A-Infos (en) Italy, Sicilia Libertaria #466 - Landslide Front - Niscemi. A Disaster Foretold (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The Niscemi landslide has existed since time immemorial. It couldn't 
have been otherwise, given the clayey soil on which the city was built 
at various times, including recently, and has progressively expanded. 
One-fifth of its 30,000 inhabitants have been displaced or are at risk 
of evacuation following the landslides at the end of January. Entire 
neighborhoods, streets, and schools remain closed to traffic. The 
instability of the terrain has given rise to similar but less severe 
phenomena in the past, such as in 1997 when over 400 people were 
evacuated, and has caused landslides, fractures in the ground, and 
deformations of the road surface, increasingly frequent, signaling the 
progress and expansion of the landslide. Despite technical reports and 
plans, and promised and wasted funds, no structural intervention has 
ever been carried out, never a decisive intervention.
The process is now reaching its climax: on the one hand, the abandonment 
of hundreds of homes and the advance of cracks in the historic center; 
on the other, the emergency intervention, as always, of the Civil 
Protection and the regional government, who blame fate, inclement 
weather, geology, the people of Niscemi... Not once do they take 
responsibility, along with local institutions who pretend not to know, 
for the lack of controls, the delayed interventions, the objective 
complicity in the abandonment of the territory, to favor the unspeakable 
interests of local lobbies, political and criminal clienteles, and 
pro-American warmongers. These people in particular will be rejoicing 
over what has happened, given that from the very beginning of their 
presence in Niscemi they have attempted to take over the territory by 
making the city inhospitable and unhealthy, the land uncultivable, the 
natural resources inaccessible, the water shortage, and the 
improbability of tourism development, the only safety net for many towns 
in Sicily.
The Gela prosecutor's office, with jurisdiction over the area, has made 
a name for itself by persecuting No Muos activists, ultimately inventing 
nonexistent crimes of opinion, instead of focusing on the administrative 
and environmental flaws that have allowed this disaster over time, the 
squandering of funds, the indolence of the municipality, the failures of 
the region and the state, and the collusion of local criminals with 
political and military authorities. Last-minute about-faces, with the 
media-trumpeted opening of investigations that cannot change the 
situation on the ground, do not absolve it of responsibility for the 
investigations never opened, for its blindness, superficiality, and its 
deference to the powers that be. It is that same benevolence that 
allowed the Americans from MUOS to settle in a nature reserve, causing 
extensive environmental damage; that tolerated the constant fires in the 
cork oak forest, including the massive one last summer; that hid and 
downplayed the health emergency caused by radiation from the base's 
antennas; that ultimately dismissed and scuttled activists' constant 
complaints about American embezzlement and poor governance of the territory.
Niscemi is the spearhead of a process of constant militarization of 
Sicily, of the annihilation of its natural and cultural heritage, of 
desertification, depopulation, and youth emigration, and now also of a 
total inability to address the accelerating climate crisis. A war front, 
a landslide front.

Where should the population be relocated? How should the lost homes be 
rebuilt? What funds should be used? Institutions' proposals continue, 
all empty and ineffective, because it's not possible to quickly rebuild 
entire neighborhoods, because the central government refuses to allocate 
the necessary funds, because the very people who initiated this 
operation should be overseeing it. Above all, solidarity must be 
restored between the citizens of Niscemi and Sicilians from neighboring 
cities and provinces. Hospitality first and foremost, even if temporary; 
popular pressure and direct control by affected citizens over the 
reconstruction work and funds; diversion of the substantial funding that 
the American military and their local supporters, primarily in Niscemi 
but also throughout Sicily (from Birgi to Sigonella), receive from the 
Italian government, and its use to enable displaced families to 
immediately find, by purchasing or renting, decent housing where they 
can live and raise their children; Stop the work to consolidate the 
ridge where the MUOS is located and divert it into the city, onto the 
ridge of the main landslide; invest the funds tied up for the Strait 
Bridge, starting with the regional share, to carry out further 
containment works and secure the salvageable part of the city; develop 
appropriate projects and work quickly, with direct popular control and 
the use of local workers. No money should be wasted subsidizing military 
and criminal projects. The reconstruction of the city must mark a shift 
from the past: direct participation of the population in the 
reconstruction processes, grassroots revitalization of the economic and 
social fabric, new youth involvement, valorization of the cultural and 
environmental heritage, demolition of the antennas and the MUOS.
Niscemi must not be left alone. It represents the whole of Sicily, 
disfigured by uncontrolled illegal construction, speculation, 
militarism, the neglect of municipalities and the Region, mafia gangs, 
and the neglect of the central government and the wealthy North of 
Italy. As the Niscemi hillside collapsed, the storm surges exposed the 
precarious condition that perpetually affects the Sicilian coast, 
submerging and destroying second homes, villas, beaches, and 
restaurants, granted indiscriminately by complacent administrators, as 
well as former fishing villages and ancient hamlets, left close to the 
sea without the necessary protection measures, which now risk being 
erased forever. As with Niscemi, Sicilian coastal communities must 
reclaim their lives and their land, reclaiming it from those who seek 
only profit and jeopardize its social and environmental potential. The 
recipe is the same: direct, popular control over reconstruction, 
grassroots revitalization of the economic and social fabric, and 
diversion of military spending and investment funds tied up for the 
Strait of Messina bridge to coastal consolidation projects. Only in this 
way will we prevent the environmental disasters that are predicted and 
the inevitable new catwalks of politicians and their cronies.

Natale Musarra

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/2026/02/14/fronte-di-frana/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en