EDITH KURZWEIL
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to socia lism. " Thi s fac t a lready had been underlined a few days
earlier when Crax i, a t the opening o f the PSDI , the Soc ial Demo–
cratic pa rty, spoke o f the ends a nd means the two pa rties sha re, a nd
warml y embraced G ui se ppe Sa ragat - the photo was carried in
nearl y every newspa per . T he Soc ia li ts' show of solida rity with those
on their ri ght , howeve r , not onl y is a n indication tha t they a re bitter
enemies of Moscow (the Communi st leader Enrico Berlinguer is cur–
rentl y "using" the events in Pola nd to convince Ita li a ns of
his
pa rty's
independence; a nd he met with Fra nce's Pres ident Mitterand in the
hope of rev iving a "Euroleft"), but is a bid for the votes o f a ll those
who are fed up with the C hri sti a n Democ ra ts - a nd there a re ma ny.
For thi s reason , the Soc ia lists can neither go a long with the radical
rhetori c within the
Federazione dei L avoratori ,
nor can they acce pt the
olive bra nch tendered by the LC R .
Actu all y, the Soc ia li sts a re in good sha pe since the month's
major scandal, whi ch is not ye t ove r , began by involving the Com–
muni sts and will rema in a heavy burden to the C hri sti a n Democrats
(DC). The C ommuni st pa per ,
L 'Unita,
published a docume nt
"proving" tha t a hi gh-level DC o ffi cia l had dealt wi th the R ed
Brigades a nd had delivered the equiva lent o f one a nd one-half
million doll a rs to free C iro C irillo, a DC -a ppointed assessor con–
nec ted to the camorra. Deni a ls, counteraccusations, a nd a mi ss ing
informa nt , a t first , led to public a pologies, although the la tter were
soon foll owed by proofs o f DC culpa bility - of its involvemen t with
the boss o f the camorra, R a ffaele C utolo, who had bee n impri soned
during the e ntire incide nt. The pay in g o f ra nsom , itsel f, is not
illegal. But tha t the DC "fo und" a nd pa id thi s um , pa id it to the
underwo rld , while claiming neve r to deal with te rro rists a nd spon–
soring a n titerrori st legisla ti on , was the la tes t indication of the pa rty's
corrupti on , a nd o f its bad fa ith . "They refused to save Aldo Moro,
their own leader, fo r reasons o f principle -why did they save a
minor functi ona ry?" Specul a ti ons abounded . But a fter the info rma nt
- a person currentl y indicted fo r va ri ous embezzlement s - was
"apprehe nded ," the mys tery deepe ned . The implicat ions of the a ffa ir
kept growing, when C u tolo's contac ts were found to incl ude
members o f both o f Ita ly's secret se rvices: eve ry new bit of ev idence
further di senfra nchi sed the DC. And when two co rpses were found
(one, that of a fa mous criminologist, in C utolo's di strict-its head in
a plas ti c bag on the front sea t a nd the body in the trunk o f the car –
the other , hi s ass ista nt , a n a ppa rent sui cide) connections between
the DC, the camorra, "bl ack" ter ro ri sm , a nd the scandal-ridde n
