Dictatorship or revolution?

ower to the people!\nThis simple rallying cry, heard many times throughout history, represented the laudable idea that people of all socioeconomic standings should have a voice in their government and should share in the wealth their labor creates. However, like many other things, this rallying cry is not so simple anymore.\nThe ideas this slogan represents have been hijacked by self-serving dictators who have seized control of their countries and created wealth and power for no one other than themselves.\nThe most famous of these dictators are Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. \nCastro came to power in Cuba on Feb. 16, 1959, after the violent overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's government. Despite his promise for peaceful democratic reforms and open elections, an estimated 3,200 people were slaughtered in Castro's first three years in power. He declared Cuba a socialist state on April 19, 1961. Over the next 45 years, he exercised total dominance over the country through control of the media, all branches of government and a Soviet-style secret police force.\nGreat "people's revolution," isn't it?\nCuba is not the only country to see a totalitarian regime emerge under the guise of returning power to the people.\nLike Castro before him, Chavez came to power in 1998 by promising a socialist revolution. And like Castro, Chavez exercised tight control over Venezuela's media and military. Many television, radio and newspapers are now state-run. Recent laws have given Chavez even more power to control what his people are told, and despite his "anti-poverty" efforts, independent estimates put Venezuela's poverty rate at more than 50 percent.\nWow. Great job, Hugo.\nWhat is even more disturbing than these "revolutions" are the Americans willing support them.\nLeading a delegation of notables such as Danny Glover and Cornel West in a now infamous trip to Caracas, singer Harry Belafonte called George Bush a terrorist and said millions of Americans support Chavez's revolution. \nWhat "revolution" is Belafonte referring to? The one where secret police are employed to spy on the government's enemies? The one where the leader unnecessarily spews vitriol against a perceived enemy?\nPerhaps it is a revolution where leaders make alliances with other nations trying to achieve similar political goals. Chavez has been visiting nations like Syria and Malaysia lately. \nI suppose I can understand that. After all, if there are any nations that know how to give all citizens equal power and a high standard of living, they are Syria and Malaysia.\nSimply put, Belafonte does not know what he is talking about here. He should stick to singing calypso and leave political issues to the adults.\nThe bottom line is dictators like Castro and Chavez do not care about their people. They only care about themselves. If anyone thinks otherwise, I would refer you to the words of George Orwell in "1984": "One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship." \nAmericans who support Chavez, Castro and those like them would do well to remember that.