Enrico Mattei

[George Bollschweiler]

I've read elsewhere that Mattei owned a newspaper in Milan called Il Giorno.  Does anyone know what conclusions Mattei's own paper came to?

Pat,

the passengers killed in Mattei’s plane were, Enrico Mattei, Irnerio Bertuzzi the pilot and Williiam McHale from TIME Magazine.

A journalist who worked for “Il Giorno”, Giorgo Bocca described the situation after Mattei’s death as following:” Everybody there (at Il Giorno) was surprised about the silence of Il Giorno after the crash”. He thought that it was their duty to investigate the circumstances of Mattei’s death but their new boss Dr. Cefis was a man who was looking for peace with the oil industry. So they stuck to the official version. Cefis was known as a man whose power was based on mystery-mongering, who had no friends and isolated himself more and more. Finally he sold all his belongings and went to Canada.

Duncan McHale, the son of the killed journalist, tried to investigate his father’s death. He said, that even TIME Magazine, which originally had planed a front page story about Mattei (that was cancelled later) had only little information in its archives about his father’s work. TIME would not give an official statement about Mattei. He also asked the FBI, CIA, Interpol, NSC and the State Department about informations concerning his father’s death. All they (CIA) told me was:”We can not tell you if we have some information or not, but the fact that we are not telling you anything does not mean that we have or haven’t any”. What duplicity indeed.

These infos are from the year 2000. So I think it would be interesting to talk to Duncan McHale. Do you have any information about him?

George

[Pat Speer]

I think it would be interesting to talk to Duncan McHale. Do you have any information about him?

George

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, George, for the information regarding Il Giorno. Sounds like the Mattei crash, much as the Kennedy assassination, was considered suspicious from the get-go. When I googled Mattei's name several hundred websites came up, almost all in Italian. I'm wondering if anyone here can read Italian well-enough to figure out if any of the websites have a comprehensive overview of the rumors and investigations of Mattei's death. I tried to use the Google translate function but it only worked on the first page of a multi-page website, and poorly. I'll keep looking for more info to add to this thread. I know nothing about McHale, however.

Edited August 2, 2005 by Pat Speer

[John Simkin]

Caterina has posted this link for us:

Enrico Mattei (Acqualagna , Pesaro, Italy, 1906 - Bascapé , October 27, 1962) was an Italian public officer and the head of Agip Petroli , the Italian oil company.

The son of a carabiniere (a member of an ancient Italian military corps with police functions), at the age of 24 he left Marches for Milan, where he changed a few jobs and later joined the Resistenza and became a well known Partisan.

In 1945, the CLN (Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale - the political entity of Partisans) named him to the leadership of Agip , the national oil company created by Fascism, with instructions to close it as soon as possible.

Mattei, instead, worked hard to restructure the company and to make it become one of the most important economical groups of the nation.

In 1949 Mattei gave an astonishing public announcement: the soil of Northern Italy "was" rich of oil and methane, Italy would have solved all its energy needs by its own resources. Helped by Italian press, he then encouraged the idea that the nation (still suffering from the consequences of the lost war), would soon become rich. Agip's financial value immediately grew at Stock Exchange markets, and the company (owned by the State, but operating as a private company) became at once solid and important.

The reality, indeed, was a little more "dry" than proclaimed: in the territory of Cortemaggiore , in the Valley of Po, just a certain amount of methane had been found, with a really small quantity of oil.

Agip however obtained an exclusive concession on the oil prospecting in the national territory, and on the economical profits of what would eventually be found. Political views were divided: the leftists supporting him, and the conservatives (together with the industrialists), opposing him.

At this time Mattei widely used the inofficial financial resources of Agip for extensive bribery, especially of politicians and journalists. He used to say of MSI, the post-fascist party: "I use them like I would use a taxi: I sit in, I pay for the trip, I get down". Agip got the control of hundreds of companies in all economical fields. Obviously a great attention he paid for press, and Agip soon owned several newspapers and two agencies.

