ANGELO VASSALLO, MAYOR OF POLLICA (province of Salerno), HAS BEEN EXECUTED BY THE CAMORRA

Tragedy has struck the International Network of the Towns of the Good Life and the entire world of farmers, fishermen and producers of food and wine attached to Slow Food and Terra Madre.

ELECTED VICE PRESIDENT OF CITTASLOW LAST 26 JUNE AT THE SEOUL ASSEMBLY, HE WAS A SHINING EXAMPLE OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR WHO HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO HIS COMMUNITY. HE CARRIED THE FLAG FOR THE REDEMPTION OF SOUTHERN ITALY, FOUNDED ON REAL PROJECTS, THE RULE OF LAW AND EXPERTISE.

President of Cittaslow International Gian Luca Marconi, Mayor of Castelnovo ne' Monti (province of Reggio Emilia), expressed in the name of the 144 Cittaslow Mayors our profound pain and consternation for the death of Angelo Vassallo, Mayor of Pollica. "Angelo Vassallo has been killed in a barbarous and cowardly manner", Marconi said, "he was no ordinary mayor, rather he was the flag-carrier for the redemption of all the South of Italy. A public administrator who was first among equals and who carried forward determinedly and effectively a development model inseparable from the rule of law. Among the first Italian mayors to believe in Cittaslow, our network of towns tied to Carlo Petrini's Slow Food, he was one of the protagonists of a plan of "active resistance" and of effective politics driven from below, typical of the Cittaslow model borrowed from Slow Food. The Association will propose in all the Town Councils of the Italian Cittaslow an agenda to reaffirm our right to the rule of law and to support the values and principles for which our colleague and friend lost his life".

Recall that last 26 June at the Assembly in Seoul, Angelo Vassallo was elected International Vice President by acclamation and in that role, he initiated new cultural relations with a small town in China. "We lose not only a friend but a real man, with the old-fashioned virtues, and Italy itself loses a significant piece of that hope for the rule of law and the future in the South", added Pier Giorgio Oliveti, the Director of Cittaslow International at head office in Orvieto. "Vassallo was a Mayor par excellence, the kind of man that every citizen would want as leader. Having applied the principles of Slow Food, Pollica has revived itself becoming a model not only for nearby towns and the Cilento region but also at the national level. Clearly organised crime is trying to return to business as normal, attacking whoever stands out and supports job creation, income redistribution, hope for the youngsters. We will be committed, all of us, so that his teaching has not been in vain. We owe it to him".

The little town of Pollica, less than 2,500 inhabitants and encompassing the quarters of Acciaroli, Pioppi and Galdo, has attracted national and international attention for the quality of its administration. It has won records for its excellence, it has captured the Vice Presidency of Cittaslow and the Five Sails of Lega Ambiente (Environmental League) for its crystal-clear sea. It has a quality of life to be envied. Recently, among other things, Pollica has been made leader of a Consortium of over 60 towns in the Campania region for the development of renewable energy resources.

Photo: Campaniasuweb