Giulio Andreotti
Encyclopedia
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy
party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy
from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior
(1954 and 1978), Defense Minister
(1959–1966 and 1974) and Foreign Minister
(1983–1989) and he has been a senator for life
since 1991. He is also a journalist and author.
He is sometimes called Divo Giulio (from Latin Divus Iulius, "divine Julius", an epithet
of Julius Caesar
). The movie Il Divo
tells about Andreotti's links with the Mafia
and won the Prix du Jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
.
into a family from Segni
. He studied law in Rome, during which time he was member of the Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana (FUCI, or Italian Catholic University Federation), which was then the only Catholic university association allowed by the Fascist government
. Its members included many of the future leaders of the Italian Democrazia Cristiana (or DC, the Christian Democracy party). In July 1939, while Aldo Moro
was president of FUCI, Andreotti became director of its magazine Azione Fucina. In 1942, when Moro was enrolled in the Italian Army, Andreotti succeeded him as president of FUCI, a position he held until 1944.
During World War II Andreotti wrote for the Rivista del Lavoro, a Fascist propaganda publication, but was also a member of the then clandestine newspaper Il Popolo. In 1944 he became member of the National Council of DC. After the end of the conflict, he became responsible for the youth organization of the party.
In 1946 Andreotti was elected to the Assemblea Costituente, the provisional parliament which had the task of writing the new Italian constitution. His election was supported by Alcide De Gasperi
, founder of the modern DC, whose assistant Andreotti became. In 1948, he was elected to the newly formed Chamber of Deputies
to represent the constiuency of Rome-Latina
-Viterbo
-Frosinone
, which remained his stronghold until the 1990s.
to the President of the Council of Ministers
in the fourth De Gasperi cabinet, a position he held until January 1954, covering all subsequent cabinets led by De Gasperi and the following one led by Giuseppe Pella
. Among his actions was the signing of the act establishing the Canto degli Italiani as Italy's national anthem.
In 1954 Andreotti became Minister of the Interior. Later he was Finance Minister, and was involved in the so-called scandalo Giuffrè (a banking fraud) of 1958, due to his lack of vigilance as minister. The Chamber of Deputies rejected all accusations against him in December of the following year. In 1961-1962 he was officially censured by the Chamber for irregularities in the construction of Rome's Fiumicino Airport.
In the same period, Andreotti started to form a corrente (unofficial political association) within DC, which was then the largest party in Italy. His corrente was supported by the Roman Catholic right wing. It started its activity with a press campaign accusing the Deputy National Secretary of the DC, Piero Piccioni
, of the murder of fashion model Wilma Montesi
at Torvaianica
. After eliminating De Gasperi's old followers in the DC National Council, Andreotti helped another newly formed corrente, the Dorotei, to oust Amintore Fanfani
, who was on the left of the party, as Prime Minister of Italy and National Secretary of the DC.
On November 20, 1958 Andreotti, then Minister of the Treasury, was appointed President of the Organizing Committee of the 1960 Summer Olympics
to be held in Rome. In the early 1960s Andreotti was Minister of Defence. This was the period of the SIFAR
dossiers scandal and of the Piano Solo
, a coup planned by the neo-fascist general Giovanni De Lorenzo. Andreotti, as minister, was entrusted with the destruction of the dossiers. It has been ascertained that the dossiers, before being destroyed, had been copied and given to Licio Gelli
, the leader of the secret masonic lodge Propaganda 2, which was involved in numerous scandals during the 1980s, and with which Andreotti was frequently associated.
In 1968 Andreotti was named speaker of the parliamentary group of the DC, a position he held until 1972.
When he was Minister of Defense, he declared in an interview that the state had provided a cover for the far-right activist Guido Giannettini
, investigated for the Piazza Fontana bombing
. Andreotti was acquitted of having helped Giannettini.
In 1974–1976 Andreotti was Minister of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, Italy opened and developed diplomatic and economic relationships with Arab countries of the Mediterranean Basin
, a policy previously pursued only at non-government level, such as by Enrico Mattei
's ENI
. He also supported business and trade between Italy and Soviet Union
.
In 1976 the Italian Socialist Party
left the centre-left government of Aldo Moro
. The ensuing elections saw the growth of the Italian Communist Party
(PCI) and the DC kept only a minimal advantage as the relative majority party in Italy, which was then suffering from an economic crisis and from terrorism. After the success of his party, PCI secretary Enrico Berlinguer
approached DC's left-leaning leaders, Moro and Fanfani, with a proposal to bring forward the so-called "historic compromise
", a political pact proposed by Moro which would see a government coalition between DC and PCI for the first time. Andreotti was called in to lead the first experiment in that direction: his new cabinet, formed in July 1976, included only DC members but had the indirect support of the other parties, except the post-fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano. This support was based on the so-called non-sfiducia ("non-challenge"), meaning that these parties would abstain in any confidence vote. This cabinet fell in January 1978.