In 1953 a law created the ENI , Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, in which Agip was merged. Mattei was initially its president, then also the administrator and the general director. In practice, Eni was Mattei and Mattei was Eni.

His attention turned to the international market of the precious liquid. He invented (or at least, used to tell very often) the story of the little cat: "a little cat arrives where a few big dogs are eating in a pot. The dogs beat him and send him away. We [italians] are like that little cat, in that pot there is oil for everybody, but someone does not want to let us get close to it."

This sort of fable made Mattei extremely popular in the poor Italy of the times, and he gained a wide support that necessarily had to be translated into a political support. To break the oligopoly of the oil majors, Mattei started subscribing contracts with all the poorest countries of the Middle East and with socialist countries too. In 1957, already the competitor of giants like Esso or Shell, he secretly financed the Algerian independentist forces against colonialist France. He treated[?] with Tunisia and Morocco, to which he offered a 50% condition, well far from what usually offered by the majors. To Iran and Egypt he additionally offered that the risk involved in prospecting was entirely on Eni: if there was no petrol, they would not have lost one cent.

In 1960, after the agreement with Soviet Union and while treating with China, Mattei publicly declared that the American monopoly was over. The reaction was initially mild, and he (Eni) was invited to take part in the partition of the prospecting in the Sahara, but he conditioned his (its) acceptation to the independence of Algeria. No agreements would have been subscribed until that moment. As a direct consequence, Mattei became a favorite target of OAS, which started sending him quite explicit messages.

In 1962 his plane was sabotaged, and this act was discovered by chance by his pilot.

Rumours suggested him that CIA too would have not received as bad news his eventual elimination. Not trusting the Sifar (Italian secret service), even if full of his loyals, Mattei constituted a sort of personal security patrol made of people of certain faith (former partisans, Eni's staff - most of which certainly communists) and felt protected by them.

In October his plane took off from Sicily and crashed a few hours after in the surroundings of a small village in Lombardy, during a storm.

The inquiries officially declared that it was an accident.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enrico Mattei is a much-discussed figure. Some describe him as a sort of paladin, with nationalistic emphasis, while others underline his inclination for power, his icy calculations.

The doubts about his eventual murder, however, are sensibly more concrete than the hypothesis of a technical accident.

Some facts are certain and deserve a mention:

When preparing a film on Mattei, in 1970, Francesco Rosi asked Mauro De Mauro to investigate in Sicily on the last days of Mattei. De Mauro soon obtained an audio-tape of his last speech and spent days in continuously listening at it. De Mauro suddenly literally disappeared (8 days after his retrieval of the tape), and no one was able to know anything of him. His dead body was never found.

All the Carabinieri and Police investigators who searched for De Mauro, and consequently investigated on the possible causes of his presumed kidnapping, were later killed. Among them the general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa.

Tommaso Buscetta, the famous repented mafioso, declared to Giovanni Falcone that the De Mauro affair was not a mafia affair. The strange thing is that the confusion created by his disappearance would have "ordinarily" brought mafia to discover the authors and denounce them, or would have punished them by other means. Buscetta also suggested that the cause was in De Mauro's investigations on Mattei. Gaetano Iannì , another repented mafioso, had already suggested that a special agreement had been achieved between Cosa Nostra and "some foreigners" for the elimination of Mattei.

Admiral Fulvio Martini , later chief of SISMI (military secret service), declared that Mattei's plane had been shot down.

In 1986, Amintore Fanfani described the accident as a shooting down, perhaps the first act of terrorism in Italy.

http://enrico-mattei.biography.ms/

[John Simkin]

Photograph of Enrico Mattei:

[George Bollschweiler]

Admiral Fulvio Martini , later chief of SISMI (military secret service), declared that Mattei's plane had been shot down.

In 1986, Amintore Fanfani described the accident as a shooting down, perhaps the first act of terrorism in Italy.

