Rumors of a meeting hosted in Rome at the headquarters of the International Italian-Latin American Organization (Iila)

ROME – Starting in 1874, Italian emigration to Brazil to escape wars, diseases and poverty has taken root and today, 150 years later, “it continues to be a fundamental presence in the formation of the culture and society of the country, but also to its industrialization and entrepreneurship. It is integrated, and we are one.” Words and thoughts shared with the Dire agency by the Brazilian ambassador Renato Mosca de Souza, on the sidelines of a commemorative event in Rome for the 150th anniversary of the beginning of Italian emigration to Brazil. The meeting was promoted by the International Italian-Latin American Organization (Iila) in collaboration with the embassy of Brazil in Italy, Lide Italia, the Italy-Brazil Friendship Associationand the magazine‘ComUnità Italiana’.

“We know perfectly well what it means to be emigrants in a distant country, so today we try to manage migration from Africa by taking advantage of what we have learned” states, during the meeting, Marco Rago, substitute delegate of Italy appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Rago then remembers the victims and displaced people of the torrential rains and floods that are currently affecting the State of Rio Grande do Sul: “I cannot help but address a sincere thought to Brazil for the catastrophe it is experiencing. We renew our willingness to implement every concrete action to support him in this difficult moment”.

THE DEPUTY PORTA: “IT IS THE GREATEST EMIGRATION BIG IN THE WORLD”

Fabio Porta, deputy of the Foreign and Community Affairs Commission of the Chamber, adds: “Italian emigration to Brazil is the largest in the world not only in terms of quantity but also of quality: not I know how many entrepreneurs can say they have become world leaders by staying in a country other than Italy”.

Giacomo Guarnera, president of Lide Italia, highlights how Brazil is “an open country full of sentimental relationships with Italy, which can also become economic”. For this reason, he underlines, “Lide wants to act as a bridge, to bring Brazilians to Italy as a presence but also stories that do good”. To confirm these links of success, the story of Francesco Matarazzo is told, who in 1879 decided to emigrate to Brazil from Castellabate, at the age of 26. A journey that was risky and full of inconveniences at the time – you spent weeks in third class or in the holds of ships. Upon arrival, the ship has an accident and Francesco loses everything: he only has a few lire left in his pocket. The young man, however, did not give up and began working as a trader, but then developed ideas, such as packaging milk fat in cans, which until then had arrived from the United States in wooden crates. This allowed him to start a large business activity, which he then moved to San Paolo, where over the years he opened other companies which today constitute the Matarazzo Holding. His great-grandson Andrea Matarazzo will be Brazil’s ambassador to Italy from 2001 to 2002. The story of the Ometto family is also told, today the world leader in sugar cane led by Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, also cited by Forbes. Antonio and Caterina Ometto are farmers in the Padua area and arrived in Brazil at the end of the 19th century, with the dream of purchasing land to cultivate: their great-grandfather Antonio died before succeeding, but Caterina did not give up and managed to buy 242 hectares, which today exceed one million. The family then invests in other areas, becoming a giant in ethanol, in the methane gas and railway sectors, and is now opening a chain of supermarkets: 600 stores are already active.

THE FLOODS IN PROGRESS IN RIO GRANDE DO SUL

“In Brazil the situation is very serious, in the last week an extraordinary amount of rain has fallen. Many villages have ended up under water. The Brazilian government is still at work but the picture is difficult. I thank the Italian government for all the support it has given us“. Thus to the Dire agency the Brazilian ambassador Renato Mosca de Souza on the floods that are affecting the State of Rio Grande do Sul, on the sidelines of the commemorative event of the 150th anniversary of Italian emigration to Brazil, organized in Rome by Iila, l ‘International Italian-Latin American Organization.