Sicily can no longer remain silent in the face of what is, in every respect, a structural and ongoing betrayal. The latest events are clear: Italy, whether governed by the right or the left, has turned its back on our land, our agriculture, our economy, and our dignity. Forcing millions of young people to emigrate, to leave behind their families and roots, in pursuit of a future that has been denied to them in their own homeland.
In September 2024, Ortigia – the cultural and tourist heart of Syracuse – was completely closed to the public to host the G7 Agriculture meeting, with Giorgia Meloni and Minister Lollobrigida in attendance. On that occasion, the government made Sicilians believe it supported farmers. But just weeks later, Lollobrigida signed an agreement with Algeria to grow wheat outside of Italy, selling out our producers and our fertile land.
What makes this betrayal even more unbearable are the many shadows surrounding Lollobrigida himself. Brother-in-law of Prime Minister Meloni, a living symbol of nepotism that crushes meritocracy, he has consistently shown he does not care about Sicily’s interests. He even stated, “not all traditions should be preserved,” insulting centuries of Sicilian agricultural and food heritage. He’s been accused of mismanaging EU recovery funds in agriculture, favoring large industrial groups from the North while completely ignoring small Sicilian farmers. And while our fields dry up and businesses shut down, he signs deals with foreign countries to grow abroad what we can produce excellently right here.
Is this the man Sicily should entrust with its agricultural future?
Let’s be clear: the agreement signed by Lollobrigida with Algeria involves a whopping 36,000 hectares of wheat to be cultivated outside Italian borders – a direct hit to Sicily’s grain supply chain. And it’s not the first time: yesterday it was citrus fruits with Morocco, today it’s wheat with Algeria. In the former, Sicily was sacrificed so Northern Italy could sell appliances to Africa; in the latter, to secure gas, again for Northern industries. But the plan goes further. This agricultural deal is part of the so-called “Mattei Plan,” through which Italy, in exchange for these lands, secured gas supplies from Algeria — gas destined primarily for Northern industries.
And where does this gas pass through? Through the pipelines that cut across Sicily, gigantic tubes full of pressure and danger, without proper safety guarantees. In the event of an explosion, towns like Favignana and vast areas of Sicily could be wiped out. A ticking time bomb beneath our feet — in exchange for what? Another betrayal.
If they sell out our grain today, tomorrow it will be livestock farmers. It’s well known that among the goals of the so-called ‘New World Order’ is to eliminate traditional livestock farming and replace real meat with lab-grown products. And who’s to say they won’t succeed, if we keep giving them free rein?
Meanwhile, they distract us, confuse us, keep us busy talking about the mafia, about dead and buried bosses, while under the table they’re stealing trillions of euros. Immense wealth that a free and sovereign Sicily could finally use for itself. A rich, proud Sicily, full of its youth — no longer forced to flee.
Let’s look at who is supposed to represent us: Gianfranco Miccichè, who publicly admitted to being addicted to cocaine; Cateno De Luca, a professional turncoat who’s flipped through every political color to chase a seat; Schifani, blackmailable, who hides behind threats when tensions rise. And then the usual names: Cuffaro, Lombardo, and now the new face, La Vardera, who’d sell even his grandmother to enter the halls of power. All tied by one thread: love for their parliamentary paycheck and disdain for the people who keep them there.
Those who aren’t poor, they make poor. Honest workers are crushed. And Sicily, instead of being loved, respected and protected, is humiliated every day by these dishonorable people.
It’s an operation that reeks of betrayal. How can the restaurateurs and shopkeepers of Ortigia forget the losses suffered during those days of forced closure? How can farmers forget that despite the beautiful words, the real resources went elsewhere — abroad?
And meanwhile, the 90 Sicilian deputies in the Regional Assembly? They stay silent, hide, and accept the slow but steady destruction of our rural identity. No one resigns. No one denounces. No one blocks these wicked decisions. That is complicity.
In America, Donald Trump built his policies on defending American companies, imposing tariffs to protect national agriculture, invoking the pride of owning one’s land. And here in Sicily? We endure: we endure decisions from Rome, abandonment by Europe, and the contempt of those who govern us locally.
As the U.S. Vice President said at the Munich Conference: “The real evil is within.” Inside our halls of power, inside our regional institutions, inside that Sicilian politics that forgot where it came from and whom it should protect.
And now, to deflect criticism, President Schifani says he’s received death threats. The classic script: invent an alibi, distract attention, seek sympathy from fellow traitors. Meanwhile, those who work the land, who live from the soil, who fight economic desertification, are left alone. And those who protest are treated with suspicion, monitored, labeled as subversives.
The time has come to say enough.
Enough with Italy treating Sicily like a colony.
Enough with Sicilian politics humiliating us twice: first by accepting Roman rule, then by betraying us directly.
Sicily must reclaim control over its destiny.
Freedom is not requested: it is taken.
With the strength of truth, labor, and identity.
It’s time to build a new future.
Independent.
Peaceful.
But free.
FREE SICILY, OUR LAND.