John, Pat,

I've read this stories as well, the problem is that, as Pat mentioned there are many pages in italien but also quite a few in german. My italen is not that good that I'm able to understand everything but I'm working on a overview to this subject. Just to give you some major issues, what has to be considerted in the Mattei case:

1) There is/was no new investigation focused on Mattei's death. All the latest information were brought up through the investigation concerning the death of Aldo Moro 1991.

2) There is evidence that the explosive was put behind the plan's dashboard and was connected with its landing gear. The explosive itself was stolen from one of the "Gladio" bunkers. IMO one also has to studie Gladio to find some answers.

3) There have been to identically planes owned by ENI. Both planes were stationed in Sicily. the other one was shortly afterwards sold to the States.

4) The wrechage has been destroyed within a few days.

5)The CIA wrote a report about the crash but it is still withheld for "National Security" reasons.

As I said I'll provide a much more detailed overview when finished my study on the availabel material.

George

[Mark Stapleton]

Admiral Fulvio Martini , later chief of SISMI (military secret service), declared that Mattei's plane had been shot down.

In 1986, Amintore Fanfani described the accident as a shooting down, perhaps the first act of terrorism in Italy.

John, Pat,

I've read this stories as well, the problem is that, as Pat mentioned there are many pages in italien but also quite a few in german. My italen is not that good that I'm able to understand everything but I'm working on a overview to this subject. Just to give you some major issues, what has to be considerted in the Mattei case:

1) There is/was no new investigation focused on Mattei's death. All the latest information were brought up through the investigation concerning the death of Aldo Moro 1991.

2) There is evidence that the explosive was put behind the plan's dashboard and was connected with its landing gear. The explosive itself was stolen from one of the "Gladio" bunkers. IMO one also has to studie Gladio to find some answers.

3) There have been to identically planes owned by ENI. Both planes were stationed in Sicily. the other one was shortly afterwards sold to the States.

4) The wrechage has been destroyed within a few days.

5)The CIA wrote a report about the crash but it is still withheld for "National Security" reasons.

As I said I'll provide a much more detailed overview when finished my study on the availabel material.

George

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interesting research, George. This thread's getting more interesting all the time. Unlike the JFK assassination where it's still undecided between the major suspects, this one looks cut and dried--the oil industry, with Texas oil the major player, had him killed by the CIA. Just my opinion, of course.

[Stan Wilbourne]

Hello, Mark.

Do you think the assassination appartus could've been different from the decision makers in Kennedy's death? For instance, could the the Joint Chiefs have decided JFK was a threat to national security and then turned to utilize the machinery that had nothing to do with that decision? I think this is a very important element in researching this crime. Because the CIA, Mafia, and anti-Castro factions may have been used, it does not mean they plotted the crime. Who/where was/is the highest point of power? This is always an intriguing question to me.

Have a great day down under!

[Mark Stapleton]

Hello, Mark.

Do you think the assassination appartus could've been different from the decision makers in Kennedy's death?  For instance, could the the Joint Chiefs have decided JFK was a threat to national security and then turned to utilize the machinery that had nothing to do with that decision?  I think this is a very important element in researching this crime.  Because the CIA, Mafia, and anti-Castro factions may have been used, it does not mean they plotted the crime.  Who/where was/is the highest point of power?  This is always an intriguing question to me.

Have a great day down under!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Stan,

Yes, interesting questions. Re JFK, the US military leaders must have either planned it or provided assistance--I'm guessing the latter. And the CIA, by themselves, wouldn't decide to murder JFK. They act on behalf of others, mainly oil and big banking interests, IMO.

I speculate that some type of elite fraternity of the world's richest and most powerful gave the green light, urged on by Texas oil, US Banking interests, armaments manufacturers, LBJ, ex Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion and possibly Meyer Lansky. I speculate that Lyman Lemnitzer was appointed to keep the JCS informed of the plan's developments.