In March 1978 the crisis was overcome by the intervention of Moro, who proposed a new cabinet, again formed only by DC politicians, but this time with positive confidence votes from the other parties, including the PCI. This cabinet was also chaired by Andreotti, and was formed on March 16, 1978, the day on which Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the communist terrorist group the Red Brigades
. The dramatic situation which followed brought PCI to vote for Andreotti's cabinet for the sake of what was called "national solidarity", despite its refusal to accept several previous requests.
Andreotti's role during the kidnapping of Moro is controversial. He refused any negotiation with the terrorists, and was sharply criticized for this by Moro's family and by a segment of public opinion. Moro, during his imprisonment, wrote a statement expressing very harsh judgements against Andreotti. Moro was killed by the Red Brigades in May 1978. After his death, Andreotti continued as Prime Minister of the "National Solidarity" government with the support of the PCI. Laws approved during his tenure include the reform of the Italian National Health Service. However, when the PCI asked to participate more directly in the government, Andreotti refused, and the government was dissolved in June 1979. Due also to conflict with Bettino Craxi
, Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party
(PSI), the other main party in Italy at the time, Andreotti did not hold any further government position until 1983.
ship.
On April 14, 1986 Andreotti revealed to Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham
that the United States would bomb Libya
the next day in retaliation for the Berlin disco terrorist attack
which had been linked to Libya. As a result of the warning from Italy – a supposed ally of the US – Libya was better prepared for the bombing. Nevertheless, on the following day Libya fired two Scud
s at the Italian island of Lampedusa
in retaliation. However, the missiles passed over the island, landing in the sea, and caused no damage.
As Craxi's relationship with the then National Secretary of the DC, Ciriaco De Mita
, was even worse, Andreotti was instrumental in the creation of the so-called "CAF triangle" (from the initials of the surnames of Craxi, Andreotti and another DC leader, Arnaldo Forlani
) opposing De Mita's power. In 1989, when De Mita's government fell, Andreotti was called to succeed him. He remained Prime Minister until 1992.
This last period as Prime Minister was turbulent. Andreotti chose not to dissolve the cabinet after ministers on the left of the DC resigned after the approval of a law strengthening Silvio Berlusconi
's monopoly on private television. Tension with Craxi re-emerged after the publication of letters by Moro in which Andreotti saw a role for the leader of the PSI. The Gladio scandal, the violent political declarations by President Francesco Cossiga
and the first revelations of the Tangentopoli
corruption scandal characterized the last years of his premiership.
.
Andreotti was one of the most likely candidates to succeed Cossiga as President of the Republic in 1992. He and the members of his corrente had adopted a strategy of launching his candidature only after effectively quenching all the others, including that of Forlani. However, this strategy was thwarted by the assassination of judge Giovanni Falcone
in Palermo, which followed that of Salvo Lima, a Sicilian politician strongly linked to Andreotti, two months before. The national emergency which resulted led to the election of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
, a less political figure, supported also by the left.
Andreotti was untouched during the first stages of Tangentopoli, but in April 1993, after being mentioned in the declarations of several pentiti (people abandoning criminal and terrorist organizations), he was investigated for having Mafia connections. In 1994 the Democrazia Cristiana vanished from the political sphere. Andreotti joined the Italian People's Party
founded by Mino Martinazzoli, abandoning it in 2001 after the creation of La Margherita.
In 2006, Andreotti stood for the presidency of the Italian Senate
, but only obtained 156 votes against the 165 of Franco Marini
.
On January 21, 2008 he abstained from a vote in the Senate concerning Minister Massimo D'Alema's report on foreign politics. Together with the abstentions of another life senator, Sergio Pininfarina
, and of two communist senators, this caused the government to lose the vote. Consequently, Prime Minister Romano Prodi
resigned. On previous occasions, Andreotti had always supported Prodi's government with his vote.
and with the kidnapping
of Aldo Moro. A court acquitted him in 1999 after a trial that lasted three years, but he was convicted on appeal in November 2002 and sentenced to twenty-four years' imprisonment. The eighty-three-year-old Andreotti was immediately released pending an appeal. On October 30, 2003 an appeal court overturned the conviction and acquitted Andreotti of the original murder charge. That same year, the court of Palermo
acquitted him of ties to the Mafia, but only on grounds of expiry of statutory terms. The court established that Andreotti had indeed had strong ties to the Mafia until 1980, and had used them to further his political career to such an extent as to be considered part of the Mafia itself.
Andreotti defended himself by saying he took harsh measures against the Mafia while in government. Andreotti's seventh government (1991–92) did take a number of decisive steps against the Mafia, thanks to the presence of anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone
at the Ministry of Justice. "When he says that he took extremely harsh measures against the Mafia, he isn't lying", wrote Eugenio Scalfari
, editor of the newspaper La Repubblica
. "I think at a certain point in the late Eighties he realised that the Mafia could not be controlled. He awoke from his perennial distraction ... and the Mafia, which realised that it could no longer count on his protection or tolerance, assassinated his man in Sicily." His man in Palermo was Salvo Lima, who was murdered by the Mafia in March 1992. The murder of Lima was a turning point in relations between the Mafia and its political associates. The Mafia felt betrayed by Lima and Andreotti. In their opinion they had failed to block the January 1992 confirmation by the Court of Cassation
(court of final appeal) of the sentence in the Maxi Trial
of 1986, which had sent scores of Mafiosi to jail.
