The blog’s Person of the Year is an Italian citizen. He lives in Val di Susa. His name is Alberto Perino He’s a key figure for the NoTAV Movement. He’s been denounced, threatened, defamed and isolated. He’s hated by the parties and he’s always been in the sites of the Magistracy. He’s a man of the mountains, rough, bearded and with an accent from Piedmont. He’s a civil hero. An Italian who is devoting his life to his community. One who is challenging the Power, that with a capital P. How many people can say that?
The TAV is a monster that can devour the Val di Susa and perhaps it can even swallow up the whole of the nation. What’s at stake is 22 billion euro of the Italain State (the EU will only finance a tiny part) for a 50 km tunnel to transport goods that have been in decline for at least 10 years. It’s of no use so what’s the use? Why is it that any government since the 1980s has placed the TAV as one of its priorities? From Prodi to Berlusconi? Why is it that In his first speech as mayor, Fassino cited the TAV as something that cannot be renounced, as though he had ants in his pants. Who did that to him? And for what unfathomable reasons has Monti’s “technical” government rushed to sign the Italian-French Treaty to begin the work? And a good two new Ministers Passera and Clini have stated in their first interview that the TAV has absolutely got to go ahead? No party has ever opposed the TAV when everyone, even university professors and technical people, can see that by now it’s clear that it is a colossal theft from Italian citizens. There are mountains of documents that prove the uselessness of this project, but there’s not even one in favour of it, just phrases like “Anyone who doesn’t want it is against progress” or “It’s necessary to have a connection with Europe”. Bullshit put about by journalists of the regime.
The list of those that want the TAV at any cost even to transform one of the most civilised Alpine valleys into a militarised territory like Afghanistan (it didn’t even happen during the German Occupation in the Second World War) is really impressive. There are the banks, all the parties, the “red cooperatives”, the ‘ndrangheta, the so-called institutions, from the Office of the President of the Republic, to the Region of Piedmont, the State Railways, France, the newspapers, from la Repubblica to il Corriere della Sera. Against the TAV there are just simple citizens like Perino, people of the Val di Susa who are protecting their land from a senseless disaster and for this reason they are treated as criminals, mountain bumpkins, reactionaries, or as members of the black bloc.
The Power knows that if it loses in Val di Susa, it will lose everywhere that there are movements of informed citizens. It will lose for la Gronda,, for the American base of Da Molin in Vicenza. It will lose for the Messina Bridge. It’ll lose for the Expo2015 in Milan. The Val di Susa can become the Waterloo of the parties and of the System that they represent. The end of the expropriation of democracy. One, a hundred, a thousand guys like Perino. And it’ll be hard!

P.S. On 31 December at 2:00pm we’ll meet up on the blog for the exchange of greetings for the end of the year 2011 and good wishes for 2012! Beppe Grillo