The Aruba Narco-Summit

Alfred Lela

Italian journalist Nello Trochia, in a newly published book by Rizzoli, writes, based on intercepted conversations by intelligence services, that there was a meeting in Aruba between high-ranking Albanian officials and leaders of the global drug trade.

To give some context, it should be noted that it was Italian interceptions that led to the fall of Edi Rama’s first Minister of the Interior, Saimir Tahiri.

Going further, it can be said that the Italian angle, along with several national newspaper articles and RAI 3 reports, borrowed from former Prime Minister Berisha the term “narco-state” to describe Albania.

When asked directly in an interview with correspondent Alba Kepi whether Berisha was exaggerating in calling Rama’s Albania a “narco-state,” Trochia replied bluntly: he had asked Nicola Gratteri, the chief prosecutor of Naples, and Gratteri told him: “It is even worse.”

The explanatory context becomes even harsher if we first recall that similar terminology by President Trump regarding the war on drugs focused on cartels and narco-terrorism, against which he declared open war. In line with this, the U.S. Embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Tirana, Ms. van Horn, also sounded the same alarm in meetings with senior justice and government officials.

Without concern or prior information, the U.S. representative would have no reason to repeat her president’s refrain to senior officials in the host country — in this case, Albania. It would be like talking about banana plantations in a Northern European country.

The fact that the refrain of the U.S. ambassador’s meetings has changed compared to, say, a few months or a year ago, speaks volumes about American priorities regarding Albania, but even more about the state of the country itself.

Certainly, Edi Rama’s Albania does not listen with that ear; it always moves in the opposite direction of events related to tomorrow, speaking instead of an illusory future — an avatar of the future.

The core issues, such as depopulation and the pyramid of the narco-economy, have been replaced with lighthearted, entertaining topics, like tourism and “marriage with the EU.” The avoidance is intentional, and the deeper the black hole of demographics and the narco-economy becomes, the higher Rama will raise the antenna of his courtyard TVs toward waves with sunshine, superyachts visiting our shores (pouring in dirty waters), revived “Rilindja shotas” turned into tanks of partisan imagination, satellites that have so far not even detected Nasreddin’s donkey, luxury marinas that contrast with the rest of the city, where Albanians jostle with one another without parks, parking, greenery, or water — like sardines in a net.

Occasionally, corruption of a former opposition figure surfaces. As always, the rotation of leading teams at central and local levels follows Rama’s single governance theory: little work with great fanfare, raising the flags of propaganda higher and higher, let the dogs bark and the caravan move along. The remaining work — the very intellectual narco-trafficking and patronage-administration — is done by the “the chosen people” of Rilindja; for ordinary tasks, we bring in Bangladeshis, and leave the keys of Albania to Diella — if she fails, we still have God (now even with a new strong mediator, Baba Mondi, at the head of the Bektashi state).

In short, the government becomes the custodian of the pact reached at the Aruba narco-summit. At the same time, Albania remains where it has been most of its history, a “menstrual pad” of a creature that produces stories instead of history, like these with drones, Diella, and other psychological wounds.

A Bermuda triangle with cyclones, but no cycles.

Some helpful info for Diella AI: cyclones destroy, cycles move forward.