Final destination: how the dictators of Latin America ended

Sometimes, when the Venezuelan situation seems about to end, many people question Nicolás Maduro's fate in case the plan presented by Juan Guaidó materializes. What will happen next to Venezuela after the end of the usurpation, the transitional government and the free elections?

Latin America has a long and sad history which, in almost every country, has been written by dictatorial governments. Their fates were very different: either because these dictatorships had been beaten in the streets, or because they had gone through a period of transition, or because they had resulted in the popular vote, but The destinies of the men who personified these dictatorships were not so different.

Below is a complete list of Latin American dictators and their Inexorable? final:

-Manual Antonio Noriega (1983-1989)

Manuel Antonio Noriega wrote one of the darkest chapters in the history of Panama, first as a CIA counterintelligence officer, and then as an allied dictator then as a rebel leader overthrown by weapons. In just six years, he held the position of "maximum leader of the national liberation of Panama". In addition to abuse of power, fraud, repression of opponents and human rights abuses, Noriega was destined to poison their links with drug trafficking. Colombian and venture into the arms trade.

In 1992, he was tried in the United States and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for his links with the Medellín cartel. In early 2008, France asked for her extradition, which resulted in her being transferred from Miami prison to another in Paris. In 2010, he was sentenced by the French justice system, which granted him house arrest in 2011, before being extradited to Panama, where he was tried again for human rights cases. the man and served his sentence until his death, at the age of 83 years. , as a result of a brain tumor.

-Augusto Pinochet (1974-1990)

Chile was under one of the oldest military governments in Latin America since Augusto Pinochet had ordered the coup d'etat against the government of Salvador Allende. Once in power, he banned political parties, dissolved the National Congress, restricted civil and political rights, and banned the Unidad Popular by arresting his key leaders. Thousands of people were murdered or disappeared during their government, which, after taking various forms, ended in a plebiscite held in 1988 and in which the "no" had been imposed by nearly 56%. voices.

Despite the defeat, Pinochet still remains eight years at the head of the Chilean army and is protected by an amnesty law pbaded at the beginning of his term. In 1998, he served as a senator for life, although internal and external critics and the publication of the crimes of the dictatorship forced him to stay away from the flashes of Chilean politics. Accused of having participated in genocide, international terrorism, torture and the disappearance of persons, Pinochet was arrested in London and had to appear before the courts of that country before his extradition to Chile, where he died then he was under house arrest in 2006.

-Rafael Videla (1976-1981)

Videla was one of the members of the Military Junta who ruled Argentina until 1984, after a coup d'etat and a period during which a series of human rights violations occurred. the man was committed, including murders, disappearances and acts of torture perpetrated against thousands of people. of people. During the first democratic government led by Raúl Alfonsín, Videla was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment, although later pardoned. In 1998, he was arrested again on the basis of the appropriation of minors and was under house arrest until 2008, when he lost that advantage. He died in prison in 2013 at the age of 87.

Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000)

Although he became president by free elections in 1990, two years later, Fujimori seized power by force, eliminating democratic guarantees until the end of his mandate in 2000. After his resignation by fax and a period of self-exile, tried to return to Peru, but were arrested in Chile, extradited and sentenced for crimes such as murder, kidnapping and injuries, as well as to be responsible from a series of murders. He is currently in detention, following a pardon received by former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, but quickly canceled. For the time being, the courts have rejected his house arrest orders and he is currently serving his sentence in Barbadillo Prison, at the age of 80 years.

Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989)

The Stroessner 35-year government in Paraguay has been mandated by one person with the longest life in the region, thanks to the brutal crackdown by the police, the establishment of death squads, and the imposition of martial law. Corruption, persecution, torture and the disappearance of opponents were a mark of his government, which ended in a coup d'etat against him, commanded by his brother-in-law and until then on the right. After his fall, his options were reduced and he had to exile to Brazil, where he lived until his death in 2006, at the age of 93. Although he died in exile for failing to return to Paraguay, Stroessner was never tried or convicted for his crimes.

