10 communist leaders and the rot they spawned
Hugo Chavez, who died earlier this week, belongs to a long line of communist leaders who delivered less than they promised. ET Magazine sifts through history to bring 10 leaders and the rot they spawned.
Vladimir Lenin
Leader of the Bolsheviks, he was the first head of state of Soviet Union. Did his bit to revive the Soviet economythrough his New Economic Policy. Not too fond of democracy. Was the mastermind behind Red Terror that crushed dissidence; also founded Cheka, the dreaded secret police. Still revered by leftist throughout the world.
Joseph Stalin
The verdict is split. Some called him the saviour of the Soviet Union, defeating the Nazis and making the Soviet Union a nuclear as well as an industrial superpower. On the other hand how can one forget the terror he unleashed and the millions of ordinary citizens who died in labour camps or were simply shot dead.
Enver Hoxha
True that he transformed Albania from a semi-feudal, impoverished country into a modern industrialised one. But in doing so, he resorted to typical Stalinist tactics: large-scale purges, crushing of the opposition, proliferation of labour camps, banning religious activities... So much so that by the mid '70s the country was isolated from the world community.
Fidel Castro
Like so many revolutions, the Cuban one too began with change for the better: women's rights, better health care, universal education. Also like so many revolutionaries Castro was not too gung-ho about democracy. By the mid '60s Cuba was under a dictatorship, dissidents jailed or killed and the Castro cult blossoming.
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