General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
to accept the position of Prefect of Palermo
. In a note dated April 2, 1982 to Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini
, Dalla Chiesa wrote that the Sicilian membership of Democrazia Cristiana linked with Andreotti were the most infiltrated by the Mafia.
According to Mino Pecorelli's sister, Dalla Chiesa met with Pecorelli (they were both members of the secret masonic lodge Propaganda 2) a few days before the latter was assassinated in 1979. Pecorelli gave Dalla Chiesa several documents containing serious accusations against Andreotti. Just before his death in 1993, Andreotti's collaborator Franco Evangelisti
described to a journalist an alleged secret meeting between Andreotti and Dalla Chiesa, during which Dalla Chiesa had shown Andreotti the complete statement of Aldo Moro (published only in 1990) containing dangerous revelations about Andreotti.
Dalla Chiesa was ambushed in his car and shot dead, together with his wife, in September 1982. The judges' reconstruction has proved that the Mafia had been planning the assassination of Dalla Chiesa since 1979, three years before he became Prefect of Palermo.
and Palermo, "Andreotti had long-standing relationships with people who, in several ways, were interested in the Banca Privata Italiana banker and member of masonic lodge P2, Michele Sindona
."
Such relationships became closer in 1976, when Sindona's banks went bankrupt: Licio Gelli
, chief of the P2 lodge, proposed a plan to save the Banca Privata Italiana to Andreotti, then Minister of Defense. Andreotti, however, could not get the plan approved by Minister of the Treasury Ugo La Malfa
. Later Andreotti denied any personal involvement, declaring that the attempt to save the bank was merely institutional. Andreotti did not terminate his relationship with Sindona when the latter fled to the United States.
Sindona, who in 1984 had been arrested, brought to Italy and condemned to life imprisonment for bankruptcy and for the assassination of Giorgio Ambrosoli
, was killed by a poisoned cup of coffee in Voghera
prison on March 20, 1986. Journalist and university professor Sergio Turone has suggested that Andreotti had a role in providing the poisoned sugar that caused Sindona's death, after convincing the banker that it would cause him only to faint, hoping that this would help him to be returned to the United States. According to Turone, Andreotti feared that Sindona would reveal dangerous details about his past life, after his conviction had shown that Andreotti had stopped supporting him.
, Vittorio Sbardella
, nicknamed Lo Squalo ("The Shark"), and the entrepreneur Giuseppe Ciarrapico. All of them were involved in corruption scandals. Andreotti was also a friend of Court of Cassation judge Franco Vitalone, who was investigated for his role in the Moro kidnapping and in the assassination of Pecorelli, and of bishop Fiorenzo Angelini, responsible for health matters in the Vatican
, who was involved in the Tangentopoli scandal.
|-
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior
Italian Minister of the Interior
This is a list of Italian Ministers of the Interior since 1861.-Kingdom of Italy:-Italian Republic:...
(1954 and 1978), Defense Minister
Italian Minister of Defense
This is a list of Italian Ministers of Defence since 1947....
(1959–1966 and 1974) and Foreign Minister
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
As in most countries, in Italy the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the most important ministerial positions...
(1983–1989) and he has been a senator for life
Senator for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , 7 Italian Senators out of 322, 4 out of the 47 Burundian Senators and all members of the British House of Lords have lifetime tenure...
since 1991. He is also a journalist and author.
He is sometimes called Divo Giulio (from Latin Divus Iulius, "divine Julius", an epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
). The movie Il Divo
Il Divo (film)
Il Divo is a 2008 Italian biographical drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It is based on the figure of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. It competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, where it was awarded the Jury Prize...
tells about Andreotti's links with the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
and won the Prix du Jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
2008 Cannes Film Festival
The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 14 to May 25, 2008. In addition to films selected for competition this year, major Hollywood productions such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Kung Fu Panda had their world premieres at the festival.The British press...
.
Early years
Andreotti was born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
into a family from Segni
Segni
Segni is an Italian town and comune located in Lazio. The city is situated on a hilltop in the Lepini Mountains, and overlooks the valley of the Sacco River.-Early history:...
. He studied law in Rome, during which time he was member of the Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana (FUCI, or Italian Catholic University Federation), which was then the only Catholic university association allowed by the Fascist government
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
. Its members included many of the future leaders of the Italian Democrazia Cristiana (or DC, the Christian Democracy party). In July 1939, while Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
was president of FUCI, Andreotti became director of its magazine Azione Fucina. In 1942, when Moro was enrolled in the Italian Army, Andreotti succeeded him as president of FUCI, a position he held until 1944.