Despite the abundance of unanswered questions in relation to the assassination, for me the most interesting is how the conspirators managed silence the US media, yet not the European media. Obviously Operation Mockingbird was employed, but could that gag stay in place for 42 years? IMO, the few who controlled the US media must have been connected to the conspiracy's core in some way.

Anyway, I'm straying a bit off the thread. Back to Mattei.........

[James Richards]

Photograph of Enrico Mattei:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's another one.

James

[John Simkin]

From the Times (London):

1. "Man in the News: Driving force behind Italy's State Oil Corporation," Thursday, 22 December 1960, p.11

2. Editorial, "Oil from Russia," Saturday, 23 February 1963, p.9

3. "E.N.I. Oil Pact with Russia," Tuesday, 19 November 1963, p.17

Mattei described by CIA-asset C.L. Sulzberger:

"Foreign Affairs: The Specter Behind the Jugglers," NYT, 11 April 1962, p.42:

The Italian supporters of Kennedy's "opening to the left," launched in June 1961: PM Fanfani, Florence's Mayor La Pira, and Enrico Mattei, here described as "an intimate of Fanfani's," who is "anti-NATO and ardently neutralist."

Articles from 1997 in British press on Mattei's murder:

1. John Hooper, "Italian oil mogul 'was murdered by Mafia bomb,'" The Guardian, Friday, 29 August 1997, p.12

2. Andrew Gumbel, "Autopsy may solve deadly mystery of the Mattei Affair," The Independent, Friday, 29 August 1997, p.11

From the latter comes the following paragraph: "The U.S. National Security Council described him as an irritation and an obstacle in a classified report from 1958." Anyone seen this ?

Please add any germane bits and pieces you have. Italian contributors particulary welcome.

Paul

PS Anyone know how to edit the topic title? "Bibliography" and "assassination"!

[Francesca Akhtar]

I don't mind translating if someone has something in Italian they want translated into English.

I found an Italian website which has some theories surounding what happened here:

http://www.misteriditalia.com/casomattei/storia/

I can do a summary of the article if anyone is interested.

One of the theories is that there was a bomb placed on board the plane which was timed to go off when the pilot lowered the wheels to land. Members of the mafia crime family of Giuseppe Di Cristina could have been the culprit.

[Guest David Guyatt]

I think you'll also find that the Gladio network was NATO/CIA and remains highly classified. I tried some FOIA requests on the Gladio many years ago and got the usual thumbs down. I think Gladio was also very mixed up with the P2 crew and they were, in turn, mixed up with the Sicialians, so ultimately a Texan angle makes a lot of sense. I'd trawling my memory more than it can cope, but I seem to recall that one of the daughters of the king of Italy who was deposed at the end of WW!!, wished to marry the Shah of Iran. The Vatican refused permission for the marriage. If the marriage had been sanctioned then Italy would have married into a major middle eastern oil regime. Texas would've gone wild... but since the Vatican was "owned" by that time thanks to Angleton's blackmailing skills (according to what I've been told anyway) we can see how it all begins to converge. The fact that P2 reached deep inside the Vatican merely adds to the speculation.

The backdrop to an awful lot of this is the post war survival/revival in the west of fascism/nazism/neo-con/WACL (call it what you will) throughout the world. Much as I dislike LaRouche and his mob, I think it is quite worth while following the strands of his Synarchy threads back to their roots. The downside of doing so is that it opens an awful lot of curious doors -- the occult, Knights Templars, Priory of Sion, Ufo's (yup!) Knights of Malta, the old thorny Protocols of Zion debate (almost certainly a Martinist document), Crowley and the OTO, Nazi rocket scientists, JFK and on and on and on...

David

[Kathleen Collins]

I read that too, Tim, but with your posting of it I realized the so-called confession probably came from Ianni. I googled Ianni along with 1994 and received a couple of hundred hits............ Does anyone here read Italian?

There's a translation website from Google. Go to www.google.com/language_tools.

They translate from Italian, but you'll have to type the text in.

Kathy