Pax Mafiosa or War? Twenty Years After the Palermo Massacres

Literary Nonfiction. Politics. Years have passed since the Capaci and Via d'Amelio massacres, where the Sicilian judges Falcone and Borsellino were brutally assassinated by the Mafia. The presence of the Mafia continues to be strong, its influence on civil and political life increasingly more evident, and many areas of the southern Italy remain under the grip of Mafia clans. In the new world order, this form of organized crime has even succeeded in establishing links with other Mafia-type organizations, which have modified their means of operating to more closely resemble the Sicilian Mafia. These Mafia operations are interwoven with terrorist activities, and arms and narco-trafficking. The money laundering of proceeds from criminal activities has created an expanding "gray area," where the line between legality and criminality is blurred and interference has become increasingly violent.