Editing Stefano Delle Chiaie

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'''Stefano delle Chiaie''' (13 September 1936 - September 10, 2019) was an Italian neo-fascist activist and militant, and founder of [[Avanguardia Nazionale]], a fascist militant group best known for its coup attempt in 1970. Formerly part of Italy's post-World War II fascist party the Italian Social Movement (MSI), delle Chiaie was unsatisfied with participating in elections and decided to become a street militant. He was also part of the P2 (Propaganda Due) Masonic Lodge that was linked to a number of terrorist incidents in Italy. Despite his alleged connections to these incidents, delle Chiaie would never be convicted.

== Career ==
delle Chiaie became a youth activist for the MSI at 14, but lost interest and joined the [[Ordine Nuovo]] (New Order) study group at 20. Dissatisfied with this group, he founded Avanguardia Nazionale (National Vanguard) in 1962. Nonetheless, in 1965 this group met with ON members including its founder Pino Rauti at an anti-communist conference at the Princes' Park Hotel in Rome. The fascists met with a number of military and business leaders, who they aimed to advise in how to stop Italy becoming a communist country. Communism was seen by many Italians as a threat due to the fact that it bordered Communist Yugoslavia, and domestic activity among communists was increasing in the 1960s. Since delle Chiaie and many of the fascists who attended would go on to be involved in it, this meeting is said to be the starting point of Italy's "strategy of tension". Its purpose was to commit acts of terrorism in order to create tension within the Italian public which would result in a crackdown on the communists.

=== Operation Chinese Posters ===
As part of AN, delle Chiaie and his associates put up posters purported to be made by a Stalinist organization. He later confessed that the campaign was backed by the CIA.

== Militancy and terrorism ==
In 1968, delle Chiaie and AN joined fascist student groups at the Sapienza University of Rome, in support of an occupation of the architecture school. While the first occupation was evicted by the State Police, for about a day they occupied the law school building and clashed with the authorities. This incident, what would be known as the Battle of Valle Giulia, created further tensions between the extra-parliamentary fascists and the MSI as many of its leaders opposed the occupation and the violence that injured 148 police officers. delle Chiaie and AN united with another fascist group called the Fronte Nazionale, led by Junio Valerio Borghese, who would later organize the Borghese coup in 1970.

== Suspected involvement in bombings ==
On December 12, 1969, Carlo Digilio and other Ordine Nuovo militants bombed the National Bank of Agriculture on Piazza Fontana in Milan, killing 17 and injuring 88. delle Chiaie's friend and fellow militant Mario Merlino was arrested for alleged financial and material support of the bombers, and delle Chiaie was called to testify about him in court. However, because he had allegedly lied in a deposition made on December 22, delle Chiaie fled to Spain in order to escape a warrant for his arrest. While there, he continued to work with other accused militants of ON and AN, who, along with himself, were being sheltered by the fascist government of [[Francisco Franco]]. Many would later be extradited by Spain following Franco's death, or by other countries. 

== Coup ==
At some point in 1970, delle Chiaie returned to Italy to assist in the Borghese Coup. He led AN militants to the Ministry of the Interior, where they seized weapons that were to be used during the arrests of MPs and the kidnapping of President Giuseppe Saragat. Their goal was to enable [[Junio Valerio Borghese]] to proclaim the dissolution and replacement of Italy's government at that time, but this plan was aborted at the last minute. After Borghese called off the coup, they returned the weapons to the ministry building. Along with Borghese and other coup leaders, delle Chiaie fled to Spain, where he would be acquitted in absentia because the coup never actually proceeded as planned. Some suggest that during his time there, he poisoned Borghese causing the pancreatitis that killed him, however this has not been proven.

== Arrest ==
On March 27, 1987, delle Chiaie was arrested in Caracas, Venezuela and extradited to Italy to face trial for his alleged involvement in the Piazza Fontana bombing.  He had fled to South America following Franco's death, and was an advisor for the [[DINA]] police in Chile. delle Chiaie also helped organize the coup that made [[Luis García Meza]] president of Bolivia. Because of his involvement with South American dictators, by 1983 the CIA had called delle Chiaie "the world's most wanted rightist terrorist". Alongside Gelli and the P2 lodge, he was also accused of involvement in the 1980 Bologna train station bombing committed by [[Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari]]. 

In 1991 delle Chiaie was definitively acquitted of all involvement in terrorist attacks of which he had been accused. By this point, his organization had been dissolved, as it is illegal in Italy to recreate the [[National Fascist Party]], so he founded a political party called Lega Nazionalpopulare, which experienced few or no successes. Nonetheless, delle Chiaie remained active with the Avanguardia community until his death. 

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[[Category:Italy]]
[[Category:European Villains]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]
[[Category:Political]]
[[Category:Deceased]]
[[Category:Karma Houdini]]
[[Category:Incriminator]]
[[Category:Pawns]]
[[Category:Fascist]]
[[Category:Totalitarians]]
[[Category:Government support]]