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  • Catanzaro, Italy - 3 September, 2012: The president of Calabria region Giuseppe Scopelliti, 44, sits on a couch by his office in Catanzaro, Italy, on September 3rd, 2012. Mr Scopelliti from the People of Liberty party of the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is appealing a first-degree sentence in a corruption case and is under investigation on four separate charge.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120903_NYT_Calabria__MG_0386.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Pilgrims and a local band waits for the end of the mass by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi to  start the religious procession in Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9950.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Pilgrims gather outside the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9929.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Pilgrims sit on the wall by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9856.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A statue of Our Lady of Polsi (or Our Lady of the Mountain) is seen here on the street that leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012.<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9746.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A cow is seen here in the woods of Aspromonte mountain by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. Aspromonte is a mountain massif which mean "rough mountains", so named by the farmers who found its steep terrain and rocky soil difficult to cultivate<br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9708.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A mist-shrouded street in the Aspromonte mountain leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. Aspromonte is a mountain massif which mean "rough mountains", so named by the farmers who found its steep terrain and rocky soil difficult to cultivate<br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9701.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy -1 September, 2012: The view of the valley landscape of Gioia Tauro by the port (on the left) in Gioia Tauro, a mafia stronghold in Italy, on September 1st, 2012. <br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9535.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 1 September: One of the hundreds of unshinished concrete buildings is here in Rosarno, Italy, a mafia stronghold on September 1st, 2012. The owner of the house, who lives in another house in Rosarno, ended up not finishing the house because her children moved to Germany. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9391.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 31 August, 2012: Antonio Pioli, 62, the father of Fabrizio Pioli, a 38 years old man who was killed in February 2012 and whose body is still missing in  Rosano, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. Fabrizio Pioli was apparently killed by the family of Simona Napoli, the married woman who Fabrizio had an affair with and whose father is a fugitive mafia boss.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_9220.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A truck selling religious and pagan plaster statues is here on the main street of Rosano, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. <br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_9034.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 31 August, 2012: Mayor of Gioia Tauro Renato Bellofiore, 44, complains about the debt left by his predecessors, in Gioia Tauro, Italy, on August 31, 2012. Mr Bellofiore was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8899.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: Leaving the office of anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri means  having to cross the restroom between two hallways of the courthouse of Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. In June Mr Gratteri found out about a plot to kill him. A mafia boss-turned-state witness had confessed that a prominent family belonging to the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta had recently purchased 36 pounds of plastic explosives, with which they’d planned to blow up Gratteri and his security escort.<br />
<br />
The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8776.jpg
  • Catanzaro, Italy - 3 September, 2012: The president of Calabria region Giuseppe Scopelliti, 44, sits on a couch by his office in Catanzaro, Italy, on September 3rd, 2012. Mr Scopelliti from the People of Liberty party of the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is appealing a first-degree sentence in a corruption case and is under investigation on four separate charge.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120903_NYT_Calabria__MG_0382.jpg
  • Castellace di Oppido Mamertina, Italy - 3 September, 2012: Francesco, a 32 years old worker for the non-profit organization Libera Terra, removes the burned roots of olive trees set on fire by the 'Ndrangheta (a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria) with a crane, 3 days after a digger was set on fire in the same field in Castellace di Oppido Mamertina, Italy, on September 3rd, 2012. Libera terra, which is a non profit organisation uses the land that has been confiscated to mafia bosses to produce a range of organic foods and wines, including olive oil, pasta, marmalades, jams, legumes and preserves as well as a large selection of typically southern Italian produce.<br />
<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120903_NYT_Calabria__MG_0279.jpg
  • Castellace di Oppido Mamertina, Italy - 3 September, 2012: Francesco, a 32 years old worker for the non-profit organization Libera Terra, removes the burned roots of olive trees set on fire by the 'Ndrangheta (a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria) with a crane, 3 days after a digger was set on fire in the same field in Castellace di Oppido Mamertina, Italy, on September 3rd, 2012. Libera terra, which is a non profit organisation uses the land that has been confiscated to mafia bosses to produce a range of organic foods and wines, including olive oil, pasta, marmalades, jams, legumes and preserves as well as a large selection of typically southern Italian produce.<br />
<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120903_NYT_Calabria__MG_0241.jpg
