Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox just 22 and travelling around Sicily in the 1820s after crossing in almost complete isolation for eight or ten hours to enter suddenly in a town of twenty thousand souls with no noise to proclaim your arrival.” These days the tiny town of San Giuseppe Jato suddenly appears from nowhere after a succession of rolling hills that reach out into the distance The town is the base of Francesco Galante and the team at Libera Terra a loose web of Italian co-operatives and non-profit organisations dedicated to fighting the mafia labourers and student volunteers can be found drinking espresso in industrial quantities in their office above a petrol station while building a small ethical tourism empire from lands seized by the state from the Cosa Nostra Galante manages the production of the group’s wine under the brand name Centopassi but it is just beyond the mountain,” he says at a vineyard five minutes away from San Giuseppe Jato a place where the soil is so red in the sun that it looks like the surface of Mars The grapes are tiny and nowhere near ready to be picked probably in the world if you include Mount Etna,” Galante sighs The previous owner was mafia boss Giovanni Brusca who took over as the local capo from his father In the mid-1990s Brusca punished a turncoat by ordering the murder of his 11-year-old son and having the boy’s corpse dissolved in a vat of acid Galante now wants these fields to produce flavours that rival any fine wine in the world I crouch to admire the rose bushes at the ends of the rows of young vines “They get diseases before the vines,” says Galante explaining that the roses change colour if there’s a fungus It’s an elegant oenological early-warning detection system; the organic equivalent of checking under your car for bombs before starting it up with soaring wooden beams and outdoor seating the wine is being sold in New York and London as well as Japan and Switzerland The name Centopassi (“hundred steps”) is inspired by Giuseppe “Peppino” Impastato a handsome young communist who dedicated his short life to fighting the mafia tied to a railway track and dynamited in 1978 The “hundred steps” refers to the distance that separated Impastato’s house in Cinisi from the house of Gaetano Badalamenti Centopassi’s Nero d’Avola is dedicated to him – in fact all of the Centopassi bottles are dedicated to victims of the mafia environmental and human rights associations and schools fall under the Libera Terra umbrella I stay at the Agriturismo Portella della Ginestra near Piana degli Albanesi once owned by Giovanni Brusca’s notorious father It was the first mafia villa to be converted by Libera into a guest house Chefs arrive each night to prepare delicious meals using local ingredients then leave when guests have had enough fresh food and Centopassi wine to put down a stallion Being all alone in the Sicilian countryside could be unnerving this translates into perhaps the most peaceful night’s sleep I’ve ever had The Agriturismo Terre di Corleone © Getty ImagesOne of Libera’s other B&Bs is deeper into the countryside and closer to the mythical heartland of the mafia a huge black snake slithers across the road The agriturismo is a short drive from the infamous town of Corleone old men in traditional coppola flat caps are sitting on benches in the winding streets One enterprising shop owner sells posters of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando Libera Terra runs a store on a tiny side street where gangs of noisy smiley schoolchildren go to listen to talks by the families of mafia victims The shop also sells Centopassi wine and produce from various other co-ops in the group The building once belonged to Bernardo Provenzano the last undisputed capo dei tutti capi (“boss of bosses”) who was captured locally as recently as 2006 As Galante and I leave the shop and the children stream out “That’s Bernardo Provenzano’s house,” Galante tells me His family still live next door to a shop that is dedicated to celebrating their downfall and these are likely to be Provenzano’s mother and sister I ask Galante if we can go over and talk to them Sicilian author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote of “this secret island” where “peasants refuse to admit they even know the way to their own village in clear view” remembers growing up here and becoming aware of the discrepancy between the lifestyles of those in the familia and the rest “I would look and ask why all the boys had motorcycles and cars; my father would say ‘Go study’.” Cutrona says the old men and women in Corleone will never talk to me about the mafia So how can you have a conversation about something that doesn’t exist?” Dining at Portella