toto wrote:Things are changing. Mandamenti are getting larger i.e. more families in less mandamenti. This trend started with Lo Piccolo when he expanded San Lorenzo to take in more families so now it has 10 families. They increase in manpower but still giving the appearance of separate families. Camporeale mandamento now has 10 families including Partinico and San Giuseppe Jato which 20 years ago had own separate mandamento each.
Yes they are. But what's interesting is that the families in Palermo broke up in 1910 to become smaller entities, but those separation of ties never truly ended the relationship (think Lucchese and Genovese). When the Mandamento system was implimented, it seems to have been almost a reconstitution of groups back to their original state (with some urban exceptions).
Would you say, your opinion, that the Mandamenti are almost psuedo compounded larger Families?
toto wrote:Things are changing. Mandamenti are getting larger i.e. more families in less mandamenti. This trend started with Lo Piccolo when he expanded San Lorenzo to take in more families so now it has 10 families. They increase in manpower but still giving the appearance of separate families. Camporeale mandamento now has 10 families including Partinico and San Giuseppe Jato which 20 years ago had own separate mandamento each.
Yes they are. But what's interesting is that the families in Palermo broke up in 1910 to become smaller entities, but those separation of ties never truly ended the relationship (think Lucchese and Genovese). When the Mandamento system was implimented, it seems to have been almost a reconstitution of groups back to their original state (with some urban exceptions).
Would you say, your opinion, that the Mandamenti are almost psuedo compounded larger Families?
This is the main reason to make mandamenti bigger. Lo Piccolo did it for San Lorenzo and created a new family in Zen an area considered so bad Toto Riina refused to allow guys from there to join. But Lo Piccolo did it so he could had more shooters to take Cosa Nostra. Same for Camporeale mandamento being enlarged in the past few years. They are trying to become more powerful with more guys to command.
B. wrote:I recommend messaging JimmyB on here if you want to talk about the factions in Castellammare and some of the historical relationships. He's got a lot of knowledge on that topic and I've learned a lot from him. He also doesn't try to paint an unrealistic picture of the Buccellatos even though he's related to them.
Joe Bonanno painted a certain picture of his own clan within the Castellammare family, but he didn't experience their activities much in Sicily firsthand and his opinion was biased. The Buccellatos are probably the most connected family in the history of the city and probably have their own viewpoint on what happened with the Magaddinos and Bonventres. Like Felice said, it is the Buccellatos who have always been the power in that family, so they probably viewed the Bonventre-Magaddino clan as a rebel faction in their family.
The Asaros have been related to the Bonventres for many generations now and that's probably how they're connected to Jack Bonventre and his father Antonino, both current Queens Bonanno members. You don't typically see the Asaros mentioned in the same breath as the other names that have been powerful both here and in Sicily (i.e. Bonventre, Magaddino, Buccellato, Evola) but they have had members in the Bonanno family now for well over 100 years as well as powerful members in Sicily. Not too many families go back that far in both countries.
Thanks B. Yes, let me clear up a few things.
Nino Buccellato was Cola Buccellato's primo cugino, not father/son. Cola died in 1988, but as Felice points out: Nino Buccellato was assassinated in 1981. Both of Cola's sons (Felice and Francesco) were murdered by the Corleonesi (or at least Corleone cosca gave the orders). There is one org in CDG, but the Magaddino/Bonventre Alliance and Buccellatos represented different factions. Sometimes they got along and other times not so much. After WWII, the Magaddino clan was the hegemonic faction, so the Buccellatos strengthened their position by intermarrying with powerful clans in the region (notably the Rimi and Minore families). The Buccellatos reemerged as leading family during late 60s (i think this corresponded to Gaspare and Giuseppe Magaddino being on the run for drug charges). Nino was the capofamiglia until he was gunned down in '81. At this time a third faction emerged: the pro-Corleonesi. They never trusted the old guard families like Buccellato and Magaddino. My understanding is that to this day the pro-Corleonesi faction runs CDG.
B. wrote:I recommend messaging JimmyB on here if you want to talk about the factions in Castellammare and some of the historical relationships. He's got a lot of knowledge on that topic and I've learned a lot from him. He also doesn't try to paint an unrealistic picture of the Buccellatos even though he's related to them.
Joe Bonanno painted a certain picture of his own clan within the Castellammare family, but he didn't experience their activities much in Sicily firsthand and his opinion was biased. The Buccellatos are probably the most connected family in the history of the city and probably have their own viewpoint on what happened with the Magaddinos and Bonventres. Like Felice said, it is the Buccellatos who have always been the power in that family, so they probably viewed the Bonventre-Magaddino clan as a rebel faction in their family.
The Asaros have been related to the Bonventres for many generations now and that's probably how they're connected to Jack Bonventre and his father Antonino, both current Queens Bonanno members. You don't typically see the Asaros mentioned in the same breath as the other names that have been powerful both here and in Sicily (i.e. Bonventre, Magaddino, Buccellato, Evola) but they have had members in the Bonanno family now for well over 100 years as well as powerful members in Sicily. Not too many families go back that far in both countries.
Thanks B. Yes, let me clear up a few things.
Nino Buccellato was Cola Buccellato's primo cugino, not father/son. Cola died in 1988, but as Felice points out: Nino Buccellato was assassinated in 1981. Both of Cola's sons (Felice and Francesco) were murdered by the Corleonesi (or at least Corleone cosca gave the orders). There is one org in CDG, but the Magaddino/Bonventre Alliance and Buccellatos represented different factions. Sometimes they got along and other times not so much. After WWII, the Magaddino clan was the hegemonic faction, so the Buccellatos strengthened their position by intermarrying with powerful clans in the region (notably the Rimi and Minore families). The Buccellatos reemerged as leading family during late 60s (i think this corresponded to Gaspare and Giuseppe Magaddino being on the run for drug charges). Nino was the capofamiglia until he was gunned down in '81. At this time a third faction emerged: the pro-Corleonesi. They never trusted the old guard families like Buccellato and Magaddino. My understanding is that to this day the pro-Corleonesi faction runs CDG.
