Word: mafioso
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...reason for the roundup was unique. Low-level "soldiers" have occasionally broken with the Mafia and decided to work with the authorities. But for the first time in years, a high-level Mafioso had decided to cooperate. Tommaso Buscetta, 56, known as "the boss of two worlds" for his extensive operations in Italy and Brazil, has spent the past two months singing to Italian and U.S. authorities. His song, like a good ballad, had told quite a tale. Buscetta, who is being kept under close guard in a secluded villa on the outskirts of Rome, had not only reportedly fingered...
Italian officials were delighted by Buscetta's offer. But they were also skeptical, knowing that no high-level Mafioso was likely to violate omerta, the code of silence, and disclose secrets about the criminal organization. Palermo Deputy District Attorney Vincenzo Geraci was understandably surprised when he met Buscetta in Brazil last June and found him willing to tell what he knew. In their initial interview, Geraci recalled, Buscetta told the prosecutor, "I am not your adversary." A month later, after Buscetta had been extradited to Italy and assured that his family would be protected, he began to talk, said...
...Palermo provincial council, the cupola is the body that settles jurisdictional conflicts and attempts to coordinate all activities outside Sicily. Dominated by the more powerful of the clans, the commission should sanction the murder of an important judge or politician, or approve the assassination of an uncooperative Mafioso in New York. Sometimes this system works. But on numerous occasions, says Pino Arlacchi, a sociologist on the staff of the Italian legislature's anti-Mafia commission, it does not. In fact, Arlacchi warns against giving too much importance to the structure Buscetta has described. "Certainly there are divisions of territory...
...sisters from the Eucharistic King convent awoke before dawn, attended Mass, then braced themselves for violence. Small wonder: the nuns had signed up to serve as poll watchers in the northern town of Vigan, where for decades local thugs have rigged elections with intimidating tactics that would make a Mafioso blush. But throughout the day, the women stood firm. When the mayor swept up to a polling center with three Jeepfuls of cronies armed with fraudulent ballots, Sister Teresita Felicitas blocked their way. Elsewhere, when a young tough ordered Sister Proxedor to leave her poll-watching center, she stood...
Yasir Arafat had the opportunity last week to dissociate himself from the mafioso style of politics that has long characterized inner PLO circles. Instead, speaking to reporters in North Yemen, the guerrilla chieftain, in an unfounded and preposterous charge, blamed Israeli agents for the Sartawi assassination. Despite such consistently irresponsible behavior, a number of European governments--Greece and Austria among-them--have established close relationships with PLO representatives. The PLO, they argue, should be welcomed into the diplomatic community by both the United States and Israel as the legitimate voice for Palestinian national aspirations...