  • Castellace di Oppido Mamertina, Italy - 3 September, 2012: Francesco, a 32 years old worker for the non-profit organization Libera Terra, removes the burned roots of olive trees set on fire by the 'Ndrangheta (a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria) with a crane, 3 days after a digger was set on fire in the same field in Castellace di Oppido Mamertina, Italy, on September 3rd, 2012. Libera terra, which is a non profit organisation uses the land that has been confiscated to mafia bosses to produce a range of organic foods and wines, including olive oil, pasta, marmalades, jams, legumes and preserves as well as a large selection of typically southern Italian produce.<br />
<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120903_NYT_Calabria__MG_0179.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Pilgrims and a caribienere in high uniform, one of Italy's armed forces, wait for the end of the mass by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi under the supervision of the Italian Army to start the religious procession in Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9981.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Pilgrims gather in the square nearby Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9880.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Young men sit in the trunk of pickup truck on their way back from their pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9849.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A family stops for a brake before continuing their pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9840.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A woman looks out the rear seat window of of a car on her way to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9837.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A truck decorated with an image of Our Lady of Polsi (or Our Lady of the Mountain) returns from a pilgrimage to Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012.<br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9798.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Francesco, 15, and Giuseppe, 14, play accordion and tambourine on their way back from the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9765.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A truck decorated with an image of Our Lady of Polsi (or Our Lady of the Mountain) is seen here on the street that leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9737.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A mist-shrouded street in the Aspromonte mountain leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. Aspromonte is a mountain massif which mean "rough mountains", so named by the farmers who found its steep terrain and rocky soil difficult to cultivate<br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9692.jpg
  • San Luca, Italy - 2 September, 2012: An unfinished home is seen here in San Luca, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. San Luca, in the words of a study published in 2005 by Italy's domestic intelligence service, is the cradle of the 'Ndrangheta and its epicentre. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9664.jpg
  • San Luca, Italy - 2 September, 2012: An unfinished home is seen here in San Luca, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. San Luca, in the words of a study published in 2005 by Italy's domestic intelligence service, is the cradle of the 'Ndrangheta and its epicentre. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9659.jpg
  • San Luca, Italy - 2 September, 2012: View of the town of San Luca, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. San Luca, in the words of a study published in 2005 by Italy's domestic intelligence service, is the cradle of the 'Ndrangheta and its epicentre.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9654.jpg
  • Gambarie, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A truck tire is abandoned here in a field overlooking the province of Reggio Calabria in Gambarie, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_0119.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A 12 years old boy makes a U-turn with his scooter on the street that leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_0088.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 1 September, 2012: An ad for a jewelry store is seen here in Polistena, a town in the mountainside of Aspromonte, a mountain massif which mean "rough mountains", so named by the farmers who found its steep terrain and rocky soil difficult to cultivate. in Polistena, Italy, on September 1st, 2012.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9647.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 1 September, 2012: An immigrant rides his bike in front of an unfinished home and a BMW car parked on the sidewalk of a bar in Rosarno, Italy, a mafia stronghold on September 1st, 2012.  The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9429.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 1 September, 2012: A man on a Vespa passes by a storage area in Rosarno, Italy, a mafia stronghold on September 1st, 2012.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9421.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 1 September, 2012: A car passes by some fields in Rosarno, Italy, a mafia stronghold on September 1st, 2012.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9347.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 1 September, 2012: A young boy stands outside a Cafe with older men in Mileto, Italy, on September 1st, 2012.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9317.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A banner in the highschool says "We want Fabrizio back", referring to Fabrizio Pioli, a 38 years old man who was killed in February 2012 and whose body is still missing in  Rosano, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. Fabrizio Pioli was apparently killed by the family of Simona Napoli, the married woman who Fabrizio had an affair with and whose father is a fugitive mafia boss.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_9229.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 31 August, 2012:  Two palms overlook an unfinished building in the main street of Rosano, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_9181.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 31 August, 2012: One of the hundreds of unshinished concrete buildings is here in Rosarno, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_9141.jpg
