icily’s Fiscal Problems Threaten to Swamp

ience and that Sicily’s problems could not spread to other Italian regions.

But with Europe’s debt crisis, local politics quickly become international problems. And the flare-up over Sicily highlights the challenges that Mr. Monti is facing in trying to use pressure from European leaders and international markets to push Italy’s politicians to cut costs. Those expenses have ballooned after decades of a patronage system in which the state has been the primary means of employment in Sicily.

It was also a stark reminder of Italy’s national fragility as Mr. Monti struggles to prevent the country from requiring a bailout that would come with the onerous terms that have plagued the Greek and Spanish economies. On Friday, the Milan stock market dropped nearly 5 percent, and the difference in interest rates on Italian and German bonds rose to its highest levels in months, a sign that investors think Italy is a risky bet.

In an interview on Friday, Raff