During World War II Andreotti wrote for the Rivista del Lavoro, a Fascist propaganda publication, but was also a member of the then clandestine newspaper Il Popolo. In 1944 he became member of the National Council of DC. After the end of the conflict, he became responsible for the youth organization of the party.
In 1946 Andreotti was elected to the Assemblea Costituente, the provisional parliament which had the task of writing the new Italian constitution. His election was supported by Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics...
, founder of the modern DC, whose assistant Andreotti became. In 1948, he was elected to the newly formed Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
to represent the constiuency of Rome-Latina
Latina
Latina is the feminine form of the term Latino.Latina may also refer to:*Province of Latina, a province in Latium , Italy**Latina, Lazio, the capital of the province of Latina**Latina Nuclear Power Plant*Latina , a district of Madrid...
-Viterbo
Viterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
-Frosinone
Frosinone
Frosinone is a town and comune in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the Province of Frosinone. It is located about 75 km south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples Autostrada A1...
, which remained his stronghold until the 1990s.
First government positions (1950s and 1960s)
Andreotti began his government career in 1947, when he became undersecretaryUndersecretary
An under secretary is an executive government official in many countries, frequently a career public servant, who typically acts as a senior administrator or second-in-command to a politically-appointed Cabinet Minister or other government official...
to the President of the Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers of Italy
The Cabinet of Italy is a principal organ of the Government of Italy...
in the fourth De Gasperi cabinet, a position he held until January 1954, covering all subsequent cabinets led by De Gasperi and the following one led by Giuseppe Pella
Giuseppe Pella
Giuseppe Pella was an Italian Christian Democratic politician who served as the 32nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1953 to 1954. He was also President of the European Parliament from 1954 to 1956 after the death of Alcide De Gasperi.He was born in Valdengo, Piedmont...
. Among his actions was the signing of the act establishing the Canto degli Italiani as Italy's national anthem.
In 1954 Andreotti became Minister of the Interior. Later he was Finance Minister, and was involved in the so-called scandalo Giuffrè (a banking fraud) of 1958, due to his lack of vigilance as minister. The Chamber of Deputies rejected all accusations against him in December of the following year. In 1961-1962 he was officially censured by the Chamber for irregularities in the construction of Rome's Fiumicino Airport.
In the same period, Andreotti started to form a corrente (unofficial political association) within DC, which was then the largest party in Italy. His corrente was supported by the Roman Catholic right wing. It started its activity with a press campaign accusing the Deputy National Secretary of the DC, Piero Piccioni
Piero Piccioni
Piero Piccioni , was an Italian lawyer turned major film score composer. A pianist, organist, conductor, composer, he was also the prolific author of more than 200 film soundtracks.-Early life:...
, of the murder of fashion model Wilma Montesi
Wilma Montesi
Wilma Montesi was an Italian woman whose body was discovered near Rome. The finding of her lifeless body on a public beach near at Torvajanica, on Rome's littoral, led to prolonged investigations involving sensational allegations of drug and sex orgies in Roman society.The accusation of Ugo...
at Torvaianica
Torvaianica
Torvaianica or Torvajanica is a frazione of the commune of Pomezia, in the province of Rome, central Italy. Counting some 12,700 inhabitants, it extends for some 8 kilometers on central Lazio's littoral.-Overview:...
. After eliminating De Gasperi's old followers in the DC National Council, Andreotti helped another newly formed corrente, the Dorotei, to oust Amintore Fanfani
Amintore Fanfani
Amintore Fanfani was an Italian career politician and the 33rd man to serve the office of Prime Minister of the State. He was one of the well-known Italian politicians after the Second World War, and a historical figure of the Christian Democracy .Fanfani and Giovanni Giolitti are still actually...
, who was on the left of the party, as Prime Minister of Italy and National Secretary of the DC.
On November 20, 1958 Andreotti, then Minister of the Treasury, was appointed President of the Organizing Committee of the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
to be held in Rome. In the early 1960s Andreotti was Minister of Defence. This was the period of the SIFAR
Sifar
Sifar is an album by the Indian singer Lucky Ali. Sifar was his second album released by Sony music in 1998.Sifar is an Urdu and Hindi word meaning "zero"...
dossiers scandal and of the Piano Solo
Piano Solo
Piano Solo was an envisaged plot for an Italian coup in 1964, planned by then director of the military police, Giovanni De Lorenzo.The coup plans were investigated in 1967, when the journalist Eugenio Scalfari and Lino Jannuzzi uncovered the attempt in the Italian news magazine L'Espresso in May 1967...
, a coup planned by the neo-fascist general Giovanni De Lorenzo. Andreotti, as minister, was entrusted with the destruction of the dossiers. It has been ascertained that the dossiers, before being destroyed, had been copied and given to Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
, the leader of the secret masonic lodge Propaganda 2, which was involved in numerous scandals during the 1980s, and with which Andreotti was frequently associated.
In 1968 Andreotti was named speaker of the parliamentary group of the DC, a position he held until 1972.
