“Neighborhood Soviets” and the fight against critical newspapers –

Edward Sirignano

July 07, 2024

Soviet occupation. With these two words we can indicate the new course of the Italian Left, the one proposed by secretary Fratoianni, after the unexpected result of the European elections. Just take a walk around the half-empty room of the Frentani conference center in Rome, to understand the dominant sentiment among Nicolone’s comrades. The turning point reigns around a single profile: Ilaria Salis. The newly elected MEP and former prisoner in Budapest, in jeans shorts and a tank top, accompanied by the person who freed her from Hungarian prisons, is the undisputed star. Everyone seeks her out, everyone speaks to her and thanks her from the stage. Her statements on property invasions, to the advantage of the less well-off, have made inroads into the hearts of those who define themselves as “the heirs of the 1996 Rifondazione”, as highlighted by the Campania leader Roberto Montefusco.

To those people, who hold and hug her, she says: «We are only at the beginning. The revolution has just begun». Reason why an elderly manager even considers her a Robin Hood 2.0. Former deputy Serena Pellegrino explains from the lectern, while her bosses nibble on a sandwich, (which is very reminiscent of Franceschini’s, when he launched secretary Serracchiani), how «a person becomes rich when he has a key to enter the house. Human beings have always looked for a home». Reason why the occupations of the champion Ilaria must not only be justified, but even become a model for the few young people left.

What stands out in the assembly, moreover, is above all the return of 94-year-old Luciana Castellino, who despite having difficulty moving around, urges what should be the “new PCI” to distinguish itself through “neighborhood soviets”. Standing ovation when the honorary president of Arci asks the “Roman suburbs” to take action to “redesign the cities”, just as happened in the distant days of the USSR.

The sections used for years and not paid for in the capital are, therefore, only the beginning of a journey. The goal is to start from the two-room apartments to reach the palaces of power. Starting from the next regional elections, there are those who argue that the time has come for Avs to demand what is due to it, like some regional presidencies. “Every agreement – a provincial secretary whispers – has a price”. Despite being a clear minority, in the canteen, set up for the occasion, however, there is no lack of criticism: “Those who have been putting up gazebos since adolescence – reports a supporter of the first hour – get the crumbs, while the latest arrivals are the undisputed masters”. The reason, which unites the ruling class of Si, is only one: the fight against new and old enemies.

Some even make a hierarchy out of it. In first place are the right-wing newspapers, which denounce the debts and distortions of the untouchables and then obviously the usual strong powers, capitalism and the inevitable Israelis. Someone even proposes a “party in the Palestinian embassy in Rome”. In short, the new course is underway. The alliance with the 5 Star Movement, according to Senator Giuseppe De Cristofaro, “can only expand a force, which is growing day by day”. The former governor of Puglia Nichi Vendola reports, in a whisper, to some of his group in the hall of the conference room: “It is the others, who are coming after us and not vice versa”. The problem, however, is how to harmonize the relationship with the allies, especially with Giuseppe Conte’s 5 Star Movement. “Now – reports a Puglian exponent of the party – the secretary is going to discuss with Beppe Grillo and his cronies”.