Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco

20th century Sicilian mafioso

Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco (salvaˈtoːre ˈɡrɛːko, ; 13 January 1923 – 7 March 1978) was a powerful mafioso and boss of the Sicilian Mafia in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo famous for its citrus fruit groves, where he was born. His nickname, "Ciaschiteddu" or "Cicchiteddu", translates from the Sicilian alternatively as "little bird" or as "little wine jug". "Ciaschiteddu" Greco was the first "secretary" of the first Sicilian Mafia Commission that was formed somewhere in 1958. That position came to him almost naturally because he headed one of the most influential Mafia clans at the time, which went back to the late 19th century.

He was the son of Giuseppe Greco who was killed during a bloody internal feud between the factions of the Greco Mafia clan in Ciaculli and Croceverde Giardini in 1946 47. The peace between the two rival factions of the Greco clan was settled by giving the rights of the Giardini estate to Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco and his cousin Salvatore Greco, also known as "l'ingegnere" or "Totò il lungo". Although descendants of the old, established rural Mafia, the Greco cousins quickly learned to profit from the post war economic boom and became involved in cigarette smuggling and heroin trafficking.

"Ciaschiteddu" Greco was present at a series of meetings between top American and Sicilian mafiosi that took place in Palermo between 12–16 October 1957, in hotel Delle Palme in Palermo. Joseph Bonanno, Lucky Luciano, John Bonventre, Frank Garofalo, Santo Sorge and Carmine Galante were among the American mafiosi present, while among the Sicilian side there were – apart from the Greco cousins – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Angelo La Barbera, Gaetano Badalamenti, Calcedonio Di Pisa and Tommaso Buscetta. One of the outcomes of this meeting was that the Sicilian Mafia composed its first Sicilian Mafia Commission and appointed "Ciaschiteddu" Greco as its "primus inter pares".

According to Buscetta, who became a repentant in 1984, "Ciaschiteddu" Greco was involved in the killing of Enrico Mattei, the controversial president of the state oil company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, who died in a mysterious plane crash on October 27, 1962. Mattei allegedly was killed at the request of the American Mafia because his oil policies had damaged important American interests in the Middle East. The American Mafia in turn was possibly doing a favour to the large oil companies. Buscetta claimed that Mattei's death was organized by Mafia bosses "Ciaschiteddu" Greco, Stefano Bontade and Giuseppe Di Cristina on the request of Angelo Bruno, a Sicilian born Mafia boss from Philadelphia. Gaetano Iannì, another pentito, declared that a special agreement had been achieved between Cosa Nostra and "some foreigners" for the elimination of Mattei which was organized by Giuseppe Di Cristina. These statements triggered new inquiries, including the exhumation of Mattei's corpse. The Commission was probably also involved in the decision to kill the journalist Mauro De Mauro, who disappeared on September 16, 1970, while investigating the Mattei case on request of film director Francesco Rosi, for the film The Mattei Affair released in 1972. Salvatore La Barbera disappeared on 17 January, and the police suspected Greco of ordering the murder. Many mafiosi from both the Greco and La Barbera sides were killed in the conflict, but it was later discovered that the war was in fact started by Michele Cavataio, who was hostile to both Grecos and La Barbera and successfully pitted them against one another for his own goals. The repression caused by the Ciaculli Massacre disarranged the Sicilian heroin trade to the United States. Mafiosi were banned, arrested and incarcerated. Control over the trade fell into the hands of a few fugitives: the Greco cousins, Pietro Davì, Tommaso Buscetta and Gaetano Badalamenti. In January 1978, an ailing Greco traveled from his home in Venezuela to Italy in an effort to restrain Gaetano Badalamenti, Giuseppe Di Cristina and Salvatore Inzerillo from retaliating against the growing power of the Corleonesi headed by Totò Riina. His efforts were in vain and the struggle was the prelude to the Second Mafia War. On 7 March 1978, Greco died in Caracas, Venezuela from cirrhosis of the liver.