Regular readers will remember Jose Atento of the Brazilian blog Lei Islâmica em Ação, who has been translating material and sending reports for the past few years. Last weekend in Quebec I was interviewed by Mr. Atento, and he has translated my remarks into Portuguese for a Brazilian audience. He also translated his Portuguese introduction into English.
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for the recording and subtitling:
Video transcript:
As former Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini indicated yesterday, now that he is no longer in charge of interdicting the migrant-ferry vessels, the NGO boats are once again out in force, “rescuing” people in the Mediterranean. However, since the new government in Rome has not yet been officially formed, Italian ports are still closed to the “refugees”. The following Spanish news report provides some details on the latest rescues off the coast of Spain, which is presumably where the new arrivals will be offloaded.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
Matteo Salvini has resigned as Interior Minister of Italy, and a new government will be formed, a coalition between the populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the leftist Partito Democratico (PD).
Mr. Salvini initiated the current political crisis by calling for a no-confidence vote in the government in which he served, the coalition between the Lega (his party) and the M5S. Either he miscalculated, thinking that his move would result in new elections (which the Lega would almost certainly win), or he was making a strategic move, expecting a landslide for his party in a future election.
The former seems the most likely explanation. His reactions since the M5S and the PD came to terms seem those of a man who was both surprised and dismayed by what happened. However, that may have simply been theater on his part — the outcome may be exactly what he had been expecting all along.
There’s no doubt that he’s right about the influence of Brussels in the formation of the M5S-PD coalition. The mandarins of the EU may not have created the coalition, but I’m certain that they lobbied for it.
The new government will be staffed by a set of unlikely bedfellows. To put it in an American context: it’s as if Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders had formed a working alliance. The new cabinet will be as unstable as an atom of francium-223.
The two videos below show the reactions of Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni (leader of the Fratelli d’Italia, and a natural ally of the Lega). Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling.
Mr. Salvini’s response:
Ms. Meloni’s response:
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has expressed his continuing support for Matteo Salvini via an official letter. Below is the English announcement and content of the letter as published on the official website of the Hungarian Government (hat tip László):
Viktor Orbán’s message to Matteo Salvini: regardless of political developments, we look upon you as a brother-in-arms
August 29, 2019
At noon on Thursday Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s press chief, informed the Hungarian news agency MTI that Prime Minister and President of Fidesz Viktor Orbán has written a letter to Matteo Salvini — the leader of the Italian party Lega, and until today a member of Italy’s government. In his letter Mr. Orbán expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the work recently done by Mr. Salvini for Italy and the whole of Europe, including Hungary. Mr. Orbán wrote, “I wish to assure you that we Hungarians will never forget that you were the first Western European leader who sought to stop the influx of illegal migrants into Europe across the Mediterranean.”
In his letter to Mr. Salvini, the Hungarian prime minister continued: “Regardless of internal political developments in Italy and the fact that we belong to different European party families, we look upon you as a brother-in-arms in our battles for the preservation of European Christian heritage and the halting of migration. I wish you much success and good health in carrying out your future tasks.”
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)
See also a copy of the original letter posted on Facebook by a Hungarian minister, Katalin Novák.
Video transcript #1:
We’ve reported in the past on the case of Pamela Mastropietro, who was raped, murdered, and dismembered last year by the Nigerian “cannibal mafia” in the Italian town of Macerata. Pamela’s uncle has now put the Italian government on notice that if it repeals Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s ban on further immigration, he will present the photos of her dismembered body to the Italian Parliament.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for translating this article from Il Giornale:
Pamela’s uncle: “If they cancel the security decrees I’ll go to Parliament with the photos of her tortured body”
The shocking gesture announced by the uncle of Pamela Mastropietro “to remind those who want to cancel the security decrees the catastrophic effects of illegal immigration”.
by Bianca Elisi
August 27, 2019Among those who shudder at the thought of a yellow/red [a coalition government between the 5-Star Movement and PD, Partito Democratico] executive, there are also the relatives of Pamela Mastropietro, the 18-year-old who was raped and killed at Macerata on January 30 of last year.
Judged responsible for one of the most barbaric homicides in the history of our country, the Nigerian drug dealer Innocent Oseghale was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first degree. A victory for the family of the victim and for her uncle, Marco Valerio Verni, who has also assumed the role of defender [of the family] in the process. However, in these days of feverish negotiations, anger and worry have erupted.
The same Verni told Libero he is ready for an extreme gesture if the Yellow-Reds [coalition Government] agree to scrap the security decrees. Pamela’s uncle is prepared to bring the blowups of his niece’s tortured body right up to the Parliament and the Quirinale [residence of the president of the Republic] . For what purpose? “To remind those in power of the catastrophic effects of illegal immigration.” Effects that rendered the body of poor Pamela unrecognizable, enough to cause the president of the criminal court of Macerata to decide that the hearing in which the pictures of the massacre were shown should be held behind closed doors.