-Fulgencio Batista (1952-1959)

Batista came to power in Cuba by a coup d'etat, following which he abolished the constitution, allied with the latifundists and even linked to the flourishing business of the time on the island, such as prostitution, drug trafficking and terrorism. The application of censorship, repression and persecution increased with protests and demonstrations against him, until his overthrow in 1959 by the Movement of July 26, led by Fidel Castro. His exile began in the Dominican Republic, continued in Portugal and ended in Spain, where he died at 72 years old.

-Juan María Bordaberry (1973-1976)

Bordaberry led Uruguay as president elect, since 1971, and then as dictator. In 1973, Bordaberry presided over the coup by dissolving Parliament, social organizations, political parties and the suppression of civil liberties. Three years later, his disagreements with the army resulted in him being sacked and, in 2006, sentenced by the Uruguayan courts for crimes against humanity, he is still in detention. He died in 2011 after receiving house arrest.

-François "Papa Doc" Duvalier (1957-1971)

Duvalier began his political career as a popular doctor and recognized for his social work in Haiti. In 1957 he was elected president with the support of the army. Once in power, he again focuses on the mysticism of voodoo religion, widespread in the country. After dismantling alleged military conspiracies to overthrow him, he imposed a clearly repressive government. After winning elections where, according to the official review, everyone voted for him, he declared himself president for life in 1964. According to some estimates, more than 30,000 people were murdered under his name. government. He died on April 21, 1971 at the age of 64 years. His son, Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier, succeeded him, whereas he was only 19 years old. A rebellion overthrew the second Duvalier in February 1986, after which the remains of Papa Doc's body were exhumed and beaten to death by a macabre rite.

-Anastasio Somoza Garcia, Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaragua (1937-1979)

Three members of the Somoza family led Nicaragua at five different times in the mid-twentieth century. until they are defeated and expelled from power by the Nicaraguan revolution. Throughout this period, senior military and political posts were reserved for members, relatives and members of the Somoza family. Anastasio Somoza García died 8 days after being badaulted by a young poet at a party. After a brief period in which Luis Somoza Debayle badumed the presidency, he tried some democratic reforms. Anastasio Somoza Debayle was elected president in 1967, before degenerating a few years later into dictatorship. In 1979 and before the rise of the Sandinista revolution, he resigned from his post and exiled to Paraguay, where he was badbadinated the same year.

-Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1953-1958)

Pérez Jiménez led Venezuela with a highly repressive policy, which included the banning of trade unions, the dissolution of political parties, censorship in the media and fraud to perpetrate power. However, his government ended its beginnings and it was a coup d'etat by disgruntled military sectors that precipitated its downfall and exile, first in the United States, then in Spain. Before his death, at age 87, at his home in Madrid, Pérez Jiménez had served a four – year prison sentence for corruption in Venezuela and, after one attempt, was denied the right to be punished. to be a candidate for the presidency, obliging him to withdraw permanently. politics.

The most relevant experiences outside the region:

-Nicolae Ceauşescu (1974-1989)

The communist leader ruled Romania with an iron fist, imposing a brutal and repressive regime until its execution, which is accompanied by a popular uprising. Captured while he was trying to flee the country with his wife Elena, they were both tried by a military court, convicted and finally shot dead.

-Muammar Gaddafi (1969 – 2011)

Gaddafi's death came after more than 40 years of power in Libya and after eight months of revolution and war against his dictatorial regime, as part of the so-called Arab Spring protests. It was almost at the end of the battle for control of the city of Sirte, when she was captured by a rebel group. A series of videos and photographs shows the wounded dictator in the hands of his captors and asking for his clemency before being lynched.

– Saddam Houssein (1979-2003)

On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged after being convicted of crimes against humanity at the headquarters of his secret service in Baghdad in the case of the death and torture of 148 Shia Iraqis. in 1982.