della Ginestra © Chris Warde-JonesDuring the 1980s, the Sicilian mafia began to look more like a paramilitary organisation than a secret society. “Sicily and other bits of Italy were in danger of going the way of modern Mexico,” says John Dickie a historian and author of several bestselling books on the mafia “The fact that it didn’t is largely down to a handful of very brave men.” The law that allowed the state to seize mafia property and assets was passed in 1982 but it wasn’t until 1996 that more legislation was introduced allowing the confiscated property to be given to co-operatives for reuse the grass-roots anti-mafia movement has gained a new confidence in the past decade – a shift that can be traced back to 2004 when six young lawyer friends met in a bar and discussed their frustration that 80 per cent of shops in the city paid the pizzo (or bribe) to the mafia They came up with a slogan and plastered it on stickers that appeared on lampposts walls and telephone booths all over town: “An entire people that pay the pizzo is a people without dignity” a community of people determined to fight the mafia by refusing to patronise shops and businesses who paid the bribes and in 2009 Addiopizzo Travel was launched to help tourists find non-pizzo paying companies Today it even runs city tours highlighting key locations in the battle against the mafia One shopkeeper who refused to pay for six months had a motorbike driven through his window But more than 700 shop owners and 10,000 people have joined Addiopizzo and proudly display the stickers in their windows The campaign changed more than shopping habits this place was like the Bronx,” says Francesco the duty manager at the Palermo hotel where I stay (though he remains reluctant to give his surname) The small piazza outside used to be an open-air drug market Francesco says he has never been approached to pay the pizzo And if a local tough were to come one day with a smile on his face and ask for some cash just something to make sure the hotel did not have any trouble You must confirm your age to access this page He was jailed for 25 years for hundreds of murders Giovanni Brusca would probably choose the reins The rope would be tied to a rock which he would sink to the bottom of the river sinking the body until it suffocated to death Or any way the most sadistic for Giovanni to kill someone's life Giovanni Brusca is a mafia as well as the most cold-blooded assassin of his time Giovanni is like an angel of death that can be bribed Bernando Brusca is a mobster who was sentenced to life in prison for various premeditated murder cases Locked his father in iron bars make Giovanni have to make a living on his own He started his mafia career at the age of 20 Giovanni worked as a driver for a mafia named Bernando Provenzano Giovanni's career continued by joining a network of assassins called Corleonesi The forging that formed his killing instinct there is one murder that is most closely associated with the name Giovanni The victim was the legendary judge from Sicily named Giovanni Falcone With his guts -- which not many other judges had at the time the most respected mafia leader at the time Giovanni placed a thousand pounds of TNT in a tunnel under the highway Falcone would travel from the airport outside Palero Falcone had just landed from a flight to Rome Giovanni and three members of his gang waited on a mountain outside Palermo When he saw Falcone approaching the tunnel Giovanni and his gang detonated the bomb that had been set along with the driver and three police escorts were killed The explosion also injured 20 other people who were in the vicinity of the incident The murder of Italy's top anti-mafia prosecutor caused a stir in the news in Italy and sparked public outrage Falcone is a law enforcement figure who is admired by many Italians The police are actively looking for Giovanni's whereabouts This time Giovanni's target is a 13-year-old boy named Giuseppe Di Matteo The boy was kidnapped and then killed by strangling and soaking in an acid solution the beginning of disaster for Giuseppe Di Matteo was when his father his father was willing to work with law enforcement to uncover the murder case of two judges who were tough against the mafia namely Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino The conspiracy was known to Salvatore Riina He immediately hired the services of Giovanni to kill Santino Di Matteo who at that time was the key figure in the disclosure of the case was under strict guard so that it was difficult to kill his life This condition makes Brusca intend to kidnap Santino's child Giuseppe Di Matteo was kidnapped by Giovanni with his men who disguised themselves as policemen and told Giuseppe that he