New Italian president

[Dwalin2014]

So now Sergio Mattarella is the new Italian president. Never heard of him before, but his father Bernardo was a mafioso and his brother Piersanti was killed for fighting the mafia. Who will he take after, father or brother, what do you think?
At least he doesn't like Berlusconi and likes cats, as I have read today.

[Angelo Santino]

I donated to his campaign for my own reasons.

[Chaps]

Maybe he'll be like any good American politician who's worth their salt and play both ends toward the middle. Forgive me Chris but I was involved in local and state politics for a long time and have become quite jaded. That, and I'm a little drunk.

[Lupara]

but his father Bernardo was a mafioso and his brother Piersanti was killed for fighting the mafia.

Twisted.

[jimmyb]

His mother was a buccellato. According to Italian government reports his uncle Vito buccellato was mafioso. This gets pretty sensitive because it's unlikely Palermo would have hit piers anti without consulting Castellammare.

[Antiliar]

Good to see you posting here, Jimmy. Welcome to the board.

[jimmyb]

Thanks antiliar! Good to be here.

[jimmyb]

His mother was a buccellato. According to Italian government reports his uncle Vito buccellato was mafioso. This gets pretty sensitive because it's unlikely Palermo would have hit piers anti without consulting Castellammare.

Let me clarify, I don't think the organization in cdg could have vetoed the hit, but it would have been good form for Palermo to keep cdg in the loop. The decision makers had a good relationship with Nino Buccellato in particular. Don Cola Buccellato was widely respected too. So piersanti is the president, the favorite son ofCastellammare, and related to the buccellatos---so just to keep everything cool, Bontade and others let cdg know what was going down.

[B.]

Yeah, Jimmy, it is great to see you around here. This is Barbarian from the RD.

The Buccellato connection here is definitely interesting.

By the way, are you related to any Buccellato's in California? I met one two years ago when I was visiting LA but didn't want to jump right into the whole mob connection. "Are you related to any of them mafia guys I seen on teevee?"

[Dwalin2014]

Jimmy, there is one thing about the Buccellato mafia group from Castellammare I am curious about: in the chronicles of the 80s-90s there were some killings of Buccellato family members committed by Corleonesi, and therefore authorized Riina and Provenzano. But what was the reason for the falling-out? I read Cola Buccellato was the only one who voted for Bernardo Provenzano as candidate for chairman of the regional commission, while everybody else voted for the Catania representative Giuseppe Calderone. Stefano Bontate who was present (probably as Gaetano Badalamenti's deputy, since Badalamenti was the Palermo province representative) said that Provenzano couldn't even be considered as a candidate because he wasn't even a provincial boss, therefore not a member of the regional commission. But Nicola Buccellato said "I vote him anyway".
So if Cola was the Corleonesi inside man in the regional commission, why slaughter his relatives?

[jimmyb]

Yeah, Jimmy, it is great to see you around here. This is Barbarian from the RD.

The Buccellato connection here is definitely interesting.

By the way, are you related to any Buccellato's in California? I met one two years ago when I was visiting LA but didn't want to jump right into the whole mob connection. "Are you related to any of them mafia guys I seen on teevee?"

Lol B, no prob. I'll send you PM and explain the Cali connection. Thanks.

[jimmyb]

Jimmy, there is one thing about the Buccellato mafia group from Castellammare I am curious about: in the chronicles of the 80s-90s there were some killings of Buccellato family members committed by Corleonesi, and therefore authorized Riina and Provenzano. But what was the reason for the falling-out? I read Cola Buccellato was the only one who voted for Bernardo Provenzano as candidate for chairman of the regional commission, while everybody else voted for the Catania representative Giuseppe Calderone. Stefano Bontate who was present (probably as Gaetano Badalamenti's deputy, since Badalamenti was the Palermo province representative) said that Provenzano couldn't even be considered as a candidate because he wasn't even a provincial boss, therefore not a member of the regional commission. But Nicola Buccellato said "I vote him anyway".
So if Cola was the Corleonesi inside man in the regional commission, why slaughter his relatives?

Yes this is a great question Dwalin2014. One I'm afraid is too sensitive for me to ask family members about. I asked one and he said "these questions open old wounds," so I got the point.

Anyhow, you're right according to Calderone and other pentiti, Cola Buccellato was one of the earliest members of the pro-Corleone faction. So politically there was split between Cola and Nino---who was close to Bontade and Badalamenti.

It gets more complicated: recall that Riina turned on the first wave of pro-Corleonesi mafiosi. So he ordered execution of Martino (Joe Buccellato from New York's nephew) and Francesco Buccellato (Cola's son). I know Cola was still alive when this happened. He was rather old at the time and probably semi-retired. Either way he had no muscle by that point to stand up to Riina---the biggest Buccellato allies were neutralized (Toto Minore was killed and the Rimi and Badalamenti families were on the run).

As you know, Riina had Cola's other son killed in early 90s. These guys who supported Riina made the ultimate 'deal with the devil.'

[jimmyb]

Riina would go through these Stalinist purges and neutralize anyone he thought maintained an independent power unconnected to Corleone. So in CDG during the 90s, he took out Felice Buccellato, Peppino Magaddino, the Evola Brothers, and Ambrogio Farina. I think "Stalinist purge" is the right comparison because I think often times Riina imagined political opposition where there was none.

[Pogo The Clown]

So in CDG during the 90s, he took out Felice Buccellato, Peppino Magaddino, the Evola Brothers

Interesting to see so many familiar names as power players in CDG a century later.


Pogo

[Dwalin2014]

Riina would go through these Stalinist purges and neutralize anyone he thought maintained an independent power unconnected to Corleone. So in CDG during the 90s, he took out Felice Buccellato, Peppino Magaddino, the Evola Brothers, and Ambrogio Farina. I think "Stalinist purge" is the right comparison because I think often times Riina imagined political opposition where there was none.

Yes, Riina was (and still is) just crazy. He is more a terrorist than a mafioso; the only advantage of this was that he wasn't good at talking to politicians, which caused confusions and break-ups in the organization, which helped the law enforcement to seriously harm it; but too many innocent people lost their lives in the process.

By the way, I sometimes read that Toto' Minore was for some time the Trapani province representative, other sources say that Cola Buccellato was representative for more than 40 years and deposed only at the beginning of the 80s when Minore was either already killed or was soon to be killed. So which sources are right? Was the representative always Buccellato or did Minore also cover the position for some time? I also read there was another temporary Trapani representative (and at the same time the regional commission chairman): somebody named Andrea Fazio; he is now even on wikipedia which says his years of power were 1950-1957, but the dates can be fake even though the character seems to be real (at least I read about him in books, don't remember if it was Antonino Calderone who named him).