Berlusconi's Men

There are many people who simply  loathe Silvio Berlusconi, but there are many who would stand by him, whatever he does, whatever he says, whatever he is accused of. Even though some of them would turn from best friends into Silvio's worst enemies, like Gianfranco Fini (it might be the case that we create a specific page for that...).

Angelino Alfano (born 31 October 1970, Agrigento, Sicily)is a politician from Sicily, who allegedly is being considered as the heir to Silvio Berlusconi. In July 2011 he became the secretary of the People of Freedom party.

Angelino Alfano, Berlusconi liked his "lodo"

In 2008, when he served as Minister of Justice, he was the author of a law (numbered 124/2008, but commonly known as “Lodo Alfano”) which granted immunity from prosecution to the highest political offices in Italy: the President of the Republic, the two Speakers of the Houses of Parliament and the Prime Minister. As it allegedly aimed exclusively at stopping proceedings involving Silvio Berlusconi, the “lodo” was widely criticized as a copy of the Lodo Schifani (which was declared unconstitutional in 2004).

Angelino Alfano proudly showing his new party's logo

Finally also the Lodo Alfano was declared unconstitutional by the Italian Constitutional Court, in October 2009, but it had been in force between 2008 and 2009. 

Before 2013 general elections, Angelino Alfano and Marcello Dell'Utri had been skirmishing for a while. After 2013 general elections Angelino Alfano had a row with Huffington Post Italia's director Lucia Annunziata on her Rai3 TV programme "In ½ ora" ("In ½ an hour"). Finally Alfano left the newly born Forza Italia party in order to create a new political movement, the New Centere-Right (yes, it si called like that, Nuovo Centrodestra - NCD). Check it out on Wikipedia.

Renato Brunetta is from Venice, where he was born on 26 May 1950. It's not clear whether Berlusconi likes him because he's smaller than him (Brunetta is 150cm tall, that is 4' 11''), or because his name means “brunette” (and we know how Silvio likes women), but the fact is that he likes him a lot (in 2013 Renato Brunetta became Silvio Berlusconi's de facto speaker).

Renato Brunetta (right)
with his wife, Titti (left)

In 2013 Brunetta became the leader of People of Liberty Party's parliamentary group, previously he had been Minister for Public Administration and Innovation

(2008-2011).

He has been a professor of Labour Economics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, but at 59 he retired. He declared that he could have won the Nobel price, if he only had enough time to deal with it (“I have many friend that won the Nobel price, and they aren't much more intelligent than me” he said).

He is married with Titti Giovannoni, since July 2011, who is said to be 30cm (11 inches) taller than him (that means: A) He's smaller than 1.50m, B) she is taller than 1.80m, C) the story of the 30cm is nonsense). His Twitter account is followed (as per 26 august 2013) by 98,725 (including me).

Augusto Minzolini, Head of TG1 until 2011

Augusto Minzolini (born 3 August 1958, Rome) is the director of RAI1 news service, TG1 (elected in May 2009).

Universally known for being a great supporter of Berlusconi, Minzolini is also notorious for having introduced a journalistic style, labelled ‘minzolinismo’, based on “collecting ‘informal’ statements from politicians without checking over their validity”.

Thank to the aforementioned way of work Minzolini has been one of the favourite target of Italian comedians' funny impersonations, and one of the favourite journalists of the Prime minister.

From the beginning of 2011 the share of Minzolini's TG1 has been plunging, reaching all time low results of around 20 per cent (its share was close to 30 per cent in 2009).

In the 70s he had a small role as an extra in two of (Silvio's sworn enemy) Nanni Moretti's films, Io sono autarchico (I am Self Sufficient, 1976) and Ecce Bombo (Ecce Bombo, 1978).

Adriano Galliani

Adriano Galliani, AC Milan's vice-President and CEO, former employee of the Municipality of Monza (Milan).

As he worked for a company producing TV receiving devices, he became a Telemontecarlo's suppliers and thus met Silvio Berlusconi in 1979. Galliani co-founded Canale5 television broadcaster with him.

In 2002 he became the president of the Lega Nazionale Professionisti (National League of Professional), aka Lega Calcio (Football League). He was not bothered by the fact she was AC Milan's president (since 1986) at the same time. He will resign in 2006, when indicted in relation with the 2006 Italian football scandal.


In January 2013 he finalized the acquisition of striker Mario Balotelli, former FC Internazionale's player, from Manchester City, at a price of 20m euro (about (£17m or £27) plus bonuses.

In November 2013 - following a series of defeats - Barbara Berlusconi blamed Galliani and his choices as the main cause of the poor start of the season by AC Milan and publicly attacked the “business philosophy of the club”.

Lele Mora (left) and Emilio Fede

Emilio Fede (born 24 June 1931, Barcellona Pozzo di Grotto, Sicily), journalist, anchorman, writer. Former Director of TG1, a news programme for Italian national TV Raiuno channel. He became then the Director of TG4, on Berlusconi's Rete 4 TV broadcaster.

