Salvatore "Totò" Cuffaro (born February 21, 1958 in Raffadali, Agrigento) is an Italian politician, and the current President of Sicily. His nickname is "Vasa Vasa" [Kiss Kiss] for his tendency to kiss all and sundry - he claims that he has kissed a quarter of all the people on the island.^[1] is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Country Italy Region Sicily Province Province of Agrigento (AG) Mayor Elevation 420 m Area 22. ... Agrigento (It. ... Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ...

Biography

A graduate in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Palermo, with a specialization in radiology, Cuffaro joined the Christian Democrat party during his student days. Then, after having served as City Councillor in his native city, Raffadali, and Palermo, Cuffaro was first elected Member of the Sicilian Regional Assembly in 1991; in 1996 he served as Regional Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... “Surgeon” redirects here. ... The University of Palermo (Italian: Università degli Studi di Palermo) is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. ... Image A: A normal chest X-ray. ... Christian Democracy, (Democrazia Cristiana), the Christian democratic party of Italy, commonly called the democristiani or DC, dominated government for nearly half a century until its demise amid a welter of corruption allegations in 1992-94. ... Country Italy Region Sicily Province Province of Agrigento (AG) Mayor Elevation 420 m Area 22. ... For other uses, see Palermo (disambiguation). ...

In 2001, after having joined the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, Cuffaro was endorsed by the House of Freedoms as presidential candidate for Sicily. He won the election, with 59.1% of the vote, defeating Leoluca Orlando. Cuffaro was elected as part of Silvio Berlusconi's sensational clean sweep of the island, when his coalition won all 61 of its parliamentary seats.^[2] The Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (Italian: Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro) is a political party in Italy formed by a merger of the former Centro Cristiano Democratico and Christiani Democratici Uniti parties. ... Casa delle Libertà (CDL; literally translated from Italian to English as House of the Liberties but most often translated as House of Freedoms), is a major Italian center-right political alliance led by national media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi. ... Leoluca Orlando (born August 1, 1947), is an Italian politician, who was mayor of Palermo in 1985-1990 and 1993-2000. ...   (born September 29, 1936) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, and media proprietor. ...

In June 26, 2003, it was revealed that Cuffaro was being investigated for Mafia-related crimes, after Domenico Miceli, a fellow UDC politician, was arrested for allegedly acting as a link between a Mafia chief and top Sicilian politicians, including Cuffaro.^[2][3] A few months later he was committed for trial. Despite all this, Cuffaro stood for the 2004 European Parliament election. Later that year, Cuffaro was appointed national vice-secretary of UDC, the party headed by Pier Ferdinando Casini. is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the criminal society. ... This article is about the criminal society. ... Elections to the European Parliament were held in Italy on June 13, 2004. ... Pierferdinando Casini Pier Ferdinando (or Pierferdinando) Casini (born on 3 December 1955 in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian politician, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and member of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) party. ...

In the Italian general election, 2006, he was elected senator for his party, UDC. In the 2006 regional election,^[4] he was successively re-elected President of Sicily with 53.1% of the vote, defeating Rita Borsellino, the Union candidate and sister of the late judge Paolo Borsellino, killed by the mafia in 1992.^[1] A general election for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy was held on April 9 and April 10, 2006. ... A regional election for the renewal of the Regional Assembly and the Presidency of Sicily will be held on May 28 and 29, 2006. ... Rita Borsellino Rita Borsellino (born 2 June 1945 in Palermo) is an Italian anti-mafia activist, and sister of the late judge Paolo Borsellino, killed in 1992 by a car bomb. ... The Union (Italian: LUnione) is an Italian centre-left political party coalition. ... Paolo Borsellino (January 19, 1940 - July 19, 1992) was an Italian anti-Mafia magistrate. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

He was recently the object of media attention thanks to the film La Mafia è Bianca (The Mafia is White) by Stefano Maria Bianchi and Alberto Nerazzini, which exposes rife corruption in the Sicilian Health service and shows a clip of police film footage of Cuffaro meeting with a known mafioso. Cuffaro took the publishers to court for defamation but lost the first round of the case.^[5][6]

On October 15, 2007, assistant public prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone requested eight years' imprisonment for Cuffaro charged with aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra and passing confidential information about the trial to the so-called moles in the Palermo Antimafia directorate.^[7] is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Cuffaro's indictment emerged from an inquiry set up to trace leaks during an inquiry into a local doctor, Giuseppe Guttadauro, accused of being the Cosa Nostra boss in its Palermo stronghold Brancaccio. Guttadauro learned that his home was being "bugged" from another doctor. The colleague alleged that he, in turn, had been tipped off by Cuffaro. Guttadauro was recorded describing how the Mafia had funded Cuffaro's 2001 election campaign. According to a transcript, he told that Cuffaro was handed packages of cash "in the least elegant, but most tangible way possible".^[8] Giuseppe Guttadauro, Mafia boss of Brancaccio. ... Brancaccio is a suburb of Palermo. ...

References

External links

• (Italian) Official website
• (Italian) Intercettazione ambientale: Boss Guttadauro parla di Cuffaro from La Mafia è Bianca on YouTube

v • d • e Current Presidents of Italian Regions
Abruzzo: Ottaviano Del Turco (SDI) Aosta Valley: Luciano Caveri (UV) Apulia: Nichi Vendola (PRC) Basilicata: Vito De Filippo (DL) Calabria: Agazio Loiero (PDM) ¹ at Italian general election, 2001 thew was with centre-left ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Ottaviano Del Turco (born November 7, 1944 in Collelongo) was an Italian Member of the European Parliament. ... Nichi Vendola, 2004. ...	Campania: Antonio Bassolino (DS) Emilia-Rom.: Vasco Errani (DS) Friuli-VG: Riccardo Illy (Indep) Lazio: Piero Marrazzo (Indep) Liguria: Claudio Burlando (DL) Antonio Bassolino. ... Riccardo Illy was born on 24th September 1955 in Trieste. ... Piero Marrazzo (born in Rome on July 29, 1958) is the current President of Lazio, one of the twenty regions of Italy. ...	Lombardy: Roberto Formigoni (FI) Marche: Gian Mario Spacca (DL) Molise: Michele Iorio (FI) Piedmont: Mercedes Bresso (DS) Sardinia: Renato Soru (PS) Roberto Formigoni (Lecco, 30 March 1947) is an Italian politician, and the current (from April 2005) Governor of Lombardy Region, Italy. ... Mercedes Bresso Mercedes Bresso (born on 12 July 1944) is an Italian politician and President of the Piedmont Region. ... Renato Soru (born 16 August 1957 in Sanluri, Sardinia-Italy) is the founder of the internet service company Tiscali, based in Cagliari. ...	Sicily: Salvatore Cuffaro (UDC) Trentino-AA: Lorenzo Dellai (DL) Tuscany: Claudio Martini (DS) Umbria: Maria Rita Lorenzetti (DS) Veneto: Giancarlo Galan (FI) Maria Rita Lorenzetti is an Italian politician and the current president of the Italian region of Umbria. ... This is the list of governments of Veneto since 1970. ... Giancarlo Galan (born in Padova on September 10, 1956), after an experience in the Italian Liberal Party, joined Forza Italia, as far as it was founded in 1994. ...