Silvio Berlusconi died: his political and business power was based on corruption

The politician and businessman Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the liberal-conservative Forza Italia party, died at the age of 86 at the San Raffaele hospital at 9:30 (local time) yesterday, a character who marked Italian political and business history for decades, becoming the very icon of Italianity, loved and hated at the same time, marked by political, judicial and personal controversies. National mourning was decreed this Wednesday and he will be fired with state funerals in the Milan cathedral.

After previous hospitalizations that began in late March, he was admitted to the hospital again last Friday. Berlusconi’s health has been deteriorating for years due to a series of diseases such as prostate cancer, heart problems and covid-19.

Born on September 29, 1936, he suffered from chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) which was publicly announced in April; a rare blood tumor of a mixed nature that he had suffered from for two years. Berlusconi is said to have lived half a dozen lifetimes.

Constructor

The son of a small bank official and a Pirelli secretary, he distinguished himself from the beginning for his enormous work capacity, graduating in law in 1961.

As a teenager, he entertained parties with his band; he was also a seller of electric brooms, and at the age of 25 he began his career in real estate.

It was the loan from Banco Rasini – where his father worked – that would give him the opportunity to change his life, building his first building in 1961. It was a secondary bank used by the mafia to launder money, according to ex-convict Michele Sindona in interview.

After this and other experiences, between 1968 and 1976 Berlusconi will undertake the great project of Milano 2, always thinking big, building a luxurious satellite city in Segrate, at the gates of the city, with a modern and sustainable urban concept, exemplary in Italy. He dream selleras it has been called since then, built 2,500 apartments, earning him the title of Cavaliere del Trabajo in 1977, which would distinguish him ever since.

The media

The success of this experience allowed him to diversify his activity, which seemed to have no end, becoming the richest man in the country.

It began by creating, in 1978, the Fininvest group, which ended up bringing together 44 different companies. The first step was the purchase of the Telemilano channel, born to serve the inhabitants of its Milano 2, which would become Channel 5 of national broadcasting, to which two channels of its own would be added. This incursion revolutionized Italian television, breaking with RAI’s state monopoly and introducing advertising.

Berlusconi also ventured into the world of cinema, buying Medusa Filmes, which would become a leading company in the production and distribution of movies for easy consumption with record admissions. He promoted niche movies like the great beautyby Paolo Sorrentino, Oscar winner in 2013.

Sorrentino himself later dedicated a film in two episodes deeply critical of Berlusconi called They (2018) (They in Spanish). The filmmaker enters the degraded subsoil of Berlusconi and his court of opportunists, where he saves the actress Veronica Lario, his second wife. Berlusconi inspired hundreds of books, television series, and movies. Among the most critical is The alligator (2006) by Nanni Moretti, y Videocracy, de Erik Gandini (2009).

In 1991 it will also acquire Arnoldo Mondadori, which will become a leader in the publishing and newspaper industry, made up of 50 different brands.

Although according to experts, Berlusconi’s true success, more than any other of his companies, was soccer. In 1986 he bought the then decadent Milan team, with a business structure, designed for the show that would harm Italian soccer, acquiring the players for stratospheric figures. However, this assured him success, money, relationships and immense fame, reaching 29 trophies. He recently bought the Monza, which brought it to the A series.

Political

On January 26, 1994, Berlusconi descends to the field delivering a televised speech, which months later will lead him to take the reins of Italian politics against all odds, allying himself with the right and declaring himself an open antagonist to the left and staying for a year.

His middle-class and moderate electorate was captivated by his successful figure as a cynical businessman and by his persuasiveness thanks to clear and direct language, and by promises such as less tax for everyone. Other citizens felt with deep indignation the use of politics as a shield for their judicial scandals.

Berlusconi inaugurated the so-called Second Republic made up of three winning elections, the second of which would become the longest in republican history (from June 11, 2001 to April 20, 2005). A fourth Berlusconi government baptized as People of Freedom (Pdl) will follow, with new political alliances that will lead him to the presidency for the last time (from May 8, 2008 to November 16, 2011).

Among the best-known Berlusconi scandals are the flower flowerneologism referring to parties with a sexual background, organized by powerful men in luxurious residences accompanied by young women. The famous case of Ruby Robacorazones It refers to these parties. Her discovery happened in May 2010, after the arrest of the then minor for theft, before which Berlusconi intervened by calling the police station and requesting her release for being Egyptian President Mubarak’s niece. It was then that the Milan Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation and the subsequent trials of 2017. Berlusconi extorted 21 girls to ensure silence, without avoiding a six-year sentence that was rejected and won by the defense, closing the case in May 2022. .

It will be his judicial scandals that will stop his political activity. Of the 30 crimes charged, including bribery, corruption and prostitution of minors, he was convicted only once in 2013, excluding him from political life until he was elected MEP at the age of 82. Berlusconi’s sentence to four years in prison for a tax fraud of 7.3 million euros, was reduced to 10 months of social service in a nursing home.

Outside of the apparent stellar life, Berlusconi leaves a heavy legacy, having paved the way for populism in the West, using bribes to seize power, weakening the judiciary and Parliament, and promoting personal leadership, in addition to controlling the media. and decreasing the critical spirit of citizens as the denigration of women.