Menu Close

Articles on Authoritarianism

Displaying 201 - 220 of 267 articles

Cuba’s new president, at the National Assembly meeting where he was appointed to succeed Raúl Castro on April 18, 2018. Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

Cuba’s new president: What to expect of Miguel Díaz-Canel

Cuba has a new president — and for the first time in six decades his last name is not Castro. Who is Miguel Díaz-Canel, the man who inherits a Cuba born of Fidel’s 1959 revolution?
Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro are both classic Latin American strongmen. But that’s where the similarities end. David Mercado/Reuters

Bolivia is not Venezuela – even if its president does want to stay in power forever

Bolivia’s populist leader has been in office for 12 years. He’s a thorn in the US’s side and an ally of the late Hugo Chávez. Now he’s running for a fourth term. But that doesn’t make him a dictator.
The January 30 address at the State of the Union reveals a lot about the American leader’s excessive character. Nicholas Kamm/AFP

What Donald Trump’s State of the Union address says about his autocratic tendencies

The State of the Union address, a traditional exercise for US presidents was marked this year by a great divergence on tone and words, showing the clear dictatorial style of the American leader.
A day after Donald Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, he told lawmakers the U.S. should have more immigrants from places like Norway and not “shithole” countries like Haiti. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

‘Shithole countries’: Trump uses the rhetoric of dictators

Donald Trump’s language has disturbing similarities to the words and verbal tactics used by fascists, including his cries of “fake news” and his obsessive exaggerations about his achievements.
AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan

Inside Venezuela’s crisis: 7 essential reads

How to understand the economic, political and humanitarian crisis that has brought a South American nation to its knees.
Voter turnout was under 50 percent in Venezuela’s Dec. 10 mayor elections, which were boycotted by most opposition parties. Reuters

Venezuelan regime sweeps mayors races, tightening Maduro’s grip on power

Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party won 39 of 40 major mayoral races on Dec. 10. A victorious President Nicolás Maduro is now likely to call a snap presidential election early next year. Can he win?
People ride tricycle carts past a poster featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping along a street in Beijing. China’s ruling Communist Party has praised President Xi as a Marxist thinker, adding to intense propaganda promoting Xi’s personal image as he begins a second five-year term as leader. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China’s Xi sets his sights on the world

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been enshrined in the Communist Party’s constitution as the sole legitimate interpreter of Chinese Marxism for the “new era.” Now he can look to the rest of the world.
Bishop Desmond Tutu during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission process. Reuters

Timol inquest opens new door to justice against apartheid atrocities

Inquests into atrocities committed under apartheid are important because many South Africans are beginning to question whether justice was done under the country’s truth and reconciliation process.
For some, Spain’s crackdown on the Catalonian independence vote has raised the specter of the country’s authoritarian past. Reuters/Susana Vera

Catalonia’s referendum unmasks authoritarianism in Spain

Why did the Spanish state forcefully quash Catalonia’s referendum for independence? It is rooted in the country’s nearly 40-year dictatorship and its transition to democracy.
U.S. President’s apparent passion for cruelty speaks to a greater American illness. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Donald Trump’s passion for cruelty

Donald Trump seems to have a passion for cruelty, often publicly celebrating his investment in violence as a source of pleasure. Those tendencies represent symptoms of a broader American sickness.

Top contributors

More