Prime Minister
In 1972 Andreotti began his first term as Prime Minister of Italy. He held the post in two consecutive centre-right cabinets in 1972–1973. He also held important positions in subsequent governments.Guido Giannettini
- Activism :He was active in the OAS support networks, and arrested in 1961 in Madrid along with Pierre Lagaillarde.Giannettini participated to the newspapers Il Roma and Il Secolo d'Italia, as well as to L'Italiano, headed by Pino Romualdi...
, investigated for the Piazza Fontana bombing
Piazza Fontana bombing
The Piazza Fontana Bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on December 12, 1969 at 16:37, when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88...
. Andreotti was acquitted of having helped Giannettini.
In 1974–1976 Andreotti was Minister of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, Italy opened and developed diplomatic and economic relationships with Arab countries of the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
, a policy previously pursued only at non-government level, such as by Enrico Mattei
Enrico Mattei
Enrico Mattei was an Italian public administrator. After World War II he was given the task of dismantling the Italian Petroleum Agency Agip, a state enterprise established by the Fascist regime. Instead Mattei enlarged and reorganized it into the National Fuel Trust Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi...
's ENI
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
. He also supported business and trade between Italy and Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In 1976 the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
left the centre-left government of Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
. The ensuing elections saw the growth of the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
(PCI) and the DC kept only a minimal advantage as the relative majority party in Italy, which was then suffering from an economic crisis and from terrorism. After the success of his party, PCI secretary Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.-Early career:...
approached DC's left-leaning leaders, Moro and Fanfani, with a proposal to bring forward the so-called "historic compromise
Historic Compromise
In Italian history, the Historic Compromise was an accommodation between the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party in the 1970s, after the latter embraced eurocommunism under Enrico Berlinguer. The 1978 assassination of DC leader Aldo Moro put an end to the Compromesso storico...
", a political pact proposed by Moro which would see a government coalition between DC and PCI for the first time. Andreotti was called in to lead the first experiment in that direction: his new cabinet, formed in July 1976, included only DC members but had the indirect support of the other parties, except the post-fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano. This support was based on the so-called non-sfiducia ("non-challenge"), meaning that these parties would abstain in any confidence vote. This cabinet fell in January 1978.
Red Brigades
The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
. The dramatic situation which followed brought PCI to vote for Andreotti's cabinet for the sake of what was called "national solidarity", despite its refusal to accept several previous requests.
Andreotti's role during the kidnapping of Moro is controversial. He refused any negotiation with the terrorists, and was sharply criticized for this by Moro's family and by a segment of public opinion. Moro, during his imprisonment, wrote a statement expressing very harsh judgements against Andreotti. Moro was killed by the Red Brigades in May 1978. After his death, Andreotti continued as Prime Minister of the "National Solidarity" government with the support of the PCI. Laws approved during his tenure include the reform of the Italian National Health Service. However, when the PCI asked to participate more directly in the government, Andreotti refused, and the government was dissolved in June 1979. Due also to conflict with Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
(PSI), the other main party in Italy at the time, Andreotti did not hold any further government position until 1983.
1980s and 1990s
In 1983 Andreotti became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first cabinet of Bettino Craxi. He held this position until 1989, among other things encouraging diplomacy between the USA and the Soviet Union and improving Italian links with Arab countries. In this respect he followed a line similar to that of Craxi, with whom he had an otherwise troubled political relationship. Andreotti supported Craxi's moves during the hijacking of the Achille LauroMS Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro was a cruise ship based in Naples, Italy. Built between 1939 and 1947 as MS Willem Ruys, a passenger liner for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd. It is most remembered for its 1985 hijacking...
ship.
On April 14, 1986 Andreotti revealed to Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham
Abdel Rahman Shalgham
Abdel Rahman Shalgam is a Libyan politician. He was Foreign Minister of Libya from 2000 to 2009.From 1984 to 1995, before taking the office of Foreign Minister, Abdel Rahman Shalgham was Secretary of Libya's People's Bureau to Rome, Italy.From 1998 to 2000 he was appointed Secretary of Foreign...
that the United States would bomb Libya
Operation El Dorado Canyon
The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised the joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps air-strikes against Libya on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.-Origins:Shortly after his...
the next day in retaliation for the Berlin disco terrorist attack
1986 Berlin discotheque bombing
The 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany, an entertainment venue that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers...
which had been linked to Libya. As a result of the warning from Italy – a supposed ally of the US – Libya was better prepared for the bombing. Nevertheless, on the following day Libya fired two Scud
Scud
Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
s at the Italian island of Lampedusa
Lampedusa
Lampedusa is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The comune of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lampione. It is the southernmost part of Italy. Tunisia, which is about ...
in retaliation. However, the missiles passed over the island, landing in the sea, and caused no damage.
As Craxi's relationship with the then National Secretary of the DC, Ciriaco De Mita
Ciriaco de Mita
Ciriaco Luigi de Mita is an Italian politician. He served as the 47th Prime Minister of Italy from 1988 to 1989 and is currently Member of the European Parliament.-Biography:De Mita was born in Nusco, in the Avellinese hinterland....
