Cortese: "The Palermo bosses would never accept Messina Denaro, head of the mafia"
07 September 2021
The former commissioner of Paleremo heard in Marsala as part of the Annozero trial: "The clans of the capital have always poorly tolerated the Corleonesi"

«It is difficult for Matteo Messina Denaro to be at the regional summit of Cosa Nostra. The Palermitans have always poorly tolerated the Corleonesi. In my opinion, therefore, Messina Denaro cannot be Riina's heir. Surely, it has an important role at the provincial level ». This was stated by the former police commissioner of Palermo Renato Cortese, heard, in court, in Marsala, in the trial resulting from the anti-mafia operation Annozero (blitz of 19 April 2018), which involved alleged mafia members, including a brother-in-law of the superflatant (Gaspare Como) and supporters of Cosa Nostra in Belicino.

Cortese was called to testify following an interview released a few years ago in which he said that Messina Denaro no longer had a top role. Today, he specified that when he said he no longer had a top role he was referring to a regional summit. According to his knowledge of the Mafia, in fact, it is not possible for a Corleonese to be at the top of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Messina Denaro is famously from Castelvetrano, when we talk about Corleonesi we mean the favorable alignment of Sa Totò Riina during the mafia war.