The Milan-Cortina Olympics also have the other side of the coin: that of protests by those opposed to the Games and sabotage of railway lines precisely coinciding with the start of the great sporting event.
In Milan yesterday 7 February around ten thousand people marched in a procession to protest against the “unsustainable Olympics” and the presence in Italy, following the US delegation, of ICE agents, the infamous US anti-immigration federal agency hotly contested for their brutal interventions – and the killing of two activists – in Minneapolis. Among the reasons that animated the protest were also the Palestinian issue and the new security package approved by the Council of Ministers.
After the demonstration in Turin against the eviction of the Askatasuna social centre, the one in Milan was the first protest in which a large presence of antagonistic groups was expected. And even in the city of the Olympics the procession had moments of chaos and high tension with police charges and water cannons on a group of demonstrators who had broken away from the procession. Six people were arrested.
Also on the first day of the Olympics, sabotage on the electrical cables of the railway lines between Bologna – a key node for the entire movement of trains between Northern and Southern Italy, the Adriatic line – and Pesaro sent the trains of half of Italy into a tailspin, with delays and cancellations, resulting in hardship for thousands of travellers. The Bologna Prosecutor’s Office has currently opened a case against unknown persons. The investigators’ suspicions fall on the anarchists: the coincidence with the first day of the Games and the very similar method to train sabotage during the Paris Olympics in 2024 suggest a demonstration act to disturb the Olympics and create tension.
«Thousands and thousands of Italians are working right now to make sure everything works during the Olympics»is the prime minister’s comment Giorgia Meloni on social media. «Many do it as volunteers, because they want their nation to make a good impression, to be admired and respected. Then there are them: the enemies of Italy and the Italians, who demonstrate “against the Olympics”, causing these images to end up on television across the world. After others severed the railway cables to prevent the trains from leaving. Solidarity, once again, with the police forces, with the city of Milan, and with all those who will see their work frustrated by these gangs of criminals.”