I know this thread is kind of all over the place, but I was thinking about B.'s observation that you don't usually see "Asaro" mentioned as one of the power-broker families in CDG. I agree. It's interesting because in the mid to late 1800s, Asaro was one of the most important political families in CDG. Then you don't really hear about them in Sicily for a while. They were obviously active in Brooklyn, but I don't see any references to "Asaro" in Sicily. JB doesn't mention them in Sicily. Danilo Dolci doesn't mention the name. I don't see "Asaro" in any of the Italian parliamentary reports, or the Congressional investigations of international drug trafficking. Not until Mariano Asaro do you see that name mentioned again as an important family. And that starts in 1990s. Presumably Mariano get involved because he was socialized in the ways of CN, but I'm not aware of any other Asaro members active in CDG. We know that he spent a lot of time in the US. I wonder if his NY relatives had an influence on him?
Salvatore Lupo's new book "The Two Mafias" has a lot to add about the history of CDG. For the American stuff he's not as accurate and the book is expensive, but it still contains a lot of valuable info.
What is the relationship of Evola's to Buccellato's? There is the New York Natale and also another Natale in Castellammare del.Golfo who was murdered in 1990 and he was the one who put the hit squad together for the murder of the judge Giangiacomo Ciacco Montalto in January 1983.
I found a page in the internet where some people mentioned that Asaro's originally are from Mazara del.Vallo and so there are not so many in Castellammare but mostly they are in Mazara. Anyway, I guess they could have been soldiers or only associates between the time of the ones who went to New York and emergence of Mariano 'u miricanu'
there were two antonino buccellato. one was nicola's son, the second was giuseppe's son. giuseppe's son is the one married to the daughter of vincenzo rimi.
so jimmyb, according to you, it was this last one who get killed? I thought it was nicola's son
toto wrote:What is the relationship of Evola's to Buccellato's?
As far as the Bonanno ones go, Giuseppe Buccellato was Natale Evola's cousin I believe, but not sure what the exact relation is or how far removed. Not first cousin I don't think.
Giuseppe's father was Filippo Buccellato, supposedly a member in CDG. His mother was a DiBenedetto. It seems like you can trace almost any mob-linked family tree in CDG to certain names, in particular the Bucellatos and Domingos.
-CDG is very powerful because it didn't get hit by the police too much and also because of the heavy involvement in weapons and drug trafficking
-Also powerful because presence of some elements which run around Cosa Nostra - freemasons and deviated secret services
-CDG is a crossroads between America and Arab countries
-Secret services are in contact with extermist elements in Arab world and it was the case for Libya
-Francesco Messina Denaro told him he's got contacts in Tunisia
-Also Francesco taught him the real way Cosa Nostra communicates - with a wink or a nod of the head
-Because of freemasons and secret services CDG has a lot of information even on the level of secret services and that's why Toto Riina "love" for it
-Cosa Nostra is not a political association. It makes alliance which are in its interest
-Already Cosa Nostra is in contact with terrorists of Arab world
Those contacts with terrorists in the ME seems like a really bad idea. That will only bring a lot of extra heat from LE across the world that they otherwise would not have. This is from 10 years ago so maybe they have backed off from that.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
Pogo The Clown wrote:Those contacts with terrorists in the ME seems like a really bad idea. That will only bring a lot of extra heat from LE across the world that they otherwise would not have. This is from 10 years ago so maybe they have backed off from that.
Pogo
These types of contacts will always have a green light from secret services. Cosa Nostra supplies weapons according to who secret services wants to back.
-CDG is very powerful because it didn't get hit by the police too much and also because of the heavy involvement in weapons and drug trafficking
-Also powerful because presence of some elements which run around Cosa Nostra - freemasons and deviated secret services
-CDG is a crossroads between America and Arab countries
-Secret services are in contact with extermist elements in Arab world and it was the case for Libya
-Francesco Messina Denaro told him he's got contacts in Tunisia
-Also Francesco taught him the real way Cosa Nostra communicates - with a wink or a nod of the head
-Because of freemasons and secret services CDG has a lot of information even on the level of secret services and that's why Toto Riina "love" for it
-Cosa Nostra is not a political association. It makes alliance which are in its interest
-Already Cosa Nostra is in contact with terrorists of Arab world
So much for that goofball saying ISIS needs to fear the Sicilian mafia...
Thanks for the info, though. Castellammare continues to be an enigma.
-CDG is very powerful because it didn't get hit by the police too much and also because of the heavy involvement in weapons and drug trafficking
-Also powerful because presence of some elements which run around Cosa Nostra - freemasons and deviated secret services
-CDG is a crossroads between America and Arab countries
-Secret services are in contact with extermist elements in Arab world and it was the case for Libya
-Francesco Messina Denaro told him he's got contacts in Tunisia
-Also Francesco taught him the real way Cosa Nostra communicates - with a wink or a nod of the head
-Because of freemasons and secret services CDG has a lot of information even on the level of secret services and that's why Toto Riina "love" for it
-Cosa Nostra is not a political association. It makes alliance which are in its interest
-Already Cosa Nostra is in contact with terrorists of Arab world
Thanks Toto. I've always been intrigued by Giuffre's comments regarding CDG and NY sending people back and forth.
But I've always read that second hand. Do you know where to find his actual testimonial? Is there a pdf of it somewhere on-line? There are countless articoli on him in La Repubblica, but I'd like to see his specific comments on CDG. Toto or anyone else, can you point me in right direction? Molto grazie.
