No. 792
Editorial Note

Following a five-hour Cabinet meeting on December 4, the office of Prime Minister Mario Scelba issued a communiqué announcing new government measures in the economic, commercial, and administrative fields designed to defend democratic institutions against the actions of “totalitarian political forces” dependent on foreign countries. The text of the communiqué was quoted in telegram 2141 from Rome, December 6. (765.00/12–654) The reaction of the Italian Communist Party to the new measures, including the comments of Palmiro Togliatti in an interview published in Paesa Sera on December 5, was the subject of despatch 1225 from Rome, December 14. (765.001/12–1454) The reaction of the Italian Socialist Party was described in despatch 1245, December 17. (765.00/12–1754)