Verani was born in the Province of Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1938 to a well-to-do farming family, and his father was prominent in provincial politics. The elder Verani was separated from his family, however, when he joined the Italian resistance, and they were not reunited until after the Allied liberation of the region. The family left Italy in 1947, and settled in Allen, Río Negro, then a largely agrarian community in the Argentine Patagonia region.