Published March 24, 2020 | By Giacomino Nicolazzo
(Giacomino Nicolazzo is one of Italy’s most beloved writers. Born
and raised in Central Pennsylvania, he lives in a small village in
Lombardy where he writes his books.)
Montecalvo, Lombardy, Italy. As I sit here in my involuntary
isolation, it was just reported that overnight 743 more people died
and 5.249 new cases have been reported. This brings the total cases of
infection to 69,176 and the body count to 6,820. We take relief in
knowing that 8,326 people have recovered so far. (Numbers as of 3/24,
8:30pm in Italy.)
Most towns here in Italy, from the upper reaches of the Alps to the
ancient shores of Sicilia and Sardenia, while not deserted, are closer
to being ghost towns than the bustling centers of tourism, business
and daily life they were just a few weeks ago.
Stores and shops have been shuttered. Restaurants and coffee shops no
longer serve customers. Schools, universities, sporting arenas…even
our museums and theaters…all closed. Even the Vatican City has
closed its gates and armed patrols monitor the 20 foot tall walls that
protect it!
Streets and roads are now empty for as far as the eye can see.
Normally they would be filled with crazed Italian drivers in tiny cars
and scooters (the ones that sound like demonic insects) darting here
and there, reaching the limits of centrifugal force on our
roundabouts. In the piazze of our towns and cities, there are now
officially more pigeons than people.
Many of us know someone who has been infected and recovered. Some of
us know someone who did not recover…now they are dead. But everyone
knows someone who has been affected by this microscopic monster in one
way or another.
Sixty million of us are in lockdown…it is like a war zone here. We
are being held prisoner in our own homes by an unseen enemy that
sneaked in unnoticed…by most of us. As you will read in just a few
more minutes, there were those who knew something like this was
coming…or at least they should have.
So who is to blame? With all this craziness swirling like a whirlpool
at our feet, I just had to find the blame answer. And so I have spent
my free time (of which I have a lot in these days) digging and
researching. I was literally shocked to discover how this has come to
be.
I am not going to bore you with talk of Patient ‘zero’ who spread it
to Patient ‘1’ and how mathematics efficiently explains the rapid
expansion of infection. No…I am going to tell you how (as I see it)
the virus came to Italy.
It has everything to do with communists. Allow me to explain.
Beginning in about 2014, Matteo Renzi, the imbecile ex-mayor of
Firenze (Florence) acting as the leader of the Partito Democratico
(synonymous with the Italian Communist party), somehow managed to get
himself elected as Italy’s Prime Minister. To give you a proper
frame of reference, Matteo Renzi was so far left, he would make Barack
Obama look like Barry Goldwater!
At the same time that Renzi was leading Italy into oblivion, strange
things were happening in Italy’s economy. Banks were failing…but
not closing. Retirement ages were being extended…for some reason the
pension funds were dwindling or disappearing. The national sales tax
we call IVA (Value Added Tax) rose from 18% to 20%, then to 21% and
again to 22%.
And in the midst of all this financial chicanery, the Chinese began
furiously buying up Italian real estate and businesses in the North.
Now the reason I mention Renzi and the Chinese together is that
strange things were also going on between the governments of Italy and
China. A blind eye was being turned to the way the Chinese were buying
businesses in the financial, telecommunication, industrial and fashion
sectors of Italy’s economy, all of which take place in Milano.
To be brief…China was getting away with purchases and acquisitions
in violation of Italian law and EU Trade Agreements with the US and
the UK…and no one in either of those countries (not Obama in the US
or Cameron in the UK) said a thing in their country’s defense. As a
matter of fact, much of it was hidden from the public in all three
countries.
In 2014, China infused the Italian economy with €5 billion through
purchases of companies costing less than €100 million each. By the
time Renzi left office (in disgrace) in 2016, Chinese acquisitions had
exceeded €52 billion. When the dust settled, China owned more than
300 companies…representing 27% of the major Italian corporations.
The Bank of China now owns five major banks in Italy…all of which
had been secretly (and illegally) propped up by Renzi using pilfered
pension funds! Soon after, the China Milano Equity Exchange was opened
and much of Italy’s wealth was being funneled back to the Chinese
mainland.
Chinese state entities own Italy’s major telecommunication
corporation (Telecom) as well as its major utilities (ENI and ENEL).
Upon entry into the telecommunication market, Huawei established a
facility in Segrate, a suburb of Milano. It launched is first research
center there and worked on the study of microwaves which has resulted
in the possibly-dangerous technology we call 5G.
