ABSTRACT: The author comments on Buscetta's deposition at the trial. In his opinion Buscetta is only interested in getting back to the United States quickly. Asked for the names of politicians, he doesn't do it. In short, it should be clear that what Buscetta had to say he has already said in the inquiry and it is senseless to hope that he will say more. He is not the Mafia's angel of death. Furthermore, in spite of everything he (who calls himself "disassociated" and not "repentant") still feels himself to be a Mafia man, of the way "the Mafia used to be". Sciascia quotes one of the witness's remarks that explains the meaning of what "the Mafia used to be".

Buscetta's voice is firm and calm. Whatever question he is asked, he never gets nervous, on the contrary at times he seems to be enjoying himself. As when Greco's (2) attorney asked him is he remembered being arrested by the financial police, in a particular year on a particular day in the waters of Crotone. "What does »in the waters mean?" Buscetta asks. Having a dip, lying on a beach towel, on a boat? And then, when the meaning of the question is cleared up, he replies that he was not arrested in the waters of Crotone that day, but on dry land in Taranto.

He will have been very well aware in recent days of having lost the sympathy of the press, but this does not seem to bother him. Presumably he is only anxious to free himself of the burden the Palermo trial imposes on him and return to the United States where, once he has brought his role as a witness for the prosecution to a close, he hopes to be a safe citizen under another name and with a new face. Very well: he also knows that all he needs to do is name a politician, and preferably a Christian Democrat, to regain the favour of the press twice over. But he doesn't do it. On the contrary, when the judge asks him the name of the politician he say she met in the atrium of a Rome hotel together with Nino Salvo, he replies that he doesn't remember, and if the same question is asked by a prosecuting attorney, he says he does not even remember the meeting. And so the public prosecutor contributes to breaking down the credibility of Buscetta's testimony, which is the task to which the defence lawyers primari

ly dedicate their attention.

It should be clear to all those who participate in this trial that everything which could be squeezed out of Buscetta is to be found in the minutes of the inquiry - and this for very understandable reasons when one considers the milieu and the psychological condition of a defendant or witness before a single judge which is entirely different from the kind in which he finds himself during a hearing. And let us not even mention what has always happened during hearings that concern the Mafia, in which regularly and typically the declarations made during the inquiry are watered-down or denied. To hope that Buscetta will add something to it is entirely senseless; if anything he will subtract something - which is exactly what happens.

Rather than indulge in irony about how Buscetta sang and the notes he cracked on, the press would do better to make some self-criticism for having believed and made others believe that Buscetta was the angel of death of the entire Mafia, both Sicilian and international. Buscetta is simply a man who has seen relatives and friends cut down around him, who fears for his life and wants to find a refuge and vengeance in the law. Considering everything that the press is suggesting on the lethal perils to those in Italy who talk or are on the point of talking, even in maximum security prisons, it is humanly understandable if Buscetta tends not to make even more enemies, and especially among those who are still able to take action. And that he has in addition received admonitions from his American hosts not to mention any Italian politicians - a hypothesis that is making the rounds of those who follow this trial closely - it is entirely possible, since it comes to mind that the mention of a name - even only one

- at this moment would be to play into the hands of those among the American police who find Italy insufferable.

Furthermore Buscetta has a completely Mafia mentality: his alliance with the law has not altered it one iota. Now on the side of the law he continues to do what he would do as part of a Mafia family still capable of acting: return blow for blow, avenge himself. And that is why what he says has credibility. In short, to the degree that it is unbelievable that he would not know certain other things, it is believable that knows well and hits the target in what he does affirm.

Quite rightly he calls himself "dis-associated" and not "repentant". He is not repentant for having been part of the Mafia - on the contrary he cultivates its ideology and idea of nobility. Of the old-style Mafia, let it be understood. But exactly what the old-style Mafia was is not very clear. It did not kill Carabinieri and judges; it did not produce and sell drugs, that much one can say. But indubitably it indulged in murder, extortion, usurpation and tyranny. And there is a priceless remark Buscetta made in reply to a lawyer who asked him about Sindona and what he had gone to Sicily to do. It is worth quoting the whole thing:

Attorney Maffei: "Do you remember the channels that arranged the meeting with Sindona and his friends Bontade and Inzerillo?"

Buscetta: "We never spoke about it... Bontade told me that Sindona was simply crazy... There was nothing to talk about."

Maffei: "But Sindona spoke of revolution. Wasn't Bontade worried about being party to such secrets?"

Buscetta (laughing): "Sindona's secrets! They were feather-light compared to Bontade's secrets."

Sindona's secrets a feather. One can just imagine how leaden were the secrets of the good, old, noble Mafia to which Bontade was privy.

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TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

1) Buscetta, Tommaso - Sicilian Mafioso arrested in Brazil on October 24, 1983, he collaborated with the American and Italian police by furnishing information considered accurate on the Mafia.

2) Greco, Michele - Mafia boss. Became head of the Sicilian Mafia after the killing of Giuseppe Cristina (May 30, 1978).