Dear Comrades,

I know that at the opening of the AGM there will be a space to remember Mauro, the comrade and the man. I am sending my thoughts to help complete the all-round profile which the comrades will certainly be giving of the communist fighter/militant.

Mauro was a natural communist: his daily life, his feelings, his spontaneous reaction to events in life, they were all an expression of his need for class justice, of his intolerance of every form of bourgeois power, whether economic, political or cultural. At the same time he was a reflective, non-dogmatic, careful observer, undoubtedly the finest quality of our organisation.

Mauro was also the most vital of men, curious about everything new and who tried to keep up with new research in the fields of science and technology.

His physical presence was always enormous, even when he was on his own for hours in front of the computer.

He was immune from the sort of depression which afflicts most of us after disappointments and always brightened up very quickly, something which made him a youthful person.

He was the same even when he was ill: he kept on trying and submitting to various treatments, despite his scepticism based on reason, still hoping to find a solution. This spontaneous way of being led him to try difficult and physically debilitating experiments. He never complained. All he did was convey his sarcasm about medicine not being scientific, only trial and error. He responded to the doctors, not as a petulant patient, but as an individual always wanting to know about the various kinds of therapies and their effects in general and on his body in particular.

He had an innate capacity to make light of problems because he knew how to reduce them to their component parts and then look again at the whole in an attempt to find a solution; in this way our relationship had become stable and harmonious and knowing that this will no longer be is truly distressing for me.

While for him travelling was a natural and complete way of existence, for me it was the antecedent of death. We always quarrelled when we were getting ready for journeys and on the eve of departure. In the end I would have no other option and we’d set off, forgetting just about everything and planning almost nothing for each stage of the journey, and here was the fascination of the voyage towards the unexpected which pleased both of us. During the trip there was always the aim of visiting a comrade, looking for a bookshop for our political material as well as the enjoyment of artistic works and beautiful scenery.

He loved the comrades a great deal, above all the young ones and every new person who came to our organisation. His great worry was that he might lose contact with new sympathisers.

Many people have written that Mauro was a great example and I’d like to see that this example was really followed in the hope that the political void that he has left will be reduced. Unfortunately the void in our affections cannot be filled and all we can do is learn to accept it.

Comrades, I thank you all.

6/5/2005