‘Forconi, the protest is scary’

For the third day in a row, the Forconi movement took to the streets in many Italian cities, blocking roads and disrupting services to protest against the government, austerity and the euro, reports La Stampa.

The movement, which takes the name of the Italian word for pitchfork, was launched in 2011 and includes crisis-hit employees such as street vendors, lorry drivers and small entrepreneurs, plus far right extremists and football hooligans.

Some of its organisers have threatened to “march on Rome” if the government survives a confidence vote scheduled for December 10, while opposition leaders Silvio Berlusconi and Beppe Grillo have offered them political support.

According to La Stampa’s editorial these demonstrations are particulary worring because

They are the first to be held in Italy since the country started feeling the effects of poverty and going hungry, or more precisely, a country which feels it will soon be going hungry. [...] Let’s not forget that in Greece we have seen pensioners protesting in the burnt-out streets. Desperation can transform anybody.