  • Rosarno, Italy - 31 August, 2012: One of the hundreds of unshinished concrete buildings is here in Rosarno, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
Rosarno is an agricultural area best known for the violent race riots that erupted here in January 2010. and for being a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission. In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_9087.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A young man sits on the side of the road in Gioia Tauro, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8913.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A carabiniere, one of Italy's armed forces, adjusts a fan by his desk in front of the elevator which leads to the floor of the office of anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri in the courthouse of Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. In June Mr Gratteri found out about a plot to kill him. A mafia boss-turned-state witness had confessed that a prominent family belonging to the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta had recently purchased 36 pounds of plastic explosives, with which they’d planned to blow up Gratteri and his security escort.<br />
<br />
The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8802.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A surveillance monitor in the office of anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri films the armored entrance door of his office in the courthouse of Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. In June Mr Gratteri found out about a plot to kill him. A mafia boss-turned-state witness had confessed that a prominent family belonging to the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta had recently purchased 36 pounds of plastic explosives, with which they’d planned to blow up Gratteri and his security escort.<br />
<br />
The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8766.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: Anti-mafia prosecutor of Reggio Calabria Nicola Gratteri, 54, is here in his armored office in the courthouse of Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. In June Mr Gratteri found out about a plot to kill him. A mafia boss-turned-state witness had confessed that a prominent family belonging to the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta had recently purchased 36 pounds of plastic explosives, with which they’d planned to blow up Gratteri and his security escort.<br />
<br />
The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8756.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: Anti-mafia prosecutor of Reggio Calabria Nicola Gratteri, 54, is here in his armored office in the courthouse of Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. In June Mr Gratteri found out about a plot to kill him. A mafia boss-turned-state witness had confessed that a prominent family belonging to the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta had recently purchased 36 pounds of plastic explosives, with which they’d planned to blow up Gratteri and his security escort.<br />
<br />
The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8751.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A man walks up the escalator of the Courthouse in Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria_IMG_8688.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 30 August, 2012: The standard of the Province of Reggio Calabria is here in the council room of the Province Palace in Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 30, 2012.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120830_NYT_Calabria__MG_8541.jpg
  • Catanzaro, Italy - 3 September, 2012: The president of Calabria region Giuseppe Scopelliti, 44, sits on a couch by his office in Catanzaro, Italy, on September 3rd, 2012. Mr Scopelliti from the People of Liberty party of the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is appealing a first-degree sentence in a corruption case and is under investigation on four separate charge.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120903_NYT_Calabria__MG_0337.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: Three men overlook Polsi with its  church and monastery that are situated at the bottom of a gorge at an altitude of 865 metres surrounded by the high Aspromonte mountain in Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. The  sanctuary, could only reached by foot until a 3 years ago. <br />
<br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_9783.jpg
  • Polsi, Italy - 2 September, 2012: A tile decorated with the image of Our Lady of Polsi (or Our Lady of the Mountains) is sold here by the Sanctuary of Polsi together with other toys, including guns and rifles in Polsi, a mafia stronghold in Calabria, Italy, on September 2nd, 2012. <br />
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria. The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the 'Ndrangheta, have held annual meetings at the Sanctuary. According to the pentito Cesare Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120902_NYT_Calabria__MG_0071.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: A man walks up the escalator of the Courthouse in Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8834.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 31 August, 2012: Anti-mafia prosecutor of Reggio Calabria Nicola Gratteri, 54, is here in his armored office in the courthouse of Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 31, 2012. In June Mr Gratteri found out about a plot to kill him. A mafia boss-turned-state witness had confessed that a prominent family belonging to the Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta had recently purchased 36 pounds of plastic explosives, with which they’d planned to blow up Gratteri and his security escort.<br />
<br />
The Libri gang of Reggio Calabria has managed to infiltrate even the construction of the new palace of justice, not through the traditional system of bribes, but by legally signing for the delivery of services and labor that was controlled and taxed by the mob.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8705.jpg
  • Reggio Calabria, Italy - 30 August, 2012: President of the Province of Reggio Calabria Giuseppe Raffa, 53, smokes a sigarette in his office in Reggio Calabria, Italy, on August 30, 2012.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the bidding processes.