, was even worse, Andreotti was instrumental in the creation of the so-called "CAF triangle" (from the initials of the surnames of Craxi, Andreotti and another DC leader, Arnaldo Forlani
Arnaldo Forlani
This article is about the Italian legislator. For the similar name used as an alias by terrorist Ramzi Yousef for Philippine Airlines Flight 434, see Ramzi Yousef....
) opposing De Mita's power. In 1989, when De Mita's government fell, Andreotti was called to succeed him. He remained Prime Minister until 1992.
This last period as Prime Minister was turbulent. Andreotti chose not to dissolve the cabinet after ministers on the left of the DC resigned after the approval of a law strengthening Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's monopoly on private television. Tension with Craxi re-emerged after the publication of letters by Moro in which Andreotti saw a role for the leader of the PSI. The Gladio scandal, the violent political declarations by President Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
and the first revelations of the Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.-Popular distrust...
corruption scandal characterized the last years of his premiership.
1990s and 2000s
In 1992, at the end of the legislature, Andreotti resigned as Prime Minister. The previous year, Cossiga had appointed him senator for lifeSenator for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , 7 Italian Senators out of 322, 4 out of the 47 Burundian Senators and all members of the British House of Lords have lifetime tenure...
.
Andreotti was one of the most likely candidates to succeed Cossiga as President of the Republic in 1992. He and the members of his corrente had adopted a strategy of launching his candidature only after effectively quenching all the others, including that of Forlani. However, this strategy was thwarted by the assassination of judge Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
in Palermo, which followed that of Salvo Lima, a Sicilian politician strongly linked to Andreotti, two months before. The national emergency which resulted led to the election of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro , Italian politician and magistrate, was the ninth President of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1999, and is currently a senator for life...
, a less political figure, supported also by the left.
Andreotti was untouched during the first stages of Tangentopoli, but in April 1993, after being mentioned in the declarations of several pentiti (people abandoning criminal and terrorist organizations), he was investigated for having Mafia connections. In 1994 the Democrazia Cristiana vanished from the political sphere. Andreotti joined the Italian People's Party
Italian People's Party (1994-2002)
The Italian People's Party was a Christian democratic political party in Italy-History:The party emerged as the successor to Christian Democracy in January 1994...
founded by Mino Martinazzoli, abandoning it in 2001 after the creation of La Margherita.
In 2006, Andreotti stood for the presidency of the Italian Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
, but only obtained 156 votes against the 165 of Franco Marini
Franco Marini
Franco Marini is an Italian politician and a prominent member of the centre-left Democratic Party. From 2006 to 2008 he was President of the Italian Senate.-Biography:...
.
On January 21, 2008 he abstained from a vote in the Senate concerning Minister Massimo D'Alema's report on foreign politics. Together with the abstentions of another life senator, Sergio Pininfarina
Sergio Pininfarina
Sergio Pininfarina is an Italian automobile designer, like his father Battista Farina. After joining his father at Carrozzeria Pininfarina, he quickly became integral to the company, and during his career oversaw many of the designs for which the company is famous...
, and of two communist senators, this caused the government to lose the vote. Consequently, Prime Minister Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
resigned. On previous occasions, Andreotti had always supported Prodi's government with his vote.
Mafia trial
Andreotti was investigated for his role in the 1979 murder of Mino Pecorelli, a journalist who had published allegations that Andreotti had links with the MafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
and with the kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
of Aldo Moro. A court acquitted him in 1999 after a trial that lasted three years, but he was convicted on appeal in November 2002 and sentenced to twenty-four years' imprisonment. The eighty-three-year-old Andreotti was immediately released pending an appeal. On October 30, 2003 an appeal court overturned the conviction and acquitted Andreotti of the original murder charge. That same year, the court of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
acquitted him of ties to the Mafia, but only on grounds of expiry of statutory terms. The court established that Andreotti had indeed had strong ties to the Mafia until 1980, and had used them to further his political career to such an extent as to be considered part of the Mafia itself.
Andreotti defended himself by saying he took harsh measures against the Mafia while in government. Andreotti's seventh government (1991–92) did take a number of decisive steps against the Mafia, thanks to the presence of anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
at the Ministry of Justice. "When he says that he took extremely harsh measures against the Mafia, he isn't lying", wrote Eugenio Scalfari
Eugenio Scalfari
Eugenio Scalfari is an Italian journalist, editor of the news magazine L'espresso , former member of parliament in the Italian Chamber of Deputies , co-founder of the newspaper La Repubblica and its editor from 1976 to 1996.-Biography:A law graduate with a interest in journalism and politics,...
, editor of the newspaper La Repubblica
La Repubblica
la Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Founded in 1976 in Rome by the journalist Eugenio Scalfari, as of 2008 is the second largest circulation newspaper, behind the Corriere della Sera.-Foundation:...
