I remember someone telling me once "Kid if you get the right kind of pressure you can't trust anyone." The threat of death is definitely that kind of pressure for most as it was for Joe Valachi.

Think he was a rat or just a victim of Genovese's paranoia? or both?

I personally find Genovese to be one of the most detestable figures in the history of organized crime in the 20th century. None of his peers liked him or trusted him. If it would've been only the law after him I think Joe Valachi would've stayed silent. With no real chance to kill Vito I *think would've done the same.

Genovese made a major error by putting Valachi's back to the wall. Instead of "keeping his enemies closer",Vito's ego demanded that he let Valachi spend his days in fear,waiting for the axe to fall,never knowing when or how the end would come.
Had Vito taken Valachi into his inner circle in prison,and treated him as a friend,he could have taken him out easily.
Instead,this nitwit gives Valachi a literal "kiss of death" in public.
Knowing that he was done for and desperate to survive,Valachi kills an innocent man,and puts the wheels in motion for his flipping.

Genovese was a wreck, he basically botched everything he was involved with as boss. I'd like to sit down to salsicc and peppers with Joey Cago.

Genovese took big part of Cosa Nostra down with him.Sometimes i wonder if Vito did the Valachi thing on purpose,you know as a revenge for the set up and all...story goes that Vito was a big machiavellian apart from being ruthless killer.But that just my thinking and what do i know?!

I think it both,Vito and Joe died in jail so what was his point of fliping.Did anyone get charged by Joe talking?

I read somewhere he testified in a Carmine Persico trial. But I am wondering too why didn't his testimony lead to big indictments, like when Buscetta talked in Sicily.

Genovese thought Valachi was a rat and instead of killing him quickly and putting him at ease. Vito toyed with Joe. After Joe killed the wrong man, he decided to seek protection with the FBI, and in return tell them everything he knew. I do not believe Valachi was an informant before he helped the feds. All indication point to Aguecis a Buffalo member being an informant and putting the thought of Valachi being an informer in Genovese head. Valachi was a soldier in Strollo crew, and Strollo made a lot of mistakes that cost a lot of members in the family to go to jail. To this Genovese believed Valachi was an informer to law enforcement.

Dwalin, the feds gave Valachi a lot of information that they could not use as they obtained them through the use of illegal wire taps and bugs. Valachi was a perfect mouth piece for the information.

Valachi's testimony was before Senator McClelland's investigative committee,and didn't result in any real prosecutions.
The hearings were held 6 or 7 years after Apalachin,so the public was still fascinated by the whole Mafia thing.

Valachi talked about the hierarchy,day to day activities,and general operations of the Mob. He was also the first to expose the making ceremony for new members.

Outside of providing some unusual entertainment for the TV crowd,and some political mileage for the Senator,Valachi didn't do a whole lot.

Speaking of illegal wiretaps, I remember they recorded enough in Patriarca's office to make him fry on the electric chair 100 times, yet it wasn't allowed because they didn't have a warrant for the bugs or something. But at the time Robert Kennedy was the general attorney, didn't he directly authorize Patriarca's wiretapping? Here
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/providence_mob/3.html
it's said he hated Patriarca and said "we're going after that pig on the hill", so if for the general attorney it was ok, why were the tapes defined illegal? What else did they want, an authorization by Patriarca himself?

Valachi ratted because he faced the death penalty for killing a federal inmate. That was the point of him flipping.

They didn't use his testimony in trials because he was a sidewalk hood who didn't know have knowledge of many crimes personally except for his own little shakedowns.

As for Genovese doing it on purpose, I doubt that he knew Valachi would end up killing an innocent inmate, flipping and testifying in front of Congress. He would have needed a crystal ball to tell the future, unless you think Valachi was in on it and was the greatest actor in history.

Like some others here- I just read what I can, consider the sources.... and come to a conclusion.

I, personally, believe that Genovese's sources were correct and that Valachi was flirting with the FBI. Again, this is just my take, I don't have any sources that gives me a leg up on others here.