Fire devastated the organic wheat fields of Libera Terra confiscated from the mafia in the Syracusan: they burn the fields, but not the dreams of those who cultivate legality

First two theft in the Cuccumella structure and among the citrus groves of Ramacca, then a devastating fire: the Cooperative Beppe Montana – Libera Terra is forced today to deal with the flames which have razed 20 hectares of biological durum wheat cultivated on land confiscated from organized crime, in Lentini.

The harvest was intended to contribute to the production of pasta and other Libera Terra products. The damage is estimated at around 20,000 euros.

We are deeply shaken – declares Alfio Curcio, partner of the cooperative. Cultivating today is already an act of courage in itself. Each attack we suffer is how it rises on wounds still open. We look forward to the outcome of the investigation, but the concern is that behind these gestures there is a precise design: discourage us, make us feel alone, to push us to give up. We cannot afford it. The social reuse of confiscated assets is a collective heritage: it must be defended by the institutions with the active support of civil society.

To demonstrate full solidarity, many social voices.

The tenacity not to give up

There is a thin but tenacious thread that binds Lentini’s burnt land to the deepest principles of democracy: the right to dignified work, legality, hope. And that thread, today, was torn violently from the fire. But it cannot, and must not be broken forever.

The fire, probably malicious, which devastated those lands confiscated from the mafia in the Syracusan is not a simple fact of a black chronicle. Is a political, social and economic attack to one of the most clear experiences of redemption and regeneration of the South.

The cooperative, which bears the name of an agent killed by the mafia, not only works the earth: does justice to that land. It is free, concretely from the siege of organized crime. He does it without proclamations, but with his hands dirty with earth and his back bent under the sun. And it is precisely this revolutionary normality that scares: because it shows that Another South is possibleand that the social reuse of confiscated assets works, if supported and protected.

What happened to Lentini – as already happened in Ramacca, in Santa Maria La Fossa, in Gioia Tauro -, but question all of us. Because when burning a field of wheat legally cultivated on a confiscated asset, a piece of state burnsof community, of the future. And silence, indifference, are the second fuse.

As he said Alfio Curciopartner of the cooperative, “Each attack is salt on wounds still open”and the suspicion is that there is a Precise drawing: make them give up, isolate them, break the support network that makes these realities strong. But we cannot afford it.

Because defending these experiences is a collective duty

The social reuse of confiscated assets is a collective heritagenot an isolated experiment. It is the most powerful symbol of a legality that does not just punish, but that care, repair and return. Defending these realities means protect one of the few concrete alternatives to the mafia economymade of blackmail, black work, overpowering.

For this, as Filippo Parrino of Legacoop Sicilia reiterated, “The mafia fears good cooperation”. Because that’s where he loses power, ground, consensus. It is there that his true weakness is revealed: he cannot create, he only knows how to destroy.

Solidarity is important, but it is necessary that the institutions do not limit themselves to the declarations of intent but guarantee safety, infrastructure, continuity To those who cultivate legality every day. Consistent political choices are needed, which put social cooperation at the center, the protection of territories and common goods.

Those who work confiscated assets is a garrison of democracy. And as such it must be treated: not as a virtuous exception to be celebrated only on memory days, but as A pillar to be strengthened every day. With funds, with laws, controls, with concrete tools not to leave them alone.

No spectator, all responsible

Rita Ghedini, president of Cooperate with free earth: “Nobody can feel a spectator”. And he is right. Because legality is not a slogan. It is a field that must be cultivated, irrigated, protected. If you leave only those who fight on the front line, in the end we all burn.

Lentini’s fire does not just have to indignation. Owe mobilize. He must turn into a collective cry that says that we are with those who build justice, not with those who threaten it. We are on the side of those who sow, not of those who burn.