. "I think at a certain point in the late Eighties he realised that the Mafia could not be controlled. He awoke from his perennial distraction ... and the Mafia, which realised that it could no longer count on his protection or tolerance, assassinated his man in Sicily." His man in Palermo was Salvo Lima, who was murdered by the Mafia in March 1992. The murder of Lima was a turning point in relations between the Mafia and its political associates. The Mafia felt betrayed by Lima and Andreotti. In their opinion they had failed to block the January 1992 confirmation by the Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Italy)
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...
(court of final appeal) of the sentence in the Maxi Trial
Maxi Trial
The Maxi Trial was a criminal trial that took place in Sicily during the mid-1980s that saw hundreds of defendants on trial convicted for a multitude of crimes relating to Mafia activities, based primarily on testimony given in as evidence from a former boss turned informant...
of 1986, which had sent scores of Mafiosi to jail.
Assassination of Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
In 1982 Andreotti asked CarabinieriCarabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was a general of the Italian carabinieri notable for campaigning against terrorism during the 1970s in Italy, and later assassinated by the Mafia in Palermo.-Biography:...
to accept the position of Prefect of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. In a note dated April 2, 1982 to Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini
Giovanni Spadolini
Giovanni Spadolini was a liberal Italian politician, the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, newspaper editor, journalist and a noted historian.-Biography:Spadolini was born in Florence....
, Dalla Chiesa wrote that the Sicilian membership of Democrazia Cristiana linked with Andreotti were the most infiltrated by the Mafia.
According to Mino Pecorelli's sister, Dalla Chiesa met with Pecorelli (they were both members of the secret masonic lodge Propaganda 2) a few days before the latter was assassinated in 1979. Pecorelli gave Dalla Chiesa several documents containing serious accusations against Andreotti. Just before his death in 1993, Andreotti's collaborator Franco Evangelisti
Franco Evangelisti (politician)
Franco Evangelisti was an Italian politician, a member of Democrazia Cristiana and a long-standing follower of Giulio Andreotti.-Career:...
described to a journalist an alleged secret meeting between Andreotti and Dalla Chiesa, during which Dalla Chiesa had shown Andreotti the complete statement of Aldo Moro (published only in 1990) containing dangerous revelations about Andreotti.
Dalla Chiesa was ambushed in his car and shot dead, together with his wife, in September 1982. The judges' reconstruction has proved that the Mafia had been planning the assassination of Dalla Chiesa since 1979, three years before he became Prefect of Palermo.
Relationship with Michele Sindona
According to the Tribunals of PerugiaPerugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
and Palermo, "Andreotti had long-standing relationships with people who, in several ways, were interested in the Banca Privata Italiana banker and member of masonic lodge P2, Michele Sindona
Michele Sindona
Michele Sindona was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due , a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Mafia...
."
Such relationships became closer in 1976, when Sindona's banks went bankrupt: Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
, chief of the P2 lodge, proposed a plan to save the Banca Privata Italiana to Andreotti, then Minister of Defense. Andreotti, however, could not get the plan approved by Minister of the Treasury Ugo La Malfa
Ugo La Malfa
Ugo La Malfa was an Italian politician, and an important leader in the Italian Republican Party, of which his son, Giorgio La Malfa, is now president.- Early years and anti-Fascist resistance :...
. Later Andreotti denied any personal involvement, declaring that the attempt to save the bank was merely institutional. Andreotti did not terminate his relationship with Sindona when the latter fled to the United States.
Sindona, who in 1984 had been arrested, brought to Italy and condemned to life imprisonment for bankruptcy and for the assassination of Giorgio Ambrosoli
Giorgio Ambrosoli
Giorgio Ambrosoli was an Italian lawyer who was killed while investigating the malpractice of banker Michele Sindona.-Liquidating Sindona’s financial empire:...
, was killed by a poisoned cup of coffee in Voghera
Voghera
thumb|250px|The Castle of Voghera in a 19th century etching.Voghera is a town and comune of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Pavia...
prison on March 20, 1986. Journalist and university professor Sergio Turone has suggested that Andreotti had a role in providing the poisoned sugar that caused Sindona's death, after convincing the banker that it would cause him only to faint, hoping that this would help him to be returned to the United States. According to Turone, Andreotti feared that Sindona would reveal dangerous details about his past life, after his conviction had shown that Andreotti had stopped supporting him.
Political movement
Andreotti's corrente with the DC based its political support on the eastern part of Lazio. His local supporters included politicians Franco EvangelistiFranco Evangelisti (politician)
Franco Evangelisti was an Italian politician, a member of Democrazia Cristiana and a long-standing follower of Giulio Andreotti.-Career:...
, Vittorio Sbardella
Vittorio Sbardella
Vittorio Sbardella was an Italian politician, who was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies for Democrazia Cristiana from 1987 until few months before his death. He was nicknamed Lo Squalo .-Biography:Sbardella was born in Rome...
, nicknamed Lo Squalo ("The Shark"), and the entrepreneur Giuseppe Ciarrapico. All of them were involved in corruption scandals. Andreotti was also a friend of Court of Cassation judge Franco Vitalone, who was investigated for his role in the Moro kidnapping and in the assassination of Pecorelli, and of bishop Fiorenzo Angelini, responsible for health matters in the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, who was involved in the Tangentopoli scandal.
