From Cuba to Palestine, when revolutionaries end up as dictators, the people pay the price

The rise of authoritarian regimes of the left means progressives need to re-learn lessons about freedom

Who betrayed the revolution? It’s a question exercising Cubans after last week’s harsh regime crackdown on street protesters marching for freedom. It’s also a conundrum for other erstwhile liberation movements now wielding power in places as far apart as South Africa, Nicaragua and Palestine. Too often, it seems, the new bosses behave little better than the old bosses they overthrew.

Those on the progressive left face an obvious dilemma when revolutionary causes backfire. In keeping with a simplistic American tradition, US president Joe Biden is busily dividing up the world into good and bad guys, democrats and autocrats. Attention has mostly focused on authoritarian rightwing leaders, as in Brazil, Belarus, Russia and Myanmar.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/18/cuba-to-palestine-revolutionaries-become-dictators

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