would be taken to visit his father in prison Without thinking he joined Giovanni's gang Photos of bruises from torture were sent to Santino The goal is for him to stop speaking out and collaborate with the police The length of time in captivity also did not produce results Negotiations between Brusca and Santino were tough Santino's son who was a prisoner was killed in a ruthless manner He was arrested while hiding in a house in southwest Sicily At that time Giovanni was about to have dinner and turned on the television to watch a film about Falcone's death immediately dozens of police arrived and arrested him and his brother Officers cheered for their success in catching the sadistic hitman there was a policeman who punched Giovanni in the face until he was bleeding Giovanni was nicknamed "The Pig" for his unkempt appearance or "The Butcher" for his cruelty as a hitman Giovanni was sentenced to 26 years after a reduced sentence because Giovanni agreed to "sing" on the witness stand His testimony helped law enforcement punish several high-ranking Mafia leaders in which he claimed to be the ultimate mafia hitman Giovanni has been involved in more than a hundred gang attacks including the 1983 car bomb death in Palermo that killed Falcone and Giuseppe "I have used a car bomb to kill judge Rocco Chinnici and his bodyguards I am responsible for the kidnapping and death of Giuseppe Di Matteo who was 13 years old when he was kidnapped and 15 when he was killed," Giovanni said today I cannot remember every single person insisted that he had "repented" and rejected Mafia life He asked Italian federal authorities to let him spend the last three years of his term under house arrest a national court judge rejected the request The 62-year-old murderer would not have been jailed much longer *Read other information about WORLD HISTORY or read other interesting writings from Sadam © 2025 VOI - Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks "Atos F1 Canary yellow melons are a 'stubborn' variety," according to  Antonino Fasullo a leader in the production of Sicilian Canary yellow melons operating in the San Giuseppe Jato (PA) area in Sicily The crop covers around 100 hectares dedicated to medium and late transplants the company decided to plant a good part of its crops with Atos F1 from seed company HM.Clause Alessandro Cinquerrui and Antonino Fasullo "Atos F1 has met our needs from both an agronomic and commercial point of view Plants are rustic and deal well with the high temperatures guaranteeing a good shelf-life meaning we can wait for the market to be good for harvesting."  which characterizes the entire HM.Clause melon range aromatic and boasts a good Brix level (16) with the capability of maintaining these characteristics unaltered over time and meeting all of the chain's needs - from producers and commercial operators to consumers Fruits in fact meet the needs of our buyers when it comes to both roughness and yellow color of the peel as well as to grades (between 2.4 and 3 kg) This is also met by a uniform external appearance that makes post-harvesting processing easier." sales and development manager for Western Sicily at HM.Clause summer started very early and temperatures were high from the beginning This is why Antonino Fasulle defined Atos F1 as 'stubborn' rusticity and thick dark foliage mean Atos F1 plants can withstand the most extreme conditions while guaranteeing a good shelf-life despite the ripeness." "Fruits boast the classic heart shape and have a thick rough rind of a golden yellow color with a white crunchy flesh it is not easy to preserve these characteristics when fruits remain under the Sicilian sun for days which always tends to be altered by the high temperatures." But the quality of the fruits is not the only thing that makes Atos F1 innovative as the variety is characterized by plants with a considerable range of genetic resistances: both those against powdery mildew infections This means Atos F1 plants require fewer chemical treatments than any other variety and also means growers can save money and that the final product is healthier and with a controlled residue thus meeting the increasingly stricter needs in terms of residues." "We are also pleased when it comes to quantity with average yields of 10 kg per plant during a far from excellent year These yields have been made possible by the plasticity of plants which adapts to the most extreme and irregular climate conditions during setting The added value of Atos F1 is that it combines yields with high-quality." For further information: HM.CLAUSE ITALIAAlessandro CinquerruiResponsabile Sviluppo e Vendita Sicilia Ovest+39 337 1588105[email protected] FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com