The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.43           December 2, 1996 
 
 
Rightists And Labor Stage Separate Protests In Italy  

BY CARL-ERIK ISACCSSON

STOCKHOLM - Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Naples and Rome on November 9, reported the German daily Die Welt. In Rome, police said 500,000 gathered at la Piazza San Giovanni - the historical meeting place of the left and the unions - at a rally called by Silvio Berlusconi's rightist alliance, the Freedom Front. The protest was against the tax increases of the "Olive Tree" coalition government headed by Romano Prodi. These are part of an austerity package designed as an attempt to meet the criteria for Italy to join the European Monetary Union. The main banner at the action read, "For freedom, work, and social justice - against the budget of the left."

Die Welt reported that participants in the Rome demonstration were middle class, mainly small entrepreneurs. Pockets of young fascists participated, shouting "Duce" and raising their arm in the fascist greeting as a tribute to Benito Mussolini. Berlusconi was quoted in Die Welt saying, "We have got enough of this government; it should go home." Berlusconi headed a right-wing coalition government in 1994. He resigned on Dec. 22, 1994, while facing a widening corruption investigation and labor protests.

In Naples 150,000 rallied, most of them young people. Many carried red flags and portraits of Che Guevara, according to Die Welt, in a demonstration called by the old Communist Party. The demonstration was called as a "march for jobs" and according to the organizers was not directed against the government.

Carl-Erik Isacsson is a member of the Metalworkers Union in Sodertalje, Sweden.  
 
 
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