    CIPG_20120830_NYT_Calabria__MG_8487.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Passerby are seen here in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30968...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: A family walks by a fish seller in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30909...jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemploy
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9591.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: A waiter is seen here after a delivery in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30067...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo,  call names off a list organized by the customers themselves to enter the Bank and either pawn their valuables or pay interest on their paws, in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30058...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, wait for their names to be called off a list organized by the customers themselves to enter the Bank and pay interest on their paws, in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30053...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: Luigi Milano (69), owner of a pawnshop, weighs  a gold watch and a gold brooch recently pawned by a customer in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30043...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: People shop in the Pignasecca, a popular outdoor market in the center of Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30035...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Passerby are seen here in Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30994...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: People shop in the Pignasecca, a popular outdoor market in the center of Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30029...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: A waiter is seen here at work in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30985...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: (L-R) Gennaro Sifo (58), Salvatore Sifo (55), Giuseppina Liberti (63) and Elena Carlevalis (49), all without a stable income, have a chat here in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30936...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, wait for their names to be called off a list organized by the customers themselves to enter the Bank and pay interest on their paws, in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30902...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, wait for their names to be called off a list organized by the customers themselves to enter the Bank and pay interest on their paws, in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30898...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: A man is seen here by the seafront overlooking Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30017...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Young men play ball by the Basilica of San Francesco da Paola, in Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30016...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: A girl looks at her smartphone by the Basilica of San Francesco da Paola, in Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30012...jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redi
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9627.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redi
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9622.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 31 August, 2012: One of the hundreds of unshinished concrete buildings is here near the townhall in Gioia Tauro, Italy, a mafia stronghold on August 31, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded th
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8963.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: An elderly woman is seen here walking in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30064...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, wait and call names off a list organized by the customers themselves to enter the Bank and either pawn their valuables or pay interest on their paws, in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30051...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: Luigi Milano (69), owner of a pawnshop, poses for a portrait at his counter in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30039...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: Luigi Milano (69), owner of a pawnshop, poses for a portrait at his counter in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200619_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30039...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Passerby are seen here in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30957...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Passerby are seen here in the historical center of Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30962...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Claire Tranchesi (40), founder and owner of the vintage shop Oblomova, poses for a portrait in front of her shop in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30948...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Claire Tranchesi (40), founder and owner of the vintage shop Oblomova, poses for a portrait in front of her shop in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30945...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Valentina Filardi (45), unemployed, poses for a portrait in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30924...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Valentina Filardi (45), unemployed, poses for a portrait in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30924...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Rossana Nappo (52), a tobacconist, poses for a portrait in her tobacco shop in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30920...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: An elderly man rings a doowbell in the Spanish Quarters in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30913...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 19 JUNE 2020: The entrance of the pawn shop owned by Luigi Milano (69) is seen here in Naples, Italy, on June 19th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30906...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, wait for their names to be called off a list organized by the customers themselves and enter the Bank to pay interest on their  pawn, in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30895...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: A customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, waits for her name to be called off a list organized by the customers themselves and enter the Bank to pay interest on her pawn, in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30894...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: Customers of  the pawn branch of the Bank of Naples, which is owned by the financial giant Intesa Sanpaolo, wait and call names off a list organized by the customers themselves to enter the Bank and either pawn their valuables or pay interest on their paws, in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
The gold and jewelry-backed loans business of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, which operated the Naples pawnshop, is in the process of being acquired by Banca Sistema. A company spokeswoman said its new pawnbroker policies went up 20 percent in March and April and that it looked forward to standing at the side of Italians, protecting them from loan sharks, and getting them much needed cash.
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30892...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 18 JUNE 2020: A family fishes by the seafron overlooking Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy, on June 18th 2020.<br />
<br />
Pawn shops have been part of the Italian banking system for centuries. Lombard money changers worked with collateral in the Middle Ages and Catholic church in the 15th century sought to combat usury, and undercut Jewish money lenders, by pooling the resources of wealthy locals into a Mount of Piety, basically a pile of cash, to make no interest (and thus no-sin) loans to the poor. Papal intervention eventually allowed added payments, and pawn departments became central to the evolution of Italian banking, extending ready cash through plagues, sieges and other assorted catastrophes. Now, with Italy facing economic devastation from the coronavirus pawnshop industry leaders are confident there will be a surge in business.<br />
<br />
In the days after the lifting of Italy’s lockdown in May, the collateral loan sector – the institutional name for Italy’s pawn brokers — saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in activity. And on lines outside the pawn units of banks in Rome, Milan and Naples, anxiety remained palpable.
