Congratulatory emails have been pouring in to the Italian Embassy in Washington after Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta wrote to the Washington Post to protest against a front page report from Rome March 1 headlined ‘As Italy’s Banks Tighten Lending, Desperate Firms Call on the Mafia.’ The emails are from Italian Americans sick and tired of what they see as media stereotyping that persistently exaggerates the involvement of Italians in Mafia activities.
The lengthy article described alarming stories of small businesses turning to dangerous, aggressive Mafioso loan sharks after they were unable to obtain financing from regular banks. The Ambassador’s letter, published March 9, criticized the piece for ignoring Italy’s attempts to fight loan sharks and the strength of the country’s banking system. He noted that Italy had not fallen victim to any subprime crisis, artificial real estate booms or Ponzi schemes such as the massive swindle perpetrated in the United States by Bernard Madoff. He wrote:
‘I have no comments about the article’s one-sided content, the description of a despicable and tragic phenomenon. I wonder, however, if your readers would not have also benefited from just a word about Italy’s commitment or success in fighting it? What idea would my countrymen have of America if they read an article on the Bush administration that interviewed only activist Noam Chomsky or a piece on climate change that cited only Rush Limbaugh?’
