, but inevitably increased
strikes in the long term, as workers had to barter for better salaries. In any case, the victory of the "No" front in the
referendum called by the
Italian Communist Party was also a major victory for Craxi.Italian
national debt skyrocketed during the Craxi era, passing 100% of the
gross national product. The level of the Italian national debt is still well over 100% of the GDP.
The Sigonella Incident
Internationally, Craxi is perhaps best remembered for an incident in October
1985, when he refused the request by US President
Ronald Reagan to extradite the hijackers of the cruise ship
Achille Lauro. The hijackers, after protracted negotiations, were given safe passage to
Egypt by plane. Three
United States Navy F-14's forced the plane down to the United States Naval Air Facility (NAF) of
Sigonella. Though the Americans demanded that the Italian authorities extradite
Abu Abbas of the
PLO, Craxi stood firm on the grounds that the Italian Government had jurisdiction over its own territory, even though it was a joint Italian-
NATO base. He ordered Italian troops to surround the US Forces protecting the plane. This move was supposedly dictated both by security concerns about
terrorists targeting Italy if the United States had had it their way, and by the Italian tradition of
diplomacy with the
Arab world. Craxi's decisive character may have been relevant in this resolution.
The hijackers were later found guilty, and sentenced to relatively light
prison terms, for
hijacking and
murder of an American citizen,
Leon Klinghoffer. Craxi first gave the United States Forces permission to detain the terrorists, but he later reneged on the deal, and took the US Special Forces team into custody; they later escaped from Italy. Craxi then rejected the US
extradition order and let
Abu Abbas flee to
Yugoslavia. Abbas was later convicted in Italy
in absentia, and eventually died, officially from natural cause,shortly after being taken prisoner by American forces in the aftermath of the
2003 invasion of Iraq. This episode earned Craxi an article in
The Economist titled "Europe's strong man" and more tellingly, a standing ovation in the
Senate, which included his
communist opponents.
 |
The famous image of Bettino Craxi contested: protesters throw coins as he leaves Hotel Raphael as a sign of disgust |
Mani Pulite
The last main turning point of his career began taking place in the early
1990s. In February
1992, the
Socialist Mario Chiesa got caught by the police while taking 7 million lira bribes from a cleaning service.
Mario Chiesa sought Craxi's protection for nearly a month; but Craxi accused him of casting a shadow on the most honest party in Italy.
Feeling left out and denied compassion, Chiesa agreed to tell everything he knew. His declarations brought half of
Milan (
Socialists and
Industrialists) under accusation. As a consequence, a team of
Milanese judges began investigating the affairs of party financing;
Milan was then stronghold of the
Italian Socialist Party, and for some time Craxi's own brother-in-law,
Paolo Pillitteri, the mayor of the city, was brought under accusation (although he had immunity as a member of Parliament).
In July
1992, Craxi finally recognized the situation and what it was leading to. He made an appeal in front of the
Chamber of Deputies in which he told his fellow
deputies that everyone knew of irreguralities in the public financing of the parties and accused them (the deputies) of hypocrisy and cowardice. However, his speech remained unheard. Although Craxi took 5 months to realize the dangerous situation, some important deputies and heads of parties took even longer and by the time they knew, everything was undone and they were wiped off the political map.
Even Craxi was to receive the first of many 'Avvisi Di Garanzia' in December
1992. Many more followed during January and February until the Court of Milan explicitly asked Parliament the authorisation to proceed with the investigations (In Italy, members of Parliament are immune to prosecution unless the Parliament gives its authorisation). The authorisation was denied on
29 April after Craxi gave an emotional speech. However, the day wasn't finished. He returned to his
Roman residence at the Hotel Raphael where he isolated himself; on going out he was met by enormous crowd which chucked coins at him shouting "do you want these as well". This moment was remembered with agony, anger and scandal within the Italian political class.
The incident inevitably marked a turning point; nothing would be the same. In the regional elections of
1993 Lombardy passed to
Northern League leadership after
16 years of socialist rule. In some
regions, the PSI vote was under 4%. However, the disasters didn't stop there.
Facing the judges
In December
1993, after finally allowing himself to be investigated, Craxi was called to testify in front of
Antonio Di Pietro, the magistrate who had provoked what Craxi defined as a "false Revolution". At his side sat the secretary of the DC (Democrazia Cristiana, Italy's biggest party),
Arnaldo Forlani. Questions were asked about the maxi-
bribe ENIMONT which PSI and DC had received. In answering,
Arnaldo Forlani made the biggest mistake in his life, simply saying "what is a bribe?". On the other hand, Craxi defended himself in a curious way; he accused himself as well as many other parties, defining the bribes as "the cost of politics."
During the time of the ENIMONT affair, Craxi declared that in a country where
justice always ran slow, his case was moving at extraordinary speed (which it in fact did). His answer to all charges concerning
Tangentopoli (bribes) was that he had been singled out for illegalities which he wasn't the only one to commit.
In May
1994 he fled to Tunis to escape jail. His political career ended in less than 2 years; Italy's entire political class, incliding people like Andreotti and Forlani, was to follow suit.
