Tangentopoli seen by American diplomats
“The End 1992-1994” by Andrea Spiri read by Tullio Fazzolari
Thirty years after the end of the first republic, the story of what really happened is still to be completed. “The End 1992-1994” by Andrea Spiri (Baldini + Castoldi, 236 pages, 18 euros) makes an important contribution to a definitive reconstruction using previously unpublished documents and until recently strictly inaccessible: the American secret archives. If anyone expects a spy story they will be disappointed. There are no particular and undue interference by the CIA in Italian politics. Instead, there are the testimonies of US diplomats and officials who in their reports sent to Washington perfectly describe what is happening in Italy. And very often they predict exactly what would happen next.
These were the years of tangentopoli, of the progressive and inexorable collapse of the traditional parties, of the killers of Falcone and Borsellino but also of the devaluation of the lira and the forced levy on bank deposits. And American observers are keeping a close watch on Italian misfortunes. But they do so with a more discreet approach than in past decades. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, Washington's need to interfere in Italian politics runs out. However, this does not exclude that there is concern for the evident instability of a country that is a historical ally of the United States. And it is understandable that we try to understand what could be the way out of this devastating crisis.
Thus began in 1992 a massive flow of information that American diplomats in Italy sent to the State Department. Andrea Spiri makes a detailed reconstruction from which it emerges that they knew everything in Washington. Even details that very few paid attention to, such as the fact that Milan's loss of credibility among foreign investors after the Tangentopoli hurricane could be measured by the 30 percent drop in hotel bookings.
Between 1992 and 1994 Peter Secchia and Reginald Bartholomew alternate as US ambassadors in Rome. Both have an endless series of official or confidential talks with exponents of Italian politics. And their main collaborators do the same work. The reports they send to the State Department and which Spiri has carefully selected clearly show the ongoing collapse. The minutes of an embassy meeting with the latest DC leaders seem almost like a group psychotherapy session with nothing to glimpse a jolt of pride let alone some political capacity. Enough for American diplomats to predict that within five years there will be a completely new political class. For better or worse, we got there but, as shown by "The End 1992-1994" our destiny was already written in the American secret archives …
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/tangentopoli-vista-dai-diplomatici-americani/ on Sat, 11 Jun 2022 05:01:34 +0000.