The farmers’ protest moves to the center of Cosenza who, in the afternoon, left the Vagliolise garrison to reach Palazzo dei Bruzi. About ten tractors were parked in the square in front of the Municipality to keep the attention of the institutions and public opinion high.
The demonstrators met the mayor of the city Franz Caruso to whom they told him that they had come to the front of the city hall to «defend only our flag, the tricolor, because it is a battle that concerns everyone. We are serious people – explained a representative of the farmers – and we only ask for a concrete sign from the government, because there are many young people who are involved in this sector and therefore the damage would be incalculable”.
Caruso, expressing solidarity and willingness to act as spokesperson with the national government, he then thanked the farmers for «the civil and peaceful protest implemented which has the support of all the institutions, not of a political party, because the farmers – he said – are an important resource, in particular for the province of Cosenza . Agriculture is a world in difficulty and cannot fail to have the support of all of us.”
Some farmers then delivered free bags of potatoes to passing motorists, to raise awareness of the protest and apologize for the inconvenience. The garrison in Vagliolise, near the Cosenza train station, will remain operational in the next few days.
Some protesters talk to mayor Franz Caruso
Some protesters talk to mayor Franz Caruso
“The trade associations have abandoned us – said one of the demonstrators – to dedicate themselves to politics. They used us instrumentally for their personal gain. Farmers were gathered in public demonstrations just to show how much weight that particular category had at that moment , but they no longer took on our real difficulties.”
For safety reasons, traffic along state road 107 was not blocked and the demonstrators’ vehicles were parked in the spaces between the roadways. “We are the true guardians of the environment and green policies – added another of the farmers present – but not under these conditions.
We have been brought to our knees by the government with very high production costs. We expect a real announcement from the government regarding the protection of production costs, otherwise we will stay here. We are at odds with reality, something didn’t work, whoever was supposed to fight didn’t do it and didn’t protect us, so now we expect a strong signal.”