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Red Brigades

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The Red Brigades (in Italia: Brigate Rosse, often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group.

Quotes about

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A

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  • It is no coincidence that the actions of the Red Brigades are directed not so much at right-wingers, but at progressives. Their objective is very clear: to bring about a confrontation as quickly as possible, eliminating that reformist buffer which, to some extent, guarantees the survival of this type of society.

B

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  • These Red Brigades have a curious effect on me, like a fairy tale for silly or sleepy children; and when the magistrates, Carabinieri officers, and prefects start telling it again, I feel a wave of tenderness, because the tale is old, ramshackle, childish, but it’s told with such good faith that you really don’t know how to contradict it.

C

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  • I am astonished and totally disagree with the words written (in *Il Fatto* on March 26) by a distinguished magistrate such as Gian Carlo Caselli. He writes: “There is insufficient evidence to say that the Red Brigades were directed from abroad.” I am stunned. There is a mountain of evidence to support this, starting with the hideout on Via Gradoli (owned by the Ministry of the Interior) and ending with the revelations of Pieczenick and Giannino Galloni. To continue with the evidence of dozens of cover-ups originating from various sectors of the state, from Italian and foreign intelligence services, from the statements of Aldo Moro himself before he was captured and killed, from Lago della Duchessa, from the stolen documents, from the deeply tainted biographies of the so-called “servants of the state,” all members of P2, to the testimonies dropped regarding who and how many fired on Via Fani, who was present on Via Fani, how many were there to cover and ensure that everything unfolded as it “was supposed to unfold,” and that they were not members of the Red Brigades.
  • [Referring to the murder of two MSI militants in Padua, carried out by Paduan members of the BR] The action had nothing to do with what the BR were doing. We didn’t see the fascists as a real danger. I was very worried. There was a risk of distorting the image of the Red Brigades, reducing it to that of a group of rowdy thugs who gave orders to go and kill people at MSI headquarters.

D

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  • The Red Brigades cannot be considered a terrorist group. A terrorist is, in fact, someone who plants a bomb on a train, thereby terrorizing ordinary people.

F

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  • Good Red Brigades and bad Red Brigades? I never believed in that. I don’t condemn anyone, but I haven’t forgotten the notes the Red Brigades sent us from prison, calling for one murder a day. No one inside ever told us, “Guys, stay calm.” They told us, “It’s time for action; you have to get us out of here no matter what.”
  • Many Red Brigades members weren’t convinced by the choices the others were making. This forced them to push themselves beyond their limits. Some became extremely fragile and underwent a change that erupted at the moment of their arrest.
  • Some claimed to belong to the BR without ever having carried out an action. The longest and most painful path—perhaps the most authentic one—is that of those who dissociated themselves before the law reducing sentences was passed.
  • (About the relationship with the Italian Communist Party) It was a conflictual relationship because a minority faction of the Communist Party was, in some ways, sympathetic to us, while the majority faction—which we called the “Berlinguerian” faction—didn’t want to change the state all that much. That state, and its democratic rules, suited them just fine.
  • The sense of gratification was strong because otherwise we would have given up immediately. For example, during the kidnapping of magistrate Sossi, television coverage focused not so much on us as individuals but on the actions we were carrying out. Clearly, this aspect undoubtedly gratified us, in the sense that it made us feel we were on the same level, on the same footing, as those who ruled the country. We were the "counter-power".
  • The ideology of the Red Brigades has its own history. [...] I can say that this kind of culture, which stems from the resistance, from the armed struggle against fascism and Nazism, was in some respects thought not to end as it actually did. It probably would not have turned into practical action had it not been for the historic rupture represented by 1968 and 1969. Those were years that called everything into question.
  • We believed that the right wing was inextricably linked to sectors of the state and those in power. The famous discourse on the coup d’état strategy. In particular, these groups—Ordine Nero, Ordine Nuovo—were entirely instrumental to this project. To the project of the armed forces, in particular, who were seeking a solution, as they said at the time, à la grecque or à la chilena to the Italian crisis.
  • There was no one backing us, at least not while I was part of the organization. Certainly, our actions suited someone’s interests. In those years, many people viewed an escalation of violence in Italy favorably.
  • It may seem strange now, but for us, the beginning was quite playful—I use that word. A beginning without any bloodshed.