So now Verni threatens to show them “to remind those in power of the catastrophic effects of illegal immigration.” A painful gesture which, according to Pamela’s uncle, is necessary to rip away the veil of hypocrisy. “Every day we are bombarded with tearful images of barges loaded with migrants that the Left would like to receive without worrying about the consequences. The same Left that remained silent when Pamela was raped and murdered with unspeakable ferocity.” And the accusations of racism do not frighten him. “Almost everyone who is in Pamela’s case file in various ways — he explains — are asylum seekers who survive by selling drugs to our children.”
Oseghale, brought to our shore from a shipwreck, is no exception. Not to mention, as the lawyer Verni recalls, the suspicion that he is also affiliated with the Nigerian mafia, which also weighs on his account. These considerations give rise to the idea of an action so hard, however, it risks transforming Pamela’s body into a political battleground. This time Verni’s reply is also sharp. “The question, unfortunately, has been politicized right from the start, and certainly not in favor of the family; from the institutional Left there has come no support, while from the right, a light has been lit. The problem, however, should be universal, because this is not a battle against anyone but for the good of all.”
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has resigned. The government of Italy is in limbo. The populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) is negotiating with the leftist Partito Democratico (PD) about a possible new coalition. But Matteo Salvini is staying firmly on-message.
The following video is in Italian, but was translated from the German subtitles. Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
Last night I reported on a migrant-ferry vessel owned by the NGO Open Arms, which has been anchored off the coast of Lampedusa, trying to get into the port. That story was translated from an Italian source, but the two videos below are French, and are essentially anti-Salvini propaganda.
If I am not mistaken, since these two videos were made, an Italian judge lifted the ban that prevented the boat from docking at Lampedusa, and now the puir wee bairns have at last been able to make landfall on Italian territory (see this story from ANSA, hat tip Insubria).
Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling.
The first video focuses on the heart-rending plight of the migrants, and in particular a man who wants to return to Algeria because the food isn’t any good and he can’t take a proper shower:
The second video is a made-for-TV drama. Several migrants jump into the sea for the cameras in an staged attempt to swim to Lampedusa:
Video transcript #1:
Another “refugee rescue” vessel, another scam.
This time it’s the Open Arms, whose owners say is packed with desperate children in ill health. It turns out that the desperation is fake, the children are fake, and the ill health is fake — it’s Fake News about fake everything.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for translating this article from the Giornale di Sicilia:
Open Arms, inspection on board: “No emergency”. Migrants jump into the sea.
August 18, 2019
According to what we have learned from the inspection on the Open Arms, ordered by the Public Prosecutor of Agrigento, no particular critical health and hygiene issues have emerged to trigger the emergency. The inspection was carried out yesterday to check the hygiene/sanitary conditions on the ship where there are 107 people who were shipwrecked. The migrants are piled on the deck of the boat, they sleep on the floor without any mattress, they cover themselves with sheets and tablecloths, and according to the NGO they are psychologically exhausted.
According to the report of the doctors of Cismo, there may be cases of scabies but at the moment, there are no institutional confirmations in this regard. It is certain, however, that no evacuation has yet been arranged. For 107 migrants, those left on the ship, it is the 17th day on board, with the Open Arms still off Lampedusa, facing Cala Francese.
Obviously the controversy continues. “Imaginary patients, imaginary minors, now imaginary health emergencies … The Open Arms NGO and its accomplices are reaching the height of the ridiculous; the Italians are good but not stupid”. This was written by the Minister of Interior, Matteo Salvini, on Facebook.
“Day 17. Miserable. Miserable are those who use 107 human beings ‘without names’ and volunteers as hostages to make xenophobic and racist propaganda. All those who permit this and make jokes about their pain are accomplices,” says the NGO on Twitter.
Nineteen minors of the 27 people taken from the Open Arms will be transferred to Porto Empedocle by ferry. The other eight, who have admitted to being adults after the evacuation, will remain at the “hotspot” of the island, subject to medical checks, also to assess their real age.
“We can no longer contain the desperation. We can no longer explain. There are no words. You are cowards. Hashtag a secure port immediately”. That is what the Spanish NGO, Open Arms, (says) on Twitter, posting a video of four migrants who tried to reach Lampedusa by swimming, after throwing themselves in the water wearing life jackets. Three rescuers go after them, and after reaching them, take them back onboard the boat.
Hans-Georg Maaßen is the former president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV) in Germany. He was forced out of his position because he refused to corroborate the government’s disinformation about a “manhunt” in Chemnitz.
In the following excerpt from an interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. Maaßen discusses illegal mass migration across the Mediterranean into Europe, and the current policies of the Italian government for dealing with it.
Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
The following conversation took place at World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos in January of 2019, more than seven months before Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called for a vote of confidence and new elections.