28 March 2012, after a (not very favourable) negotiation with Mediaset, he gets fired.

In July 2012 Emilio Fede founded a new movement, dubbed "Vogliamo Vivere" ("We want to live", you can click here if you are relly interested in their website.), but on the night of the presentation almost nobody showed up at Milan's Teatro Nuovo (opinionist and metalist Pino Scotto said there were "seven people", Emilio Fede himself will admit later «I flopped»). The number "seven" begins acquiring a mystical meaning amongst Silvio's friends.

Emilio Fede on holiday (2013)

On the radio show "La Zanzara" ("The Mosquito", on Italian Radio24) he will get mad at the presenters, because they hinted he might have withdrawn 600,000 euro from a loan Silvio Berlusconi gave to Lele Mora (on air, he would scream "all of you have broke my b****, you are all a bunch of a*******!". If interested, and you can understand Italian language, you can click here for the recording on the site of the Corriere della Sera newspaper).

At present (December 2012), the former journalist is indicted for favouring prostitution of a minor linked to the so-called Rubygate sex scandal, together with Lele Mora (as they are together in the photo). On 31 May 2013 the prosecutors asked to sentence him for 7 years, together with Lele Mora and Nicole Minetti. That number "seven" again.

Emilio Fede is the only person who always knew that Karima "Ruby the Heartbreaker" El Mahroug was a minor when she met Silvio Berlusconi (the media tycoon received a 7-year jail sentence - that number again? - on 24 june 2013 partially because of that!), but he just omitted to tell it to anyone. Peculiar.

Lele Mora (left)

Lele Mora (b. 31 March 1955, Bagnolo di Po) talent-scout, manager, former hairdresser.

He's believed to be the bunga bunga parties' fixer. At least one of the fixers.

In June 2011 he's arrested for fraud (he's accused of misappropriating 8.5 million euros from LM Management, a company he created 11 years before).

He is indicted for favouring prostitution of a minor together with Emilio Fede e Nicole Minetti. He was arrested, in the past, also for drug dealing.

Lele stated (in September 2010) that he had had a relationship with Fabrizio Corona (former husband of Nina Morić and boyfriend of Belén Rodríguez), to whom he bought eight cars and gave 1.5 million euro in cash to buy a flat in Milan.

Mora has never hidden his strong fascist sympathies, having been photographed in the documentary film "Videocracy" in the act of showing off some pictures of his mobile phone with fascist images and Nazi swastikas, as well as a ring tone to the tune of "Little Black Face" ("Faccetta Nera") a popular marching song of the Italian Fascist regime.

In February 2013 he presented the book "La mia verità" ("My truth"), about the 407 days he spent in jail for fraudulent bankruptcy, with his agent Maurizio "Mauro" Coruzzi, aka Platinette.

On 31 May 2013 the prosecutors asked for a 7-year sentence (Rubygate trial), together with Emilio Fede and Nicole Minetti.

Fedele Confalonieri

Fedele Confalonieri (born 6 August 1937, in Milan), Italian manager. He is the president of Mediaset and member of the Board of Directors of Arnoldo Mondadori publishing and Il Giornale newspaper.

Silvio and Fedele worked together as piano bar singers on cruise ships in the good old days, they know each other since the secondary school years.

He has been accused of tax fraud and he is involved in the Mediaset trial.

He has been awarded with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Commander, Grand Officer and Knight Grand Cross.

Marcello Dell'Utri on trial

Marcello Dell'Utri (born 11 September 1941, in Palermo, Sicily), manager, influential Italian politician and advisor to good friend Silvio Berlusconi. He is a Senator for the People of Liberty Party. He is also the Art Director of the Teatro Lirico di Milano (known until 1894 as the Teatro alla Canobbiana).

Dell'Utri – according to some – is also in collusion with the Mafia. Among other accusations in 1996 Salvatore Cancemi (a justice collaborator) declared that Silvio Berlusconi and Marcello Dell'Utri had been in direct contact with Mafia boss Totò Riina.

He knows Berlusconi since the early 70s, when they worked together (Berlusconi as the owner, Dell'Utri as manager) at building firm Edilnord. He has been accused of tax fraud, false accounting, and complicity in conspiracy with the Sicilian Mafia.

Before 2013 general elections, Marcello Dell'Utri and Angelino Alfano had been skirmishing for a while. Due to the grave accuses against him, Silvio Berlusconi dropped his candidacy for the elections. On 25 March 2013 - exactly one month after the general elections - the Court of Appeal of Palermo sentenced former PdL senator Marcello Dell'Utri, charged with collusion with the Mafia, confirming the imprisonment for 7 years.

In April 2014 Dell'Utri was arrested in Beirut (Lebanon), after being declared fugitive by the Italian prosecutors who couldn't locate  him in the run-up of the trial for his alleged Mafia links. Berlusconi said he sent him there, since Putin wanted to support Amine Gemayel's election in the country. Bah!

(to be continued)