EURO-COMMUNISM
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the Ita li an Communi st pa rt y gets its mo ney from Moscow? Is there
direct ev idence o f tha t? Is tha t a commonl y kn own thing?
Gaston e Oref ice:
You will n ever get direct ev iden ce.
William Ph illips:
All ri ght , but you sa id it is kn own ?
Gastone Oref ice:
No, no. I can tell you th a t we h a ve in Ita ly man y
corpo ra ti on s whi ch wo rk and trade w ith th e Sov iet Uni on.
William Ph illips:
It is done th a t way?
Gaston e Oref ice:
Yes. No t onl y th a t way. We know tha t the Commu–
ni st pa per, for in stance, gets a lo t o f ma teria l directl y. Like pa per, fo r
instance. No Communi st contes ts tha t thi s is tru e. Concerning the
attitude of the Unit ed St a tes, I wo uld like
to
po int o ut tha t the
present administra ti on 's a ttitude of noninterferen ce is much better
than the previou s a ttitude, whi ch was made to a p pea r stro nger but
not very h elpful in the Ita li an situa ti o n .
Somebody p o inted out the fact o f ri va l fo rces to the Ita li an
Communi st party. I wo uld say yes, we a lready h ave some. The
Communist party on on e side h ad to modera te its pos iti on in order
to get vo tes, and h as exposed itself to the criti cs from the Left. In '47
it is true tha t the Communi sts left the power in Ita ly. Toglia tti
decided that, beca use it was the onl y way to get more votes in '48.
Not becau se h e wo uld h ave been ready to leave power for o th er
considera tions.
It is no t true, and Mi ch ael Ledeen h as a lready po inted thi s out ,
that the Ita li an Pa rty docs no t have qua lifi ed intell ectua ls. On e o f
the deepes t stren g ths of the Ita li an Communi st part y is no t o nl y th at
they have qua lifi ed peopl e, but th at a pa rt of th e Ita li a n intelli gent–
sia suppo rted the Pa rty fo r man y yea rs.
William Ph illips:
Thank you. Did you want to add an ythin g? Would
you tell us your name, pl ease.
Mauro L ucent ini:
I am the corres pondent here o f on e of th e two o r
three bi g Ita li an n ews papers left tha t a re non-Communi st.. It is call ed
II Giornale
of Mi lan . As a n Ita li an , I would like to add ress myself to
the problem of th e rela tive impo rt an ce of th ese two qu esti o ns. Is the
Communist Pa rty indep endent from the Sovi et Uni on ? Is the Com–
muni st pa rt y a democra ti c pa rty? Aga in , as an Ita li a n , I strong ly
di sagree with those who think tha t th e ma in ques ti on is the depen–
dence on the Sovi et Uni on . As a n Ita li a n Democra t, I experi en ce
every day th e fact th at the most impo rt ant po int is wh a t these peopl e
are go ing to do with my freedoms.
For another reason I wo uld say tha t thi s is the ma in ques ti on to
