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    "localId": "486499771",
    "label": "Report, Central Intelligence Agency, Italy, Situation Report 15",
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    "id": "486499771",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Report, Central Intelligence Agency, Italy, Situation Report 15",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/486499771",
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        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "logicalDate": "1948-01-01",
            "month": 1,
            "year": 1948
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{
    "seq": 18,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602196/875504/875504-02-018.tif",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\n4. CURRENT ISSUES.\nThe main issue of the current campaign for the national elections will be Italy's\nrelations with the US and the USSR. The Communists charge that De Gasperi has\ndeliberately turned away from the traditional Italian trade with Eastern Europe which\ncould assure Italy a healthy economy and full employment. They also point to various\nother material benefits to Italy which would result from the establishment of friendship\nwith the USSR and the Satellites. Furthermore, the Communists charge that the\npresent Italian Government follows a policy of subservience to the reactionary im-\nperialistic capitalism of the US. Lastly, the Communists claim * that US aid to Italy\nand Italian participation in the European Recovery Program will not be jeopardized by\na victory in the April elections for the Communist People's Bloc.\nThe Christian Democrats, on the other hand, are stressing the argument that con-\ntinuance of US aid is essential to Italy's economic life and democratic survival, and\ndepends upon a moderate and cooperative Italian Government. They also point to the\nrecent Communist coup in Czechoslovakia as proof of their contention that Communist\ncontrol or participation in the Government would mean the end of free elections in\nItaly.\nThus far the Communists have taken the initiative in most of the campaign issues\nwhich may be summarized as follows: (1) the political-economic class struggle between\nthe left and right; (2) the participation of the Vatican in Italian affairs; (3) national\nsovereignty and independence from domination from either the US or the USSR; (4)\nthe economic and social problems of Southern Italy; and (5) the future of the Italian\ncolonies.\n5. OTHER INFLUENTIAL GROUPS.\nAlthough many Italian Partisans disbanded with the end of the war, some, unwill-\ning to face civilian life or unfit for it, have remained organized, secretly retaining arms\nand ammunition. The largest group of these Partisan remnants is the Communist-\ndominated National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI), whose military formations\nin North Italy have a reported strength of approximately 100,000. Obviously the very\npresence of such a group, which is able to provide support for Communist-inspired\nstrikes and demonstrations against the government, has a strong political influence.\nIn Venezia Giulia, the Christian Democrat Partisan brigades with an approximate\nstrength of 50,000 have remained organized to combat local Communism. A third\ngroup, the Partisan Resistance Movement (MRP) is said to be backed by large indus-\ntrialists and is presently being wooed by certain neo-Fascists.\nAnother powerful group, the Italian General Confederation of Labor, is Communist\ndominated. It serves as perhaps the most powerful Communist weapon in efforts to\ninfluence or discredit the government, whenever such actions serve Communist pur-\nposes.\n* This claim was first stressed by the Communists in February 1948. In March the US made\nit clear that US aid would be withheld from Italy in the event of a Communist government.\nSECRET\nI-10"
}