Editing Licio Gelli (section)

==Operation Gladio==
Gelli was described as Gladio’s “Puppet-master,” orchestrating its shift from a defensive network to a tool for internal subversion through the “strategy of tension.” This strategy involved terrorist attacks to destabilize Italy, foster fear, and block the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from electoral success. Key aspects of Gelli’s involvement include:

	1	Organizational Leadership:
	◦	Gelli used P2 as a hub to recruit and coordinate Gladio operatives, including neo-fascist leaders like Stefano Delle Chiaie, implicated in bombings such as Piazza Fontana (1969). P2’s membership overlapped with Gladio, including senior military and intelligence figures like General Vito Miceli, head of SID (Italian Military Intelligence), who was a P2 member.
	◦	Gelli was tasked with arresting President Giuseppe Saragat during the failed Golpe Borghese coup (1970), a Gladio-linked attempt to install a right-wing regime, highlighting his role in subversive plots.

	2	Financial Facilitation:
	◦	In 1974, Gelli met U.S. officials, including Alexander Haig and Henry Kissinger, at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, securing CIA funding for P2 and Gladio’s anti-communist operations. CIA operative Richard Brenneke later claimed P2 received $1–10 million monthly, though the CIA denied this.
	◦	Through P2 member [[Roberto Calvi]], chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, Gelli facilitated the laundering of funds via the Vatican Bank to support Gladio’s activities, including terrorist acts and international anti-communist efforts like funding Solidarity in Poland and Operation Condor in Latin America.

	3	Strategy of Tension:
	◦	Gelli was implicated in Gladio-linked terrorist attacks, such as the Italicus Express bombing (1974), which killed 12, and the Bologna train station bombing (1980), which killed 85. A parliamentary inquiry confirmed P2 “instigated and financed” attacks in Tuscany, using Gladio’s explosives caches.
	◦	The kidnapping and murder of former Prime Minister [[Aldo Moro]] (1978) by the Red Brigades may have involved P2 and Gladio, as Moro’s outreach to the PCI threatened anti-communist interests. Gelli’s influence is suspected in manipulating events to ensure Moro’s death.

	4	International Reach:
	◦	Gelli extended P2’s and Gladio’s influence to Latin America, particularly Argentina, where P2 members like Admiral Emilio Massera and General Guillermo Suárez Mason participated in [[Operation Condor]], a Gladio-linked campaign of state terrorism. Gelli’s ties to Argentine dictator Juan Perón and his Triple A death squad furthered these connections.

Gelli’s role in Gladio surfaced after a 1981 police raid on his villa uncovered P2’s membership list, exposing its infiltration of Italy’s elite and links to Gladio. A 1981 parliamentary report branded P2 a criminal organization aiming to subvert democracy, with Gladio’s existence confirmed in 1990 by Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, a P2 associate. Gelli faced trials in 1992 for political conspiracy, espionage, and fraud related to Banco Ambrosiano’s collapse, receiving reduced sentences. He fled to Argentina during legal battles, was extradited, and died under house arrest in 2015 at age 96.