HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The pizzo () is
protection money A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from vi ...
paid to
the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
often in the form of a forced transfer of money resulting from
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
. The term is derived from the Sicilian ''pizzu'' ('beak'). To ''let someone whet their beak'' (
Sicilian language Sicilian ( scn, sicilianu, link=no, ; it, siciliano) is a Romance language that is spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. A variant, ''Calabro-Sicilian'', is spoken in southern Calabria, where it is called Southern Calabr ...
''fari vagnari u pizzu'') is to pay protection money. The practice is widespread in
Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...
, not only by the Sicilian
Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...
, but also by the
'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...
in
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
and the
Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type org ...
in
Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...
. Another
etymological Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...
explanation of the term is "beakerful," referring to the right of an overseer to scoop from the grain being threshed by peasants.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 241 Paying the pizzo may also involve adding someone (often a member of a criminal organisation) to the payroll, provisioning of services by Mafia-controlled businesses or subcontracting to Mafia-controlled companies.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 164 Businesses that refuse to pay the pizzo may be burned down. In return for paying the pizzo, businesses receive "protection" and can enlist neighbourhood Mafiosi to cut through bureaucracy or resolve disputes with other tradesmen. Collecting the pizzo keeps the Mafia in touch with the community and allows it to "control their territory." The Mafia extorts more than 160 million
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
a year from shops and businesses in the
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...
region, and investigators estimate that Sicily as a whole pays 10 times that figure. Approximately 80% of Sicilian businesses pay a pizzo. According to Palermo University, the pizzo averages €457 (US$) per month for retail traders and €578 for hotels and restaurants, but construction companies are asked to pay over €2,000 per month according to economic daily ''
Il Sole 24 Ore ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' () is an Italian national daily business newspaper owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation. History and profile ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' was first published on 9 November 1965 as a merger between ''Il Sole'' ("the ...
''.To the Mafia's horror, pizzo-free shop opens Palermo doors
, AFP, 8 March 2008
Among the first to refuse to pay protection money was Libero Grassi, a shopkeeper from Palermo. In January 1991, he wrote an open letter to the '' Giornale di Sicilia'', the local newspaper. Published on the front page, it was addressed to an anonymous "Dear Extortionist." It caused an uproar and later that same year, Grassi was murdered. In 2004, Addiopizzo (English: "Goodbye Pizzo"), a
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
consumer movement frustrated with the Mafia's stranglehold on the local economy and political life, peppered Palermo with stickers stating: "An entire populace who pays pizzo is a mob without dignity." The group organise demonstrations wearing black T-shirts with the Addiopizzo logo, a broken circle with an X in the middle and the words "consumo critico" (critical consumption).


References

* Paoli, Letizia (2003).
Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style
', New York: Oxford University Press {{ISBN, 0-19-515724-9

by Klaus Von Lampe)

by Alexandra V. Orlova)


External links


Addiopizzo website
Organized crime terminology History of the Sicilian Mafia Extortion