 He also did not want to antagonize the Christian Democrats, looking for a historic compromise.Togliatti preferred to avoid that Sicily became a source of irreparable confrontation between the Communists and Christian Democrats, whose Sicilian notables were sometimes contiguous to the Mafia, and some of whom also had responsibilities on a national scale.Togliatti did not hesitate to replace Li Causi as regional secretary of the Party in the late 1950s, at a time in which Mafia rule increased not only in rural areas but also in cities, starting from Palermo.