One tragedy resulting from the
Naples trash crisis is that folks cannot trust their institutions, nor do can they find justice and accountability.
Napolitanos, already frustrated with government red tape turn around and find they have to pay
pizzo for “protection” to organized crime syndicates.
Yes, I mean the “mafia.” Notice that in my other articles on
The Guardian and
Triple Pundit that I am cagey about the term--I may be nine time zones away but I do not want to wake up and find my tires slashed--or worse.
But frustration with organized crime, the mafia, whatever term you prefer--
Napolitanos are fighting in back in part by taking to the streets and cleaning up their city. But how can they counter the strength of these vicious yet amorphous organizations?
Napolitanos cleaning the streets (courtesy CleaNap)
Now the European civil societies
FLARE and
European Alternatives is taking on this cause. European Alternatives will participate in FLARE’s
Otranto Legality Experience (
OLE) Conference in Otranto, Italy, September 5-11. The conference focuses on the ties between organized crime and globalization.
With mafia organizations from
Italy and other countries taking their turf wars to other countries, European Alternatives will host just one of the many panels during the OLE conference. This particular discussion will
cover:
- best practice of anti-mafia strategies in Europe involving the practice of confiscation of goods and properties belonging to the mafias
- how to establish a culture of legality among police forces and armies around Europe
- how to regulate financial markets as to reduce the possibilities of money laundering
- how to stop or reduce environmental crimes carried out by the so-called eco-mafias
- how citizens throughout Europe can come together in a trans-European space to find collective solutions to common problems
With municipal and federal budgets suffering, civil societies and non-profits will have an important role in pushing back against organized crime.
Photo is of Otranto in the Lecce region of Italy (courtesy Wiki Commons).