    CIPG_20200618_NYT-Italy-Pawn_7M30024...jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redi
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9588.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redi
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9574.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redi
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9564.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: A Mercedes passes by on a hill overlooking the cemetery of Gioia Tauro (right), by the port in in Gioia Tauro, a mafia stronghold in Italy, on September 1st, 2012. <br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corruption in the b
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9492.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: A man walks by the river and an unfinished home in Gioia Tauro, Italy, a mafia stronghold on September 1st, 2012.  The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 mil
    CIPG_20120901_NYT_Calabria__MG_9454.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy -1 September, 2012: A view of the port of Gioia Tauro (center), which is unaccessible to the public, and of the cemetery (left) in Gioia Tauro, a mafia stronghold in Italy, on September 1st, 2012. <br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redirect 380 million euros in structural funding away from the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria highway after finding widespread evidence of corrupt
    CIPG_20120831_NYT_Calabria__MG_8990.jpg
  • Gioia Tauro, Italy - 1 September, 2012: Unfinished tombs are seen here in the cemetery of Gioia Tauro, a mafia strongold in Calabria,  Italy, on September 1st, 2012. The unfinished concrete buildings, which are very common throughout Calabria, are the result of the inability to go beyond the merely useful, creating functionality without regard for form.<br />
<br />
<br />
The current mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, was elected in 2010 after the former mayor and deputy mayor, Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, were arrested on Mafia charges in 2008. Both had been forced to step down when the city council was dissolved on suspicion of Mafia infiltration. Gioia Tauro is a city of 19,000 people built on an ancient Greek necrapolis and that today has the largest seaport in Italy and the sevent largest container port in Europe with its extension of 4,646 meters. Because the port is not connected to adeguate roads or rails, the ships mostly transfer containers to smaller vessels and little economic activity stays local. To authorities, the port is best known as the first point of entry for most of the cocaine that enters Europe from South America. In a routine rais earlier this month, authorities seized 176 kilos of pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 38 million euros.<br />
<br />
Calabria is one of the poorest Italian regions which suffers from lack of basic services (hospitals without proper equipment, irregular electricity and water), the product of disparate political interests vying for power. The region is dominated by the 'Ndrangheta (pronounced en-Drang-get-A), which authorities say is the most powerful in Italy because it is the welthiest and best organized.<br />
<br />
The region today has nearly 20 percent unemployment, 40 percent youth unemployment and among the lowest female unemployment and broadband Internet levels in Italy. Business suffer since poor infrastructure drives up transport costs.<br />
<br />
Last summer the European Union's anti-fraud office demanded that Italy redi
    CIPG_20120830_NYT_Calabria__MG_9584.jpg
  • ROME, ITALY - 21 APRIL 2013:  Five-Star Movement representatives talk to their supporters on a hill by the Colosseum during a rally the day after the re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano,  in Rome, Italy, on April 21, 2013.<br />
<br />
Italy's lawmakers re-elected 87-year-old President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday in a bid to break the country's political gridlock, as protestors outside parliament protested agains the result. Giorgio Napolitano won with a  majority of 738 ballots out of 1,007 possible votes, ahead of leftist academic Stefano Rodota, backed by the the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, who scored 217.
    Italy_22.jpg
  • ROME, ITALY - 21 APRIL 2013: Supporters of the Five-Star Movement march gather on a hill by the Colosseum to listen to Five Stars Movement representatives during a rally the day after the re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano,  in Rome, Italy, on April 21, 2013.<br />
<br />
Italy's lawmakers re-elected 87-year-old President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday in a bid to break the country's political gridlock, as protestors outside parliament protested agains the result. Giorgio Napolitano won with a  majority of 738 ballots out of 1,007 possible votes, ahead of leftist academic Stefano Rodota, backed by the the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, who scored 217.
    Italy_21.jpg
  • ROME, ITALY - 21 APRIL 2013: A Supporter of the Five-Star Movement shows a banner saying "Napolitano is not my Preident", in front of the Colosseum for  a rally the day after the re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano,  in Rome, Italy, on April 21, 2013.<br />
<br />
Italy's lawmakers re-elected 87-year-old President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday in a bid to break the country's political gridlock, as protestors outside parliament protested agains the result. Giorgio Napolitano won with a  majority of 738 ballots out of 1,007 possible votes, ahead of leftist academic Stefano Rodota, backed by the the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, who scored 217.
    Italy_20.jpg
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