Wednesday, April 15, 2009

How acts of oppression lead to political self-destruction

Authors:
Luis Alberto López Rafaschieri and José Alberto López Rafaschieri
www.morochos.net

Every time we hear of governments that commit human rights violations trying to assert its power. Most often these crimes against humanity are expressed persecuting dissidents, imprisoning political opponents, censoring the press, disabling opposition leaders, assassinating rival politicians, etc..

However, this state terrorism is condemned by a political truth: When a government commits acts of cruelty against those it governs, it discredits before national and international public opinion, which at the end can destroy even a strong dictatorship.

To see this in practice we can quote several examples: The huge number of tortured and political prisoners collected by the Venezuelan dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez, and the drastic censorship on the media under his regime, were facts without which the popular discontent, that led to his removal from power in 1958, would never have erupted.

The same can be seen elsewhere: In Pakistan, dictator Musharraf was forced to resign after the killing of the dissident leader Benazir Bhutto. The dictator Rafael Trujillo overflowed discontent and was overthrown after the brutal murder of the Mirabal sisters. Torture at the Guantanamo prison and violation of international law in the war of Iraq ended with the popularity of George W. Bush in the world.

In Venezuela Carlos Andres Perez began his political debacle after the "Caracazo", Montesinos' crimes against opponents were largely responsible for the collapse of Fujimori, Pinochet's brutal repression was indeed the element that decided the election that took him out of power, and the blatant violation of human rights in Cuba will topple castro-communism in the coming decade to never return.

To this we must add that Hugo Chavez lost a referendum -2007- and the main Venezuelan governorships -2008- after closing a TV station -RCTV- and tightening persecution against opponents. Besides, the Venezuelan government harmed its image before democratic nations by disabling dissident politicians, harassing the press and using the state media to defame opponents.

In conclusion, it is very difficult for any government to commit acts of injustice against dissenters without discrediting itself and eventually relinquishing power, because every political prisoner, every opponent killed, every journalist harassed, every slander that comes from the official media, and each politician unfairly disabled by law is automatically transformed into a factor that undermines the legitimacy of the political system.


Related articles:

- On the Obama's decision to close Guantanamo

- Questions after 50 years of Castrist revolution in Cuba

- First criticism of Liberation Theology

2 comments:

  1. DECALOGUE OF THE DEMOCRACY

    They are only ten very simple premises that we would have to copy:

    · You cannot create prosperity discouraging the Own Initiative.

    · You cannot fortify to the weak one, debilitating to the fort.

    · You cannot help the small ones, squashing to the great ones.

    · You cannot help to the poor man, destroying the rich one.

    · You cannot elevate to the wage-earner, pressing to whom the wage pays.

    · You cannot solve your problems while she spends more than what wins.

    · You cannot promote the brotherhood of the humanity, admitting and urging the hatred of classes.

    · You cannot guarantee a suitable security with lent money.

    · You cannot form the character and the value of the man clearing to him your independence (freedom) and initiative.

    · You cannot permanently help to the men making by them the one that they can and must do by themselves

    ReplyDelete
  2. The authoritarian governments are not going to give to the freedom and the democracy to us in our hands, we must snatch it to it costs what costs, is worth but that our same life

    ReplyDelete

Warning: Comments are fully moderated. If you use language that is vulgar or inappropriate, your comment will not be published.