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| During this period, Craxi was the first to expose in the Senate the fact that all parties needed and took money however they could get it to finance their activities. When he asked if anyone had never taken any money to finance his party, not a senator or party-head stood-up. | During this period, Craxi was the first to expose in the Senate the fact that all parties needed and took money however they could get it to finance their activities. When he asked if anyone had never taken any money to finance his party, not a senator or party-head stood-up. | ||
| Like most countries in the world the ] and ] vied for regional influence, and Italy was no exception. While the USSR financed the | Like most countries in the world the ] and ] vied for regional influence, and Italy was no exception. While the USSR financed the | ||
| ] (''Partito Comunista Italiano'') the US backed right, centre and moderate-left parties including the ]. Interestingly, the ''Mani-pulite'' was highly skewed against the Socialists and Bettino Craxi in particular. ] and ] leaders were left mostly undisturbed. The most public investigator in the ''mani-pulite'' affair, Antonio di Pietro, was himself the subject of investigations for kickbacks. | ] (''Partito Comunista Italiano'') the US backed right, centre and moderate-left parties including the ]. Interestingly, the ''Mani-pulite'' was highly skewed against the Socialists and Bettino Craxi in particular. ] and ] leaders were left mostly undisturbed. The most public investigator in the ''mani-pulite'' affair, Antonio di Pietro, was himself the subject of investigations for kickbacks. | ||
Revision as of 22:43, 14 July 2004
Bettino Craxi (February 24, 1934 - January 19 2000), born "Benedetto Craxi" was an Italian politician from Milan.
Craxi was the Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987, and head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993. He revitalized the party, which had been troubled by factionalism, and tried to distance it from the communists so that it could participate in coalitions with Christian Democrats and other parties. The party reached its height when it increased its share of votes in the general election of 1983, after abandoning its coalition with the Christian Democrats.
During Craxi's prime ministership, Italy become the fifth largest industrial nation and gained entry into the G-7. Inflation was tamed and GDP grew steadily, thanks to the elimination of a wage increase-price increase link known as scala mobile. Perhaps, he is best remembered internationally when in October 1985 he stood up to U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Following the highjacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, the highjackers, after protracted negotiations, were given safe passage to Egypt by plane. A squadron of USAF planes forced the plane down to the US military base of Sigonella. Though the Americans demanded that the Italian authorities extradite Mahmoud Abbas of the PLO, Craxi stood firm on the grounds that the Italian Government had jurisdiction over its own territory. He ordered elite Italian troops to surround the plane protecting it from the US military.
This episode earned him an article in The Economist titled "Europe's strong man" and more tellingly, in the Senate, a full-standing ovation which included his communist opponents.
Though he was one of the longest-serving prime ministers in Italian history, he was discredited by corruption charges during the mani pulite (Italian for clean hands) police investigation. His party was utterly destroyed, falling from 20% to almost 0% of votes.
During this period, Craxi was the first to expose in the Senate the fact that all parties needed and took money however they could get it to finance their activities. When he asked if anyone had never taken any money to finance his party, not a senator or party-head stood-up.
Like most countries in the world the USA and USSR vied for regional influence, and Italy was no exception. While the USSR financed the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano) the US backed right, centre and moderate-left parties including the PSI. Interestingly, the Mani-pulite was highly skewed against the Socialists and Bettino Craxi in particular. Communist and Christian-Democrat leaders were left mostly undisturbed. The most public investigator in the mani-pulite affair, Antonio di Pietro, was himself the subject of investigations for kickbacks.
Craxi moved to Tunisia in 1994, and there lived until his death from diabetes complications. He repeatedly declared himself innocent, but never returned to Italy where an arrest warrant was waiting for him. His main stance was that he would only return to Italy as a witness if a comprehensive investigation regarding all party-financing took place.
In 2003, for a second time, it has been stated that the Italian judiciary inquiry was in breach of the European Court for Human Rights statutes (http://www.echr.coe.int).