The participants are German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The Italian government is a coalition of equals between the Lega (under the leadership of Matteo Salvini) and the 5-Star Movement (under the leadership of Luigi di Maio), so neither party leader could serve as prime minister. However, as the video below makes clear, Mr. Conte is no friend of Mr. Salvini.
It seems that even back in January the M5S could see electoral trouble ahead, and Mr. Conte was appealing to Mrs. Merkel for advice and help. Notice the service he was offering to perform for the chancellor in an apparent quid pro quo.
It’s not clear why it took so long for this video to go viral on the Internet. Perhaps Mr. Salvini’s people held onto it until their boss judged the time to be ripe for new elections.
The conversation took place in English, but the audio quality is extremely low. I can only make out a word here and there, but someone must have used sophisticated audio-enhancement tools to make a transcript. There are versions out there on the web subtitled in both German and Italian; this one was translated from the latter.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
After being sabotaged repeatedly by his coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini announced that the government was no longer viable, and there must be a snap election. This has thrown the Italian political scene into turmoil, with legislators being recalled from their August recess to be present for the upcoming election-related votes.
Below are four news reports about what’s happening in Italy, variously in Italian, French, and German. Vlad Tepes did the subtitling for all of them.
The first two videos show Matteo Salvini campaigning on the beaches of Calabria, pressing the flesh and letting his admirers (of which there are many) take selfies with him.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for both translations:
Beach campaigning #2:
The third video discusses the recall of legislators from their vacations. Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation:
The final video gives an overview of the governmental crisis in Italy. Notice the matter-of-fact reference to Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia as a “neo-fascist movement”. Once again, many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation:
Video transcript #1:
As promised yesterday, here’s a video in which Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini talks about the latest migrant-ferry vessel that is trying to run the blockade at the island of Lampedusa. The celebrity Richard Gere happens to be aboard that boat.
In other remarks not recorded in this video, Mr. Salvini said, “[Richard Gere] can take back to Hollywood, on his private plane, all the people aboard and support them in his villas.”
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
I’m a great admirer of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Regardless of my opinion on gypsies (which I prefer not to elaborate on at the moment), Mr. Salvini is utterly refreshing in his absolute refusal to be politically correct. He voices an opinion that every ordinary Italian — and virtually every European who has had personal experience with gypsies — agrees with, but dares not speak aloud in public, because he knows the rules about WAYCISM. But Mr. Salvini goes ahead and says it.
He is responding to a remark by a gypsy (or Roma) woman in Italy, an inhabitant of an illegal gypsy camp, who said that Matteo Salvini deserved a bullet.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
The following news story from Italian TV reports on the arrest of members of the Nigerian mafia in two major Italian cities. The report doesn’t specifically mention it, but it seems likely that this group has connections to the “Nigerian cannibal mafia” that murdered and dismembered Pamela Mastropietro in Macerata. That group was also said to have controlled the local trade in drugs and prostitutes.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Below is an article from ANSA (hat tip Insubria) about the arrest of the Nigerians:
Nigerian Mafia Clan Busted
‘Maphite Cult’ ran sex, drug rackets according to ‘Green Bible’
(ANSA) — Bologna, July 18 — A Nigerian mafia clan that allegedly controlled a big chunk of the drugs and prostitution markets in Piedmont and Emilia Romagna was busted by Turin and Bologna police in twin operations on Thursday.
Among those arrested were the heads of the so-called Maphite Cult, which initiated members with burning rituals as well as running sex workers with voodoo rites, keeping ties with other mafias and controlling the drugs flow.
The clan was run according to the rules of their ‘Green Bible’ whose commandments included the ‘Mario Monti’ norm on recycling money to countries of origin, police said.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the bust.
“Maxi-operation against the Nigerian mafia, so much for those who denied its existence. Thanks to the police and investigators. We don’t need this kind of immigration. Ports closed, jails open!,” he tweeted.
Video transcript:
As mentioned in last night’s news feed, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini presided over the closing of the migrant reception center at Mineo in Sicily, which used to be Europe’s largest. Below are excerpts from the occasion, as posted by Ruptly.
Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
The following article from Breitbart (hat tip JD) reports on the closing of the Mineo center:
‘Promise Kept’: Salvini Makes Personal Appearance as Migrant Centre, Once Europe’s Largest, Closes
MINEO, Italy: AFP — What was once Europe’s biggest migrant reception centre, in Mineo in Sicily, is to officially close on Tuesday in the presence of its biggest critic, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
“Promise kept,” Salvini, in government also as deputy prime minister for the past year, said last week when the centre’s final inhabitants were removed, to be sent to another centre in Calabria.
This reception centre, a former housing complex for the US military that resembles an American suburb, is now guarded by Italian troops who block access under a roasting Sicilian sun.
At its peak in 2014, Mineo housed more than 4,100 people.
Its population then steadily dropped. When anti-migrant Salvini and the populist Five Star Movement came to power in June last year, it housed 2,500.
Video transcript: