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thomas davison

World news
Italy
Italian women whose husbands killed themselves in recession stage march'White widows' will march in Bologna to draw attention to plight of families hit by unemployment and bankruptcy

Andrea Vogt in Bologna
guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 April 2012 16.09 BST Article history
A man begs in Milan. Newspapers have contrasted the luxury lifestyles of some politicians with the struggle faced by many ordinary Italians. idiot: Luca Bruno/AP
Dozens of Italian women widowed when their husbands killed themselves because of the recession will march on Friday to bring attention to their plight.

The grieving wives and family members of more than 25 businessmen who have committed suicide because of financial woes linked to Italy's economic crisis � dubbed the "white widows" by the Italian media � will be led by Tiziana Marrone, the unemployed wife of a craftsman who set fire to himself outside the tax office in Bologna last month, dying nine days later.

Organisers of Friday's march, including the Italian Women's Union, say they will carry white flags from the Bologna hospital where Giuseppe Campaniello was treated to the charred black spot of pavement outside the Equitalia tax office where he self-immolated.

Marrone has become the public face of Italy's private pain after giving several interviews and reading out her husband's suicide note on national television. It said: "Dear love, I am here crying. This morning I left a bit early, I wanted to wake you, say goodbye, but you were sleeping so well I was afraid to wake you. Today is an ugly day. I ask forgiveness from everyone. In a few months you will become an aunt, and I hope everything goes well, so Danilo and Sara are happy, and you too. A kiss to you all. I love you, Giuseppe."

According to the EURES social research institute, suicides have been on the rise in Italy since 2008, with at least two per day on average in 2010, when 362 unemployed people and 336 entrepreneurs killed themselves. In 2011, a record 11,615 Italian businesses closed their doors. In 2012, at least 25 and as many as 70 suicides have so far been linked to Italy's economic troubles, especially prevalent in the industrial north and the construction industry.

The widows say there is too little dialogue and not enough state support for families that have fallen into despair over unemployment, bankruptcies and loan defaults.

"My battle is not just mine, it is of all the Italians who find themselves in my condition, and most of all of the widows of those families, who don't know where to turn to pay all these debts," Marrone said.

In the last month, the suicide stories have piled up. In Florence, a 65-year-old businessman hanged himself in his warehouse, while an estate agent in Naples jumped from his eighth-floor apartment building. Out-of-work craftsmen shot themselves in Rome, Catania and Sardinia. The latest funeral was on Sunday, when Sardinians mourned yet another businessman who killed himself after no longer being able to employ his two children.

While Friday's march is apolitical, it reflects a growing populist discord � a mix of disgust, despair and frustration many Italians feel toward their politicians. One popular restaurant in Le Marche hung out a "no politicians allowed" sign this week.

The newspapers have been saturated in recent weeks with stories of corrupt politicians earning exorbitant salaries and living luxury lifestyles, while many families struggle with high unemployment and a raft of new taxes and austerity measures being implemented by the technocratic government headed by Mario Monti. "The government must do something to change the laws, because it is not right what is happening in Italy," Marrone said. "On the one side we have people who steal and remain free � on the other side there are those who set themselves on fire because they don't know how to pay their tax debts."

Is this the wonderful EU, people have to kill themselves because they cannot pay their way, will it come to this in the UK ? no it is easier to get out of the EU prison and give our people work, if not REVOLUTION.
If the people cannot feed themselves because of government taxes then they have nothing to lose if they rise up, WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW REBELLION BECOMES YOUR DUTY.