Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the Cia, and the Mafia

by Paul L. Williams

On February 3, 1947, the Communist-Socialist labor coalition (Confederation Generale du Travail) convened a meeting of the Marseilles dock workers that resulted in the publication of a manifesto demanding all unions launch “the most effective means possible against the war in Vietnam”—a strike. The plans to transform the French port city of Marseilles into the center of the heroin industry came to a screeching halt.2 THE STRIKE BREAKERS To break the strike, Lucky Luciano made contact with Antoine and Barthelemy Guerini, the leaders of the Corsican Mafia, who initiated a series of attacks against the strikers and labor leaders. The attacks, funded by the CIA, continued until 1950, when the Guerinis finally gained complete control of the waterfront.