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 & 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 cust- mers. Schools,
universities, sporting arenas, even our museums & 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 right
answer. And so I have spent my free time (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 ‘0’ 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
communism. 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, 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& acquisitions in violation of Italian law and EU Trade
Agreements with the US and 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 Cos. representing 27% of major Italian
corporations. The Bank of China now owns 5 major banks in Italy, all of which
had been secretly (& 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 Corp (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 it’s 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 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 Govt (&now continued under the Conte Govt) 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 Govt of any politician that
circumvents the Constitution and ignores the laws of the land, plain and
simple.
(Giacomino Nicolazzo is one of Italy’s most beloved writers. Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania USA, he lives in a small village in Lombardy where he writes his books, Montecalvo, Lombardy, Italy}.
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(Source - Via e-mail from Col NK Balakrishnan (Retd)
