A wave of popular discontent is overwhelming the arteries of the South. The all-out mobilization against the high cost of living and the soaring cost of diesel, which has skyrocketed close to the threshold of 2.3 euros per liter with an increase of 40% compared to last year, has led to the blocking of road traffic. Since midnight on Monday 19 October, the protest by hauliers has caused 2 kilometers of queues between Villa Literno, Pomigliano and the Naples North barrier on the A1 motorway, as well as paralyzing the A30 between Maddaloni and the junction for Caserta with 3 kilometers of queues. The Traffic Police and Autostrade per l’Italia staff intervened to manage the blockades in Caserta Sud, Palma Campania, Sarno and Nocera-Pagani.
In Puglia there was the march of the Acar Consortium (Altamura Consortium of reunited road haulers), with a procession of 35 tractors and 100 demonstrators starting from Altamura on state road 96 and heading to the garrison on the Nazario Sauro seafront in Bari to meet the president of the Puglia Region Antonio Decaro. In Calabria the protest led by the Fedralog acronym and by agricultural movements covers 15 road junctions between Firmo, Cassano, Pollino and Falerna. Although supplies of fresh food in supermarkets and fuel stocks at petrol pumps are starting to run low, hauliers confirm that the protest will continue until the meeting in Milan with the Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini and the Deputy Minister Edoardo Rixi, scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday 20 October.
Fiorello’s attack on Tg1 and the media’s silence on the protests in the South
While the paralysis of transport risks stopping the country’s logistics chains, the spotlight of the major national newspapers and the public service has long remained focused on the student demonstrations in the cities of the North, set on fire by a fringe of violent people who have infiltrated the protests. It was the showman Rosario Fiorello who broke this deafening wall of media silence. During a live link in the 8.00 pm edition of Tg1 on Sunday 18 October, flanked by Fabrizio Biggio, he spoke decisively to give resonance to the dispute in the South, stating:
Can I personally spare a thought for all my friends in Southern Italy who are going through a hard time right now?
With his usual biting irony, the showman wanted to highlight the composure of the workers of the South compared to other more chaotic places:
There is a protest taking place and they are protesting without breaking anything, it’s an important thing.
Fiorello then launched the decisive thrust towards the editorial line of the newspaper, demanding equal attention:
The light must also be turned on in the South.
Faced with the reproach live, the presenter Emma D’Aquino attempted to defend the editorial team’s work by replying that they had talked about it. Spoken yes, but for how long? Unfortunately, very little, but fortunately there are those who, like Fiorello, do not want to leave the suffering of entire categories of workers on the margins of the television story.
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