By Andreotti
- In response to opposition politician Giancarlo PajettaGiancarlo PajettaGiancarlo Pajetta was an Italian communist politician.Pajetta was born in Turin and become a member of the Italian Communist Party during his youth. In 1927 this caused him a condemn to two years of imprisonment...
, who had claimed that "power wears you out" (il potere logora), Andreotti said "Power wears out those who don't have it" (Il potere logora chi non ce l'ha). This sentence became proverbial and is widely recognized in Italy. - "Power is a disease one has no desire to be cured of."
- "GladioOperation GladioOperation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
was necessary during the days of the Cold War but, in view of the collapse of the Eastern BlocEastern blocThe term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
, Italy would suggest to NATO that the organization was no longer necessary." - "You sin in thinking ill of people; but you often guess right" (A pensar male si fa peccato, ma spesso ci si azzecca).
- "Never over-dramatize things, everything can be fixed; keep a certain detachment from everything; the important things in life are very few".
- "I recognize my limits, but when I look around I realise I am not exactly living in a world of giants."
- "Aside from the Punic WarsPunic WarsThe Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place...
, which I was too young for, I have been blamed for everything." - "We learn from the Gospel that when they asked Jesus what the truth was, he did not reply."
- "You always find the culprit in crime novels, but not always in real life."
- "I don't believe in chance, I believe in God's will."
- "My whole life is a dance." (In response to a question whether he had ever danced in his life.)
- "I don't believe that we can divide mankind into the wicked and the angels. We're all average sinners."
About Andreotti
- "He seemed to have a positive aversion to principle, even a conviction that a man of principle was doomed to be a figure of fun." Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
.
Popular culture
- In Italy, his detractors nicknamed him Belzebù (BeelzebubBeelzebubBeelzebub -Religious meaning:Ba‘al Zəbûb is variously understood to mean "lord of flies", or "lord of the dwelling". Originally the name of a Philistine god, Beelzebub is also identified in the New Testament as Satan, the "prince of the demons". In Arabic the name is retained as Ba‘al dhubaab /...
) or "The Prince of Darkness", because of his alleged Mafia links. Other disparaging nicknames include "The Black Pope" and "The Hunchback". - The fictional character Don Licio Lucchesi from the movie The Godfather Part IIIThe Godfather Part IIIThe Godfather Part III is a 1990 American gangster film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire...
, a high-ranking Italian politician with close ties to the Mafia, was modeled on Andreotti. Tellingly, before Lucchesi was killed, his killer whispered in his ear "Power wears out those who don't have it". - A joke about Andreotti (originally seen in a strip by Stefano Disegni and Massimo Caviglia) had him receiving a phone call from a fellow party member, who pleaded with him to attend judge Giovanni FalconeGiovanni FalconeGiovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
's funeral. His friend supposedly begged: "The State must give an answer to the Mafia, and you are one of the top authorities in it!". To which Andreotti answered puzzled, "Which one do you mean?" - The Italian satirical magazine Cuore referred to Andreotti as Giulio "Lavazza" – LavazzaLavazzaLuigi Lavazza S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of coffee products. Founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, it was initially run from a small grocery store at Via San Tommaso 10. The business of Lavazza S.p.A. is currently administered by the third and fourth generation of the Lavazza family.-...
being a leading Italian brand of coffee. This was a reference to the alleged involvement of Andreotti in the assassination of banker and felon Michele Sindona, killed in jail with a poisoned espressoEspressoEspresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
. - Andreotti is the subject of Paolo SorrentinoPaolo SorrentinoPaolo Sorrentino is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Naples.Sorrentino's first film as screenwriter, Polvere di Napoli, was released in 1998. He began directing several short movies, like L'amore non ha confini, in 1998, and La notte lunga, in 2001...
's Il DivoIl Divo (film)Il Divo is a 2008 Italian biographical drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It is based on the figure of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. It competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, where it was awarded the Jury Prize...
, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes film festivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. Andreotti walked out of the movie and dismissed the film, saying he believes he will in the end be judged "on his record". - On 2 November 2008, Andreotti appeared on the entertainment program Questa Domenica ("This Sunday"), broadcast on the Italian television channel Canale 5Canale 5Canale 5 is an Italian private television network of Mediaset, the media branch of Fininvest. Canale 5 was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980, based on a local channel, TeleMilano 58, founded in 1978....
. During his appearance, he seemed to suffer health difficulties and there was speculation he had suffered a stroke. Andreotti was twice posed a question and simply failed to respond, although his eyes remained open. The director cut to an advertisement break, following which Andreotti reappeared in seemingly better condition. The incident was presented as a consequence of technical difficulties.
External links
- "Les procès Andreotti en Italie" ("The Andreotti trials in Italy") by Philippe Foro, published by University of ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
II, Groupe de recherche sur l'histoire immédiate (Study group on contemporary history) - Il Divo a Paolo Sorrentino Film
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