Guido Compagna: "My brother Luigi's proposal on the mafia is a parliamentary scoundrel"

allow me to use “FIRSTonline” to try to get out of a Kafkaesque story in which I found myself entangled. Let's go in order and start from the facts. Last Monday, a centre-right senator presented an amendment to (considerably) reduce the penalties for external involvement in mafia associations. In short, a provision partly saves Dell'Utri, partly saves Cosentino, and perhaps for future reference saves some others. Given that in the PDL, the choice in this field has always been quite wide. Behind the initiative there is probably a "mafia" warning to Alfano not to get too involved in the support and participation in the Letta government. Already on other occasions (Lavitola affair and Fini's house) the senator in question had stood out for low services. Naturally this time the initiative of the senator of the Gal group (Group for local self-government, a kind of bad company group of the PDL, useful for having a few more seats in the commissions) quickly founders after the predictable protest not only from the Pd. And the senator manages to obtain the extraordinary political result of being "disgusted" even by the president of the senators of the PDL Schifani.

Nothing extraordinary as seen. Except that the senator is called Luigi Compagna and is (not by my choice) my brother. With him, precisely in an attempt not to have opportunities for confrontation, I have been avoiding having any relationship for some time, given his adventurous and not commendable political choices. Now, however, it happens that Ansa, in reporting his imprudent initiative, on Monday afternoon indicates Guido Compagna (that's my name) as the author. Informed of this by phone calls and text messages from friends, I called the agency and pointed out the error. They apologize and reassure me: the fix has already been posted online. Which, however, few take into account. So that, both on numerous online sites (even of the main newspapers) and in some Tuesday newspapers (as well as in Crozza's speech to Ballarò), I continue to be indicated as the author of what I consider a parliamentary scoundrel and a attempt to promote organized crime.

Who to blame? I do not know. I've also done this job and I know that it's easy to get a name wrong (who knows how many times it's happened to me) and I also know that the agency's correction line can escape anyone. But why is Luigi exchanged with Guido and not with a Gennaro or a Giuseppe? Someone, to comfort me, said to me: "Perhaps because you are better known than your brother". Maybe, but I only get damage from it. I could try to change my surname, but I would consider it a slight to the memory of my father Francesco, who was a politician who was first respected and then mourned. I could look for my brother to beat him up. But they are gladiatorial gestures that don't suit me, and then it's not said that I would have the upper hand. I just have to blame "the cynical and cheating destiny" (the quote is from Giuseppe Saragat), resort to a painful irony, and send this letter to the site, with which I am welcome (occasionally) to collaborate. A hug.