G

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  • The experience of the Red Brigades is exhausted and concluded, because a historical period has ended, because a political process has run its course. Likewise, there is nothing to throw overboard and nothing to forget, as seems to be very fashionable these days. :*Prospero Gallinari, from an interview with Radio Città Aperta; quoted in Gallinari su Moro: "Sono in pace con lui, eravamo in guerra", lettera43.it, 1994.
  • The Red Brigades had shown themselves to be resolute and efficient, but theirs was not a victory. The decision to kill Moro created serious dissent within their ranks, while outside a deep sense of revulsion spread over what they had done. It is generally acknowledged that the crisis of Italian terrorism began with the killing of Moro. In hindsight, it therefore seems fair to acknowledge that the champions of intransigence were right: if Moro had been exchanged for one or more terrorists in prison, the Red Brigades would have appeared both invulnerable and willing to compromise, with the result that their appeal would almost certainly have grown. [...] After Moro’s death, Italian democracy not only defended itself but grew stronger.
  • Paul Ginsborg, Storia d'Italia dal dopoguerra a oggi, traduzione di Marcello Flores e Sandro Perini, Einaudi, 1989. ISBN 8806160548, Ch. X, p. 519.
  • [About the members of the newly formed Red Brigades] They come from a left-wing background and lucidly pursue their own utopia through criminal acts; in this sense, they do not seem like provocateurs. As for others using their name for other actions, that may well be the case.

M

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  • I am convinced that the Red Brigades... our movement has run its course. But since I cannot think in terms of “winners and losers” but rather in terms of a struggle that brought about a transformation, I can say, for my part, that most of our expectations did not come to fruition... they were not successful. But the problem of a movement having run its course—and with it, the Red Brigades as well—did not happen overnight; it unfolded over the course of years. By the end of the 1980s, it became clear that, despite all our efforts, our attempts were producing only divisions and rifts; they were no longer yielding possible and viable answers at the level of movements that were transforming into a society that had itself transformed. And so this experience came to an end. We acknowledged this at a certain point—that much is true. I acknowledged it. I didn’t realize it in an instant; but at a certain point, together with other comrades, we acknowledged it and, responsibly, we told everyone: “Gentlemen, this experience... dear comrades, as far as our ability to assess it is concerned, has run its course and is unrepeatable.” We say this to our comrades, but we also say it to everyone else.
  • Mario Moretti, from an interview by Sergio Zavoli, La notte della Repubblica, Rai 2, 28 February 1990.
  • The theory that the Red Brigades were manipulated from the outside is a theory dear to those who cannot bear the idea that events and initiatives took place in this country, that political projects were carried out outside the games of the Palace.
  • Mario Moretti, from an interview by Sergio Zavoli, La notte della Repubblica, Rai 2, 28 February 1990.
  • The Red Brigades have been gone for years, our comrades are in prison, and yet we remain a thorn in the side. People either remain silent or try to exorcise us. And, worse still, there are those who try to muddy a story that was full of hopes, perhaps illusions, attempts, mistakes, pain, and death—but not filth.

S

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  • The Red Brigades brought down the Christian Democrats, but the political factions that have governed since then are worse than those of that era.
  • The Red Brigades didn’t understand Aldo Moro; his political stature was far greater than theirs. And I’m not saying this to canonize him.
  • The Red Brigades were a minor episode; we shouldn’t attach too much importance to them. Their defeat was inevitable: they started with a sound idea but ended up on the wrong path.
  • We tried to put Karl Marx’s doctrine into practice, but only the bourgeoisie knew how to use it effectively.

T

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  • The BR function as a superstructure that wants at all costs to coincide with reality without having the strength to realize its error.
  • The political defeat of terrorism requires courageous choices: it is the famous rice paddy that must be drained. Taking into account that the boundaries of the rice paddy are better defined today than they were three months ago. And taking into account another decisive factor: the image of the Red Brigades has been overturned; cracks and weaknesses have emerged. And perhaps it is not far-fetched to think that many confessions arise not from fear, but from internal dissent, which is tearing apart the organization and the armed party’s line.

V

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  • The Red Brigades members are always fiery, always apocalyptic. They write “active struggle,” they write “dismantle the structures.” They are oracular. The desert fathers have left the sandy expanses of Palestine and have come to the cities, to the universities and factories, to tell, to bear witness, to predict, and to curse.

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