China also now owns controlling interest in Fiat-Chrysler, Prysmian
and Terna. You will be surprised to know that when you put a set of
Pirelli tires on your car, the profits are going to China. Yep…the
Chinese colossus of ChemChina, a chemical industry titan, bought that
company too!
Last but not least is Ferretti yachts…the most prestigious yacht
builder in Europe. Incredibly, it is no longer owned by the Ferretti
family.
But the sector in which Chinese companies invested most was Italy’s
profitable fashion industry. The Pinco Pallino, Miss Sixty, Sergio
Tacchini, Roberta di Camerino and Mariella Burani brands have been
acquired by 100%.
Designer Salvatore Ferragamo sold 16% and Caruso sold 35%. The most
famous case is Krizia, purchased in 2014 by Shenzhen Marisfrolg
Fashion Company, one of the leaders of high-priced, ready-to-wear
fashions in Asia.
Throughout all of these purchases and acquisitions, Renzi’s
government afforded the Chinese unrestricted and unfettered access to
Italy and its financial markets, many coming through without customs
inspections.
Quite literally, tens of thousands of Chinese came in through Milano
(illegally) and went back out carrying money, technology and corporate
secrets.
Thousands more were allowed to enter and disappeared into shadows of
Milano and other manufacturing cities of Lombardy, only to surface in
illegal sewing shops, producing knock-off designer clothes and
slapping ‘Made In Italy’ labels on them. All with the tacit
approval of the Renzi government.
It was not until there was a change in the governing party in Italy
that the sweatshops and the illegal entry and departure of Chinese
nationals was stopped. Matteo Salvini, representing the Lega Nord
party, closed Italy’s ports to immigrants and systematically began
disassembling the sweatshops and deporting those in Italy illegally.
But his rise to power was short-lived. Italy is a communist
country…socialism is in the national DNA. Ways were found to remove
Salvini, after which the communist party, under the direction of
Giuseppe Conte, reopened the ports. Immediately, thousands of
unvetted, undocumented refugees from the Middle East and East Africa
began pouring in again.
Access was again provided to the Chinese, under the old terms, and as
a consequence thousands of Chinese, the majority from Wuhan, began
arriving in Milano.
In December of last year, the first inklings of a coronavirus were
noticed in Lombardy…in the Chinese neighborhoods. There is no doubt
amongst senior medical officials that the virus was brought here from
China.
By the end of January 2020 cases were being reported left and right.
By mid-February the virus was beginning to seriously overload the
Lombardy hospitals and medical clinics. They are now in a state of
collapse.
The Far-Left politicians sold out and betrayed the Italian people with
open border policies and social justice programs. One of the reasons
the health care system collapsed so quickly is because the Renzi
government (and now continued under the Conte government) redirected
funds meant to sustain the medical system, to pay for the tens of
thousands of immigrants brought in to Italy against the will of the
Italian people.
If you remember the horrible earthquake that decimated the villages
around Amatricia, in the mountains east of Rome in 2015, you would
also remember how the world responded by sending millions of dollars
to help those affected.
But there is a law in Italy that prevents private donations to
charitable Italian organizations. All money and donations received
must be turned over to a government agency, who in turn is to
appropriate the funds as needed. But that agency is corrupt just as
are all the others.
Most of the money never reached a single victim in the mountains. The
Renzi government redirected the vast majority of those funds to pay
for the growing immigrant and refugee costs.
As the economy worsened under the burden of illegal immigration,
compounded by gross government spending and incompetence, unemployment
rose quickly…especially among young people. The unemployment rate
for men and women under age 35 is close to 40%.
So more money was diverted from the health care system and used to pay
what is known here as guaranteed income. Whether you work or not you
are paid here, especially if you belong to the PD! The government
simply raises taxes on those who do work.
Let me give you a quick example of the height of insanity to which
Italian taxation has risen. If you live in a building that has a
balcony or balconies…and any of those balconies cast a shadow on the
ground, you must pay a public shadow tax! I will say no more!
The point I am trying to make here is that not only did the Chinese
bring the virus to Italy (and the rest of the world) it was far-Left
politics and policies that facilitated it.
This should hopefully be a warning to Americans that while they work
to rid themselves of the China Virus, they should just as vehemently
endeavor to rid their government of any politician that circumvents
the Constitution and ignores the laws of the land…plain and simple.
Typos added
by my $#!& iPad, sorry!!!
