Originally posted by Turnbull:
To get this thread back on track:
I believe that the two are almost comparable. Sosa obviously had a huge cocaine production empire, and a big organization behind him. We saw it all. In GF, all we saw of Sollozzo was Sollozzo. But, as Hagen told the Don, "he's known as a top narcotics man." In the novel, Hagen says that he has contacts in the opium poppy fields in Turkey and plants in Sicily to convert opium to heroin. So we can infer that he was a big time operator. More important: both Sosa and Sollozzo wanted to establish distribution networks in the US. And both needed help from organized crime figures. If anything, Sollozzo showed more ambition, since he went right to the top: Vito Corleone. Sosa sought help from Frank, who was basically a wuss.
I see your point Turnbull, however I look at it from a different perspective. I feel that Sosa was powerful enough by himself, and that there was no one over him, at the top, that he needed to go to. It's true, like you said, that Sosa used Frank who was a wuss. But Sosa was the top man and all he needed was for someone in the states to take care of the distribution end. So basically Sosa could have used anyone that he wanted for his distribution, and when he saw the ambition in Tony, he used him. When Tony screwed him, he exterminated him and in all likelyhood moved on to the next distributer. Sollozo on the other hand could not get his business off the ground without Vito and Barzini. When Vito told him no, he
attempted to kill Vito but failed. Then in turn The Corleone's took out Sollozo. I totally understand how you are looking at the comparison, and it is a brilliant perspective, but on the otherside of the same coin, I just see it differently. Me, if I had to make a deal with Sollozo or Sosa, I would choose Sosa. If I had to take on one of them to take over their operation, I would stay far away from Sosa and would go after Sollozo. But that's me.
Don Cardi