Surprisingly, CAF (the Craxi-Andreotti-Forlani axis), which had made a pact to revive the Pentapartito of the 1980s and apply it to the 1990s, was doomed to be crushed by popular vote as well as by the judges. This initiative came to be called
Mani pulite (
clean hands). No party was spared, but in some parties corruption had become more common than elsewhere (either because of more opportunity or because of internal culture). To this day, some people (especially those who were close to Craxi) argue that some parties (such as the
Italian Communist Party) were left untouched, while the leaders of then ruling coalition (and in particular Bettino Craxi) were wiped off the political map.
The judges in Milan were put under scrutiny several times by different governments (especially
Silvio Berlusconi's first government in
1994), but no evidence of any misconduct was ever found. It was also alleged that the Communists could "afford" not to resort to corruption because of financing from the
Soviet Union. While this still remains unproven, such a fact would anyway have been covered by a previous
amnesty. Furthermore, public opinion was much less concerned about foreign financing than about the misappropriation of "their" money by corrupt politicians.
In the end, the Socialist party fell from 14% of votes to virtual nonexistence. An ironic note was that the shattered remnants party were excluded from seats in Parliament by a minimum vote requirement of 4% on national basis, a rule that Bettino Craxi himself demanded when his party was well above that level; the quota was actually lowered from 5% to 4% at the Socialists' request, but this was not enough.
As mentioned before, during the "Mani pulite" period Craxi tried to use a daring defense tactic: he maintained that all parties needed and took money illegally, however they could get it, to finance their activities. His defense was therefore not to declare himself innocent, but everybody guilty. While there may have been some truth to this, most citizens distrusted politicians, and Craxi's "defense" met no sympathy by the public and may have served to enrage it even further.
See also: Tangentopoli (Italian for bribeville
, used to indicate the corruption-based system that ruled Italy; Craxi is seen by many as its symbol)"Midgets and dancers"
Craxi's lifestyle was perceived to be inappropriate for the secretary of a party with so many alleged financial problems: he lived in the Raphael, an expensive Hotel in
Rome's centre (
Piazza Navona), and had a large villa in
Hammamet,
Tunisia. As the
Mani Pulite investigations were to uncover in the
nineties, personal corruption was endemic in Italian society; while many politicians, including Craxi, would justify corruption with the necessities of a democracy, political leaders at many levels enjoyed a lifestyle that should have been well out of their reach, while most parties continued having financial problems. Rino Formica, a prominent member of the Socialist Party in those years, wittily said that "the convent is poor, but the friars are rich".
Furthermore, Craxi's arrogant character won him many enemies; one of his most condemned actions was blaming corruption in the socialist party on treasurer Vincenzo Balzamo, just after the latter's death, in order to clear himself of any accusation. He also had controversial friends, such as
Siad Barre, dictator of
Somalia, and
Ben Ali, dictator of
Tunisia. The latter provided protection to Craxi when he escaped from Italy.
Craxi's entourage was sharply defined by a critic as a "court of midgets and dancers", indicating the often ludicrous and immoral traits of a system based on personal acquaintance rather than merit. Among the friends of Craxi's to receive smaller and larger favours,
Silvio Berlusconi is perhaps the most known: he received many favours, especially regarding his media empire, and had a decree named after him ("Decreto Berlusconi") long before he entered politics. Other figures were Craxi's mistresses Anja Pieroni, who owned a TV station in the Rome area, and Sandra Milo, who had a skyrocketing career in the state TV conglomerate
RAI.
Craxi was also known for never apologizing, as a matter of principle; whereas some did like this
autocratic trait in his successful years, most Italians expected an apology after the corrupt system had been exposed. Craxi never apologized, stating he had done nothing that everybody else had not been doing, and that he was being unjustly singled out and persecuted.
Escape to Tunisia
All this resulted in him being considered the symbol of
political corruption, and for a time he was probably Italy's most despised man. This was clearly visible when he, coming out of his hotel, received a salvo of coins that students threw to him as sign of disgust. Some of the students waved 1,000-
lire bills, singing
Bettino, take these too! to the tune of
Guantanamera.
Understanding that the risk of being jailed was growing very real, Craxi escaped to
Tunisia in
1994, and remained there, protected by Ben Ali's government. He repeatedly declared himself innocent, but never returned to
Italy where he had already been sentenced to years in jail because of corruption charges. He died on
January 19,
2000, at the age of 65, from complications of diabetes.
Dentro Bettino, fuori il bottino ("Bettino (Craxi) in (jail), out with the loot"); popular tag on Milan's walls from 1992 on.
La Maxitangente fu solo una maxiballa ("The maxibribe was just maxibullshit"); uttered in court, about a (then alleged) huge bribe paid to many parties and politicians by Raul Gardini. Craxi was later convicted.
La mia libertà equivale alla mia vita ("My freedom is my life"),
epitaph on his tomb.:The Mail Service proposed to release a stamp with Bettino Craxi's profile on it; it was discarded "because people would spit on the wrong side" -- the first joke in a book by comics Gino & Michele that became extremely famous in the late eighties and early nineties.
*
Italian Socialist Party*
Socialist Party New PSI*
Craxi Foundation, in Italian.
*
Craxi: Fallen kingpin. Article on Craxi's death by the BBC.
