Vincenzo Vinciguerra
Encyclopedia
Vincenzo Vinciguerra is an Italian neo-fascist activist, a former member of the Avanguardia Nazionale
("National Vanguard") and Ordine Nuovo
("New Order"). He is currently serving a life-sentence for the murder of three policemen by a car bomb
in Peteano in 1972. The investigation in this previously unsolved affair by prosecutor Felice Casson
led to the revelation of "Gladio
" networks around Western Europe.
(the most powerful explosive available at the time) used in the 1972 bombing came from a Gladio arms dump located beneath a cemetery near Verona
, whose existence was revealed to judges Felice Casson
and Carlo Mastelloni by Giulio Andreotti
, former Prime minister of Italy. Judge Casson's investigations revealed that Marco Morin, an explosives expert who worked for the Italian police and a member of Ordine Nuovo
far-right group, had deliberately provided a fake expertise, claiming that the explosives used were the same that the Red Brigades
used. However, Casson demonstrated that the explosives were in fact C4, which was used by NATO. A group of Carabinieri
had accidentally discovered on February 24, 1972, an arms dump near Trieste
, containing arms, munitions and C4 identical to the one used in Peteano the same year. According to historian Daniele Ganser,
According to Vinciguerra, the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing
was supposed to push then Interior Minister Mariano Rumor
to declare a state of emergency
Vinciguerra said: "With the massacre of Peteano, and with all those that have followed, the knowledge should by now be clear that there existed a real live structure, occult and hidden, with the capacity of giving a strategic direction to the outrages...[it] lies within the state itself...There exists in Italy a secret force parallel to the armed forces, composed of civilians and military men, in an anti-Soviet capacity that is, to organise a resistance on Italian soil against a Russian army...A secret organisation, a super-organisation with a network of communications, arms and explosives, and men trained to use them...A super-organisation which, lacking a Soviet military invasion which might not happen, took up the task, on Nato's behalf, of preventing a slip to the left in the political balance of the country. This they did, with the assistance of the official secret services and the political and military forces.
Vinciguerra explained how the Italian secret services
had protected him, helping him flying away to Francoist
Spain.
According to historian Daniele Ganser, Gladio stopped protecting Vinciguerra as soon as he started talking, which permitted his subsequent trial.
: "The terrorist line was followed by camouflaged people, people belonging to the security apparatus, or those linked to the state apparatus through rapport or collaboration. I say that every single outrage that followed from 1969 fitted into a single, organised matrix... Avanguardia Nazionale
, like Ordine Nuovo
(the main right-wing terrorist group active during the 1970s), were being mobilised into the battle as part of an anti-communist strategy originating not with organisations deviant from the institutions of power, but from within the state itself, and specifically from within the ambit of the state's relations within the Atlantic Alliance."
in December 1995 before judge Maria Servini de Cubria that Enrique Arancibia Clavel
(a former Chilean secret police agent prosecuted for crimes against humanity in 2004 ) and US expatriate DINA agent Michael Townley
were directly involved in Chilean General Carlos Prats
' assassination in Buenos Aires
(Argentina).
National Vanguard (Italy)
The National Vanguard is a name that has been used for at least two neo-fascist groups in Italy.-Original group:The original National Vanguard was an extra-parliamentary movement formed as a breakaway group from the Italian Social Movement by Stefano Delle Chiaie in 1960, initially based around a...
("National Vanguard") and Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo , full name Centro Studi Ordine Nuovo, "New Order Scholarship Center") was an Italian far right cultural and extra-parliamentary political and terrorist organization founded by Pino Rauti in 1956...
("New Order"). He is currently serving a life-sentence for the murder of three policemen by a car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
in Peteano in 1972. The investigation in this previously unsolved affair by prosecutor Felice Casson
Felice Casson
Felice Casson is an Italian magistrate and politician, who discovered the existence of Operation Gladio, a "stay-behind" NATO anti-communist army during the Cold War, while investigating an attack on three Carabinieri in 1972, for which two neo-fascists were convicted; the explosives used in the...
led to the revelation of "Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
" networks around Western Europe.
The 1972 Peteano bombing
Following juridical investigations, it has been discovered that the C4 explosiveC-4 (explosive)
C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
(the most powerful explosive available at the time) used in the 1972 bombing came from a Gladio arms dump located beneath a cemetery near Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, whose existence was revealed to judges Felice Casson
Felice Casson
Felice Casson is an Italian magistrate and politician, who discovered the existence of Operation Gladio, a "stay-behind" NATO anti-communist army during the Cold War, while investigating an attack on three Carabinieri in 1972, for which two neo-fascists were convicted; the explosives used in the...
and Carlo Mastelloni by Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
, former Prime minister of Italy. Judge Casson's investigations revealed that Marco Morin, an explosives expert who worked for the Italian police and a member of Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo , full name Centro Studi Ordine Nuovo, "New Order Scholarship Center") was an Italian far right cultural and extra-parliamentary political and terrorist organization founded by Pino Rauti in 1956...
