The Worst of the Worst: Revisited

Who will be the next coconut to fall?

BY GEORGE B.N. AYITTEY | SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

4. RAÚL CASTRO

Cuba

After 52 years under the rule of the Castro brothers, Cubans are stirring. On Aug. 23, a group of four women took to the steps of the capitol building in Havana chanting "freedom." The Castro security goons pounced, raining rocks and using iron bars on the unarmed ladies. The crowd that had gathered booed, hissed, and insulted the agents.

Things were already getting hot for Raúl prior to the Arab Spring. Cuba's socialist economy has been in the doldrums. On Sept. 13, 2010, Cuba announced it would lay off "at least" half a million state workers over the next six months and simultaneously allow more jobs to be created in the private sector as the socialist economy struggled to get back on its feet. The plan was part of a pledge to shed some one million state jobs, a full fifth of the official workforce. It increasingly looks like Raúl's plan is akin to Mikhail Gorbachev's "perestroika" -- sans "glasnost."

"Our state cannot and should not continue maintaining companies, productive entities and services with inflated payrolls and losses that damage our economy and result counterproductive, create bad habits and distort workers' conduct," the CTC, Cuba's official labor union, announced. The Castro regime, which has for decades relied on its relatively generous welfare state to retain autocratic rule, will now have to rely entirely on state repression. It's a very fragile arrangement.

JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images; ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images; BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images; SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images; SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images; MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images

 SUBJECTS:
 

George Ayittey, a native of Ghana, is president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington. His new book, Defeating Dictators, will be published in October.

AQUA11

9:24 AM ET

September 10, 2011

Where are the

Where are the white/white-looking despots and dictators? There are quite a few in Eastern Europe and Central Asia...

 

CARLOBARI

12:56 PM ET

September 10, 2011

Indeed !

Yes indeed, i think it's pretty strange too !

I don't think those one are really the worst, european and south americans can be really mean too :)

PS : Don't forget Harry Potter : Lord Voldemort is pretty mean too :p

 

JOE P.

1:56 PM ET

September 12, 2011

DICTATORS ARE NOT ONLY IN AFRICA

George Bush Snr. and Jnr., Tony Blair, David Cameron, Sarkozi and co., of the West are all
dictators who cajole the UN into rubber stamping all their nefarious activities accross the globe
dictating to nations how to govern themselves. They use lies and deceit to sow seeds of discord in nations thereby formenting rebellions against the governments they don't like. If
this is not world dictatorship, I don't know what dictatorship is. Mr. George Aryeetey only
sees thru the eyes of the spoild priveledged few. When will the affor mentioned leaders report
to the International court at the Hague? So sad.

 

LASTMAN

7:22 AM ET

September 13, 2011

"Where are the

"Where are the white/white-looking despots and dictators? There are quite a few in Eastern Europe and Central Asia..."

it's true there are... but the people don't seem to know how to shake the tree as hard as they are in the middle east.

 

NYOMYTHUS

7:34 AM ET

September 13, 2011

Have you been looking/paying attention?

European/Central Asianesque Dictators who have been deposed?

Slobodan Miloševi?, Nicolae Ceau?escu .. if a particular 'neighborhood' has a higher perpincity for spawning dictatorships, then have a look at the value system that generally governs that region and culture .. maybe more than a change of leadership is needed but a zeitgeist shift towards democratic values by the people ... here's hoping for the best from the Arab Spring!

 

BRANDONT

11:55 AM ET

October 12, 2011

All politics.

They are only saying what they know they have to say to not get into trouble.. but in reality they are doing whatever they want and because they said what they said, people are not investigating or pursuing their treacherous actions. It really is sad when you consider that some of the people who are doing this are the kind who are cunning enough to attract women or naive men to support their role.

It's just sad.

 

JEAN KAPENDA

9:44 AM ET

September 10, 2011

Do Ugliness & Tyranny Go Hand in Hand? - An Anthropometric View

If he were still alive, the famous French police officer Alphonse Bertillon, would come up with this same conclusion: from the anthropometric perspective, all dictators are ugly. Again, we're back to the most important question criminologists have been trying to answer from the beginning of this world: why do people become criminals? Of course, there's a combination of factors, internal and external, that are often pointed at, although the rational choice perspective seems to dominate the debate. William Bratton, the former NYPD Chief, once said that "the problem of crime is the criminal", thus reasserting that individuals are free to choose to become criminals and that they shouldn't blame external circumstances. Now, let's look at our own African zoo, what I've referred to in several occasions at Foreign Policy as the 'Animal Club of Despots". Is there beauty out there among African dictators and tyrants? No matter the language you speak, the answer is clearly: no, nein, niet, apana!
Is ugliness behind the criminogenic behavior of African tyrants? From the mugshot of the club, the answer is inevitably: yes!

 

AUTO PEçAS

4:54 PM ET

September 10, 2011

Where are the

yea, There are quite a few in Eastern Europe and Central Asia...Thanks !!!
Saude do Corpo
Acompanhantes
Auto Pecas

 

ANDREW FORREST

2:36 AM ET

September 13, 2011

I agree

the photos do tell the story by themselves and there is much to this then what the politicians say and what we hear on the news. i'm glad that they've started trying to get the Army back home. Alot of life has been lost which shouldn't have in the first place

 

MSMII

11:01 AM ET

September 12, 2011

Worst Get Worse

Without a power of good and strength to counter them, the Worst will get Worse.

