Operation Gladio and the Years of Lead: Licio Gelli, Giulio Andreotti and the murder of Aldo Moro (Part Two)
Around the start of the 1970s, Italy entered a period of intense political violence marked by riots, bombings and assassinations, with the chaos blamed on both far-left and far-right organisations. After the ‘Years of Lead’ wound down towards the start of the 1990s, the revelations of a covert anti-Communist network, codenamed Operation Gladio, would lead to questions around its role in the turmoil.
In the decades since, two broad narratives have emerged. The first is that the Gladio members, which included CIA agents, powerful business interests and far-right activists, simply stockpiled arms in preperation for a potential Soviet takeover, and then quietly disbanded after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In stark contrast, the other explanation claims that the CIA directed every twist and turn of the Years of Lead, generally portraying the other players in the Gladio network as simply following their lead. In reality however, a closer inspection reveals that Gladio’s relationship to the Years of Lead was complex, with the CIA creating a monster they were eventually unable to control.
Part Two: 1969–1972
In late 1970, with the Italian public reeling from a sudden escalation of political violence, various far-right figures are believed to have begun moving towards an attempted overthrow of the embattled government. Supported by dissident members of the armed forces, the figurehead of this planned coup was fascist war hero Junio Valerio Borghese, but the true architect is understood to have been Licio Gelli, a financier who was later named as a key participant in Operation Gladio.
At the centre of the Golpe Borghese, like many events linked to Operation Gladio, was Propaganda Due, a Masonic lodge that had been largely inactive until Gelli was assigned its leadership in 1965. As secretary of P2, Gelli built the lodge into a quietly powerful entity, likely using its secrecy to further entrench his Gladio operations. Along with his contacts in business and the security services, Gelli would use the lodge to maintain links to extra-parliamentary extremists.
Most notably, Gelli was connected to Stefano Delle Chiaie, the leader of Avanguardia Nazionale (‘National Vanguard’). Linked to various incidents of far-right terrorism, including the Piazza Fontana bombing, DC had joined Borghese’s Fronte Nazionale (‘National Front’) in 1967. At the same time, DC is believed to have also been an asset of Italy’s SID intelligence agency, acting as a key link between the security services and neofascism.
During the lead-up to the Golpe Borghese, Delle Chiaie and his followers were inserting themselves into the civil unrest which swept the Reggio region in the late 1960s. Centered around the city of Calabria Reggio, the dispute began over the location of the regional capital, with the far-right taking a lead role in escalating the situation. By July 1970, the government had lost control of the city, with protesters assembling barricades and clashing with police. Later that month, a train derailment killed six people, with the authorities identifying sabotage as the cause.
Along with Avanguardia Nazionale members, members of a local ‘Ndrangheta family were later accused of sabotaging the train, as part of a wider campaign of destabilisation. Headed by the De Stefano brothers, the clan were known as modernisers within the ‘Ndrangheta, who were pushing for a more hierarchical structure that resembled the Sicilian Mafia. As it happened, the Mafia were also linked to various Gladio-related events throughout the Cold War, beginning with their links to American intelligence in World War Two. Since then, their staunch opposition to Communism had seen them rewarded with key positions in local government, allowing them to establish Sicily as a key node in the ‘French Connection’ heroin syndicate.
For more: How the CIA helped the French Connection smuggle heroin
In September, five anarchists were killed in an apparent car crash near Rome. The group had previously been based in Reggio, where they claimed to have obtained evidence that the far-right had provoked the violent unrest. Naturally, questions were raised about the cause of the crash, with some pointing the finger at Borghese and his supporters. By now however, the public was more concerned with the wider insurrection, with the government eventually forced to deploy the army in early 1971.
It was in this context of chaos that the Golpe Borghese took shape, with the turmoil in the streets reflected in the halls of power. In August, centre-left Prime Minister Mariano Rumor had resigned, with fellow Christian Democrat Emilio Colombo taking power instead. With the role of the Communists a key cause of the collapse of the Rumor cabinet, a December visit by Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito was selected as a pretext to gather hundreds of Avanguardia Nazionale members, supposedly to protest against the visit. In reality, the fascist militants were to complement sympathetic elements in the armed forces, who would seize power and detain socialist President Giuseppe Saragat, allowing for Borghese’s insertion as the new head of state.
Decades later, it was alleged that Borghese had recruited the De Stefano family to support his bid for power, having already formed close connections with the ‘Ndrine during the Reggio unrest. Along with them, Borghese is believed to have had similar discussions with members of the Mafia. According to the testimony of high-ranking Pentito witnesses, some were interested, particularly powerful Corleonsi boss Luciano Liggio. Overall however, it appears that Borghese’s request was voted down. Despite this, the theme of organised crime would arise again in the overlapping world of far-right politics and Operation Gladio.
On the 8th of December, Borghese’s supporters gathered to await the signal to overthrow the Italian Republic. It never came, with the coup’s figurehead calling things off at the last minute. Instead, Borghese fled to Spain, where he refused to make public the reason for his sudden change of heart. By 1974, he was dead, having suffered a pancreatic hemorrhage that some claimed was caused by poisoning.
At the time of Borghese’s death, the public had been made aware of his attempted coup through media reports and state investigations. Amongst the figures arrested was army general Amos Spiazzi, who was later sentenced to five years in prison, only for the decision to be overturned on appeal. Despite Spiazzi’s acquittal the investigations would lead to further questions about the links between the state and the far-right, eventually culminating in the Gladio revelations of the 1990s.
Like Borghese, Licio Gelli and Stefano Delle Chiaie also fled Italy after the failed coup. In their case, the two ended up settling in South America, with Gelli becoming close to the movement of former Argentine President Juan Perón, who was himself exiled in Spain. Having ruled Argentina for nearly a decade, Peron’s movement had been outlawed in 1955. Forced underground, the Peronistas had formed links with both the far-left and far-right, having already given refuge to escaped fascists after Word War Two.
In 1973, Perón suddenly re-emerged in Argentina, smuggled back into the country by Gelli. At the time, the South American nation had gone through its first election in ten years, which was won by left-wing Perónist Héctor José Cámpora. During a post-election rally to celebrate both Cámpora’s victory and Perón’s return, snipers fired on the left-wing sections of the crowd, killing thirteen and wounding hundreds. According to subsequent investigations in Spain, Delle Chiaie had been present at the massacre, which caused a lasting split in the movement and contributed to the outbreak of the Dirty War later in the 1970s.
Back in Italy, the Years of Lead continued to gain pace. In the anti-climactic aftermath of the Golpe Borghese, far-right activists would continue to perpetrate brazen acts of terrorism. Increasingly, they would target the representatives of the state, likely due to the realisation that the status quo would not allow for the full restoration of fascist rule. With moderates blocking their agenda, it appears that they sought to force their hand with an intensification of the growing chaos.
Along with the machinations on the extremes of right-wing politics, there would be a growth in militancy on the left. Emerging out of the student protest movement of the 1960s, small groups would, like their counterparts on the far-right, embrace armed struggle. As with the actions of the neofascist scene, some of the more infamous incidents of far-left terror would also leave questions about the hand of Operation Gladio.
Part Two coming soon, for more on Operation Gladio and the Years of Lead:
Was the Piazza Fontana bombing connected to Operation Gladio?
God’s banker: The CIA, Operation Gladio and the death of Roberto Calvi