far-right group, had deliberately provided a fake expertise, claiming that the explosives used were the same that the Red Brigades
Red Brigades
The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
used. However, Casson demonstrated that the explosives were in fact C4, which was used by NATO. A group of Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
had accidentally discovered on February 24, 1972, an arms dump near Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, containing arms, munitions and C4 identical to the one used in Peteano the same year. According to historian Daniele Ganser,
According to Vinciguerra, the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing
Piazza Fontana bombing
The Piazza Fontana Bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on December 12, 1969 at 16:37, when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88...
was supposed to push then Interior Minister Mariano Rumor
Mariano Rumor
Mariano Rumor was an Italian politician, a member of the Democrazia Cristiana and the 40th Prime Minister of Italy.He was born in Vicenza, Veneto...
to declare a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
Testimony concerning the 1980 Bologna massacre
In 1984, questioned by judges about the 1980 Bologna station bombBologna massacre
The Bologna massacre was a terrorist bombing of the Central Station at Bologna, Italy, on the morning of Saturday, 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack has been materially attributed to the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari...
Vinciguerra said: "With the massacre of Peteano, and with all those that have followed, the knowledge should by now be clear that there existed a real live structure, occult and hidden, with the capacity of giving a strategic direction to the outrages...[it] lies within the state itself...There exists in Italy a secret force parallel to the armed forces, composed of civilians and military men, in an anti-Soviet capacity that is, to organise a resistance on Italian soil against a Russian army...A secret organisation, a super-organisation with a network of communications, arms and explosives, and men trained to use them...A super-organisation which, lacking a Soviet military invasion which might not happen, took up the task, on Nato's behalf, of preventing a slip to the left in the political balance of the country. This they did, with the assistance of the official secret services and the political and military forces.
Vinciguerra explained how the Italian secret services
SISMI
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007....
had protected him, helping him flying away to Francoist
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
Spain.
According to historian Daniele Ganser, Gladio stopped protecting Vinciguerra as soon as he started talking, which permitted his subsequent trial.
Vinciguerra's allegations concerning NATO
Vinciguerra also made this statement to The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
: "The terrorist line was followed by camouflaged people, people belonging to the security apparatus, or those linked to the state apparatus through rapport or collaboration. I say that every single outrage that followed from 1969 fitted into a single, organised matrix... Avanguardia Nazionale
National Vanguard (Italy)
The National Vanguard is a name that has been used for at least two neo-fascist groups in Italy.-Original group:The original National Vanguard was an extra-parliamentary movement formed as a breakaway group from the Italian Social Movement by Stefano Delle Chiaie in 1960, initially based around a...
, like Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo , full name Centro Studi Ordine Nuovo, "New Order Scholarship Center") was an Italian far right cultural and extra-parliamentary political and terrorist organization founded by Pino Rauti in 1956...
(the main right-wing terrorist group active during the 1970s), were being mobilised into the battle as part of an anti-communist strategy originating not with organisations deviant from the institutions of power, but from within the state itself, and specifically from within the ambit of the state's relations within the Atlantic Alliance."
Testimony concerning Chilean general Carlos Prats' 1974 assassination
Along with Stefano Delle Chiaie, Vinciguerra testified in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in December 1995 before judge Maria Servini de Cubria that Enrique Arancibia Clavel
Enrique Arancibia Clavel
Enrique Arancibia was a Chilean DINA agent, who resided in unofficial exile in Buenos Aires after the assassination of Chilean Army Chief of Staff René Schneider on 25 October 1970. He was arrested by Argentine intelligence officers shortly after the extradition of Michael Townley to the US, and...
(a former Chilean secret police agent prosecuted for crimes against humanity in 2004 ) and US expatriate DINA agent Michael Townley
Michael Townley
Michael Vernon Townley is a US citizen currently living in the United States under terms of the federal witness protection program. A Central Intelligence Agency agent and operative of the Chilean secret police, DINA, Townley confessed, was convicted, and served 62 months in prison in the United...
were directly involved in Chilean General Carlos Prats
Carlos Prats
General Carlos Prats González was a Chilean Army officer, a political figure, minister and Vice President of Chile during President Salvador Allende's government, and General Augusto Pinochet's predecessor as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army...
' assassination in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
(Argentina).
See also
- Mariano RumorMariano RumorMariano Rumor was an Italian politician, a member of the Democrazia Cristiana and the 40th Prime Minister of Italy.He was born in Vicenza, Veneto...
(in an interview, Vincenzo Vinciguerra declared that he was asked to kill Mariano Rumor) - strategy of tensionStrategy of tensionThe strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
External links
- Daniele Ganser, "Terrorism in Western Europe: An Approach to NATO's Secret Stay-Behind Armies" in Winter/Spring 2005 Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations http://diplomacy.shu.edu/journal/new/.
- Intervista a Vincenzo Vinciguerra, July 8, 2000, by Gigi Marcucci and Paola Minoliti