Iran is expanding its reach. What comes to my mind when I think about Iranian expansion is Hezbollah, IRCS, support of terrorism, and a staunch opposing view towards America. Ahmedinijad is easily one of the more pressing threats America faces for the near to midterm as Iran expands its presence in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Cuba.
http://msmignoresit.blogspot.com/2011/09/iranian-expansion.html

 

FAKE NAME

3:26 PM ET

September 12, 2011

Museveni doesn't belong on this list

Museveni won his 2011 election fairly. One thing you fear in African elections is that the results will be close and the losing side won't accept it which leads to riots. In Uganda everyone knew that Museveni was going to win. Even people who are tired of him, sort of felt that they could stand another term because he's old and he's got to retire soon. It wasn't a close election.

Besigye was not a strong opposition candidate. His only claim to fame is that he married Museveni's former mistress. In the 2001 elections people viewed him as an outsider who wasn't corrupt. This is because he was an unknown doctor, not a politician. (The 2001 election actually was stolen btw, Besigye should have won that). But these days Besigye is viewed as just another politician and people distrust his tendencies towards violent rhetoric.

Museveni is a pretty good leader. You could fault him for not defeating the Lords Resistance Army fast enough, but in the end he did that. Recently he's been working to de-arm the northern tribes and stop the cattle raiding. In Kenya and Sudan, they haven't done anything like that. Uganda has much less violent crime than either of those two countries. Not just the cattle raiding zones, but also it's safer in urban areas.

Museveni's leadership has been good for the economy. He's friendly towards small businesses. You could say that the Ugandan economy is not as good as the Kenyan economy. But Kenya didn't have so many wars so it had a head start. Also if I were poor, I'd prefer to be poor in Uganda instead of working on the flower farms in Kenya.

Perhaps the main reason that Museveni won his election is the old people. People talk about how during the regimes before Museveni, the soldiers raped their mothers and then under Museveni there was peace. These are people who say they'll always vote for him as long as he still can breath.

It's ironic that everyone condemns the riots in England but in Uganda when people riot then it means the government should just resign. Obviously it wasn't handled correctly, but at the same time Besigye just likes to stir up trouble. They gave hefty jail sentences to people inciting riots in England...

Also Besigye is an idiot. What does he expect Museveni to do about gas prices? Gas is expensive everywhere in the world right now. Implementing massive fuel subsidies sounds nice but the money to pay for it has to come from somewhere.

Term limits are great, but from a short term perspective, Museveni is a far better president than Besigye would have been.

 

CASSANDRINA

4:03 AM ET

September 13, 2011

Despots Unlimited

"Fox News couldn't even find Egypt on the map" You could also mention that CNN showed Tripoli in Lebanon and not Libya on their maps - that way it would be more unbiased.
It seems fitting that an African from Ghana should remind us that most of the despots are in Africa where the rule of terror is prevelant.
However linking the brother of Castro, who is a reformer compared to the others is disingeneous.
And yet Mugabe is missing.
Rather choose Belyrussia for a white despot that is still living, and even Putin in Russia fits the bill nicely, as does many of the Stans.
And where is the old Burma - seems the author needs a lesson in geography and history.
Sadly this seems to be a mess of an article.

 

XTIANGODLOKI

9:23 AM ET

September 13, 2011

The author is paid off by neocons

The mention of Ahmadinejad is pretty ignorant considering the fact that Ahmadinejad was elected. The real person of power running Iran is Khamenei. If anything I would put Putin on the list since any journalist who go up against him usually end up dead. The problem with neocons is that they only attack non-democracies rather than failed democracies which sometimes are even worse. It makes them look like hypocrites.

 

NYOMYTHUS

7:36 AM ET

September 13, 2011

List of Dictators

http://conservapedia.com/List_of_dictators

 

LINAL

7:18 AM ET

September 16, 2011

Now, let's look at our own

Now, let's look at our own African zoo, what I've referred to in several occasions at Foreign Policy as the 'Animal Club of Despots". Is there beauty out there among African dictators and tyrants?

 

SVID

5:11 PM ET

September 22, 2011

turkey too

tayyip erdogan is dictator too, please dont forget sex

 

POLIN

8:31 PM ET

September 22, 2011

Farewell dictators!

Tactics like clamping down the resolution with a heavy fist or an attempt to mollify the protesters with job reforms or financial assistance is not going to help any dictator from facing the wrath of democracy-mongers. Once the pledge for uprooting the dictatorial regime has been taken by the pro-democracy activists it would only be time before these regimes will topple, sending their autocratic heads to seek asylum in foreign lands. Lessons learned from the political upheavals in Egypt and Libya resonates with the pro-democratic sentiment swaying throughout the world like fly zapper. All the dictators will take a fall, if not today, may be tomorrow.

 

TAYFA34

11:00 AM ET

October 5, 2011

Dicdator England

And Palestinian land will shrink, suicide bombers will respond, rockets will be launched and Israelis killed. Now Hezbollah and Sunnis have started up again in Lebanon. And Iran is powering up its nuclear capacity. Israel may feel impelled to react at some point if it calculates either Lebanon or Iran needs to be nipped in the bud. Add Syria to the toxic mix in Lebanon; and if things boil over there then Palestine will be left to sit and stew on the perennial international back burner. Hope, at this point, is not even a diamond in the rough. porno porno porno porno web tasarım

 

YARINSIZ

1:05 PM ET

October 6, 2011

Fox News couldn't even find

Fox News couldn't even find Egypt on the map" You could also mention that CNN showed Tripoli in Lebanon and not Libya on their maps - that way it would be more unbiased.
It seems fitting that an African from seslichat Ghana should remind us that most of the despots are in Africa where the rule of terror is prevelant.
However linking the brother of Castro, who is a reformer compared to the others is disingeneous