1979

Genoa, January 24
Guido Rossa, 44 years old, worker and trade unionist

Historical context

1978 was one of the hardest years among the years of lead: the previous year the forces of the left linked to the PCI had suffered severe challenges by the Movement of ’77, while the activity of the BR and its flankers had suffered an acceleration culminated with the seizure and killing of Aldo Moro. In response, the PCI of Berlinguer and the trade union definitively distanced themselves from the extra-parliamentary political struggle and called on members to guard against terrorism by removing any possible ideological cover and denouncing the suspicions of terrorism active in the factories.

The testimony against the brigadier Francesco Berardi

At the coffee machine of the Italsider plant in Genoa, flyers of the Red Brigades are often left furtively left for propaganda purposes. Rossa notes that the worker Francesco Berardi, in charge of distributing the delivery notes in the plant, is often in the vicinity of the distributor. On October 25, 1978, the workers find a copy of the last strategic brigade resolution, always near the machines; Rossa notices a suspected bulge under Berardi’s jacket, goes to the offices of the company’s surveillance to report the fact and, on the exit, a new copy of the brigadist resolution is found on a window in the same place.

After a brief internal debate, Berardi’s locker is opened by finding its contents of brigade documents, flyers claiming actions carried out by the BRs and sheets with pinned car plates. Guido Rossa decides to denounce the man, while the other two delegates refuse, leaving him alone. Francesco Berardi tries unnecessarily to escape but is stopped by the supervision of the factory; he immediately declares himself a political prisoner, is handed over to the carabinieri and arrested. Guido Rossa keeps the complaint and testifies at the trial, in which Berardi (who committed suicide in prison) is sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Fearing a revenge of the brigadists, the union offered Rossa for a few months an escort, made up of volunteer workers from the Italsider, which Rossa himself later gave up.

Murder and political consequences

The body of Guido Rossa

Rossa’s complaint against an infiltrated brigadist is the first that has happened since their formation and risks setting a dangerous precedent for which the BRs decide to react. The first hypothesis is to capture him and leave him chained to the factory gates, with an infamous sign hanging, in a sort of intimidating pigory. However, this hypothesis of action is discarded by being judged unfeasible; thus its gambization is decided, a frequent practice at that time.

On January 24, 1979 at 6:35 in the morning, Guido Rossa leaves his house in via Ischia 4 in Genoa to go to work with his Fiat 850. Waiting for him on a Fiat 238 van parked behind there is a commando composed of Riccardo Dura, Vincenzo Guagliardo and Lorenzo Carpi. The brigadists shoot him killing him. It is the first time that the Red Brigades decide to strike an organic trade unionist on the Italian left and the murder will be followed by a strong reaction from parties and unions and civil society, particularly the one linked to the Communist Party.

The funeral, attended by 250 000 people, is attended by the President of the Republic Sandro Pertini in a very tense atmosphere. After the ceremony Pertini asks to meet the “camalli” (the scaricatos of the port of Genoa). Antonio Ghirelli, at the time spokesman for the Quirinale, says that the President had been warned that in that environment there were those who sympathized with the Red Brigades, but that Pertini replied that ‘just for that he wanted to meet them’. The President entered a large garage full of people, ‘he literally jumped on the platform’ and in a firm voice said: ‘The President of the Republic does not speak to you, Comrade Pertini speaks to you. I knew the Red Brigades: they fought with me against the fascists, not against the democrats. Shame!”. There was a moment of silence, then a long round of applause. The sent of Rossa was finally buried at the monumental cemetery of Staglieno.

The murder of Rossa marks a turning point in the history of the Red Brigades, which from that moment will no longer be able to find the same openings towards the internal organization of the factory proletariat. In fact, precisely because of the delicacy of the target, it was considered likely that the BR intended to punish Rossa, but without killing him. The victim, probably, just had to be gaged. This hypothesis seems to be confirmed by the expert reports and subsequent testimonies: Vincenzo Guagliardo, the member of the commando who explodes three 7.65 caliber shots in the legs with a Beretta 81, told that after a gambization Riccardo Dura, head of the Genoese column of the BR, after moving away like the other brigadists from the place of the operation, had returned to explode the last blow, the one that had killed Guido Rossa. In fact, the autopsy reveals that four blows to the legs and only one fatal to the heart were exploded on Rossa. Guagliardo adds that the day after the crime the members of the organization asked for explanations about the incident, to which Dura justified the murder by stating that the spies were to be killed.

Also according to Guagliardo, the BR seriously considered the expulsion of Dura, but renouncing it so as not to cause fractures within the organization. However, Dura not only continued his militancy in the BR (participating in other actions) but was also “promoted” by joining the Executive Committee. The reconstruction of Guagliardo’s events suggests that the cause of the murder of Guido Rossa would be found in the individual initiative of the head of the members of the commando and not in a political will of the BR to eliminate the trade unionist. However, the Genoese column of the BR assumed full responsibility for the murder. In 2008, her daughter Sabina, an elected member of the Democratic Party, spoke out against the decision by which the surveillance judge of Rome had denied parole to Vincenzo Guagliardo, whom she met.