Venice’s protest against a yacht and a message from America

Venice did not greet Tilman Fertitta with the usual diplomatic politeness, but with a small carnival of dissent. As the U.S. ambassador’s luxury yacht moored in St. Mark’s Basin on Friday, protesters answered with inflatable water toys, beach balls and signs accusing American power of overreach, including one reading “Venezia non si USA,” a pun that means Venice is not for use.

Several hundred people took part in the demonstration against Fertitta’s arrival. The protest briefly became physical when the crowd approached a double line of riot police and officers pushed them back with shields after demonstrators refused to stop. People had raised their hands to show they were peaceful, but the message was already clear enough: this was not a welcome fit for a superyacht tour wrapped in patriotic language.

The visit was part of Coastal Diplomacy 250, a tour of 13 Italian coastal regions intended to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence. Fertitta said in a social media post that the tour was meant to celebrate shared history, economic partnership and the cultural bonds between the two countries. He also issued a short statement supporting the right to protest, saying that Americans respect freedom of speech and peaceful demonstration and that Coastal Diplomacy celebrates the nation’s founding and those rights.

That is the official script, and it is a familiar one. The street version was less polished. Protesters carried signs reading “Make America Read Again” and “Oligarch in saor,” a reference to the Venetian dish sarde in saor. Organiser Stella Morion told The Associated Press that the yacht symbolised an unwelcome display of American wealth and influence, at a time when many Italians see the Trump administration as unsettling the post-World War II order.

Morion also said the protest was directed at Donald Trump’s international policy, including U.S. strikes on Iran, which she said had driven up energy prices. She described the visit as another blow to Venetians struggling with rising costs and with a city she said has become too dependent on tourism. Details of Fertitta’s meetings in Venice have not been released, though he is expected to attend the Redentore festival on Saturday, the annual celebration that remembers the end of the plague in 1576 and ends with fireworks over St. Mark’s Basin.

The episode says something rather plain about the mood in Venice and, by extension, about the political weather around U.S.-Italy relations. A superyacht tour may be dressed up as cultural diplomacy, but in a city already strained by tourism and prices, it also looks like a floating invitation to protest. Venice has once again provided the stage; the arguments, as usual, arrived before the fireworks.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com