How A Mediterranean Paradise Is Plundered By The Mob And Corrupt Politicians

In many ways, Sicily is a paradise, with a 'satisfaction guaranteed' label for each and every tourist visiting the island. It has all the ingredients the Mediterranean has to offer: a lot of sunshine, fantastic cuisine, world cultural heritage sites, Greek temples, Byzantine frescoes, Arab art, sandy beaches, beautiful breeze, deep blue sea.

But its dark side is, once more, back. 'Cosa nostra' is creeping in, and Sicily is now being eclipsed by deepening social problems. 

It is, observers say, running out of control.

More than one in five members of the working-age population is unemployed, and almost half of all island residents are either poor or at risk of poverty. Sicily seems wealthy, and yet is falling further and further behind, not just in comparison with industrialized northern Italy, but with the rest of the Mezzogiorno. The partially autonomous island, which was part of the "Magna Grecia" in ancient times, is now viewed as "Italy's Greece," the nation's problem child.

Business from foreign tourists has fallen by more than a third. Youth unemployment has risen up to 57 percent.

Aragona, formerly a city of sulfur workers, has been more severely affected by emigration than any other city in Italy. Of the official population of 17,954, about half now live abroad. Guest workers used to send home money to add additional floors to their homes, but many of those buildings are now fully or partially empty. 

Additionally, you have a structure which thrives on poverty and unemployment:

Sicily is Mafia country, and no one is more aware of this than Nino Di Matteo. The 56-year-old public prosecutor is Italy's most endangered man. Because the Cosa Nostra wants to see him dead, Di Matteo has had around-the-clock protection for the last 23 years, with 42 officers working in shifts to provide his security in Palermo. With submachine guns over their shoulders, they follow Di Matteo wherever he goes. 

This is the story of 'paradise looted'.