Preceding Events
In the 1950s the Mafia had developed interests in urban property, land speculation, public sector construction, commercial transportation and the wholesale fruit, vegetable, meat and fish markets that served the burgeoning city of Palermo, whose population rose by 100,000 between 1951 and 1961.
A relationship developed between mafiosi and a new generation of politicians of the Christian Democratic Party (Democrazia Cristiana) such as Salvo Lima and Vito Ciancimino. Lima was connected to Angelo La Barbera, Tommaso Buscetta and the leading construction entrepreneur Francesco Vassallo.
The period 1958-1964, when Lima was mayor of Palermo and Ciancimino was assessor for public works, was later referred to as the "Sack of Palermo". In five years, 4,000 building licences were signed, more than half in the names of three pensioners who had no connection with construction at all. The construction boom led to the destruction of the city's green belt, and distinctive villas were replaced by apartment blocks.
Read more about this topic: Ciaculli Massacre
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