Similarities and Differences Between the Cuban and Venezuelan Dictatorships

The prevailing dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela are twins. That is, they share the same essential features.That should not be surprising given that when Hugo Chávez was president of Venezuela he asked Fidel to help build a totalitarian structure. Castro was so diligent that, to avoid mistakes, he even sent Chavez Cuban personnel with vast experience in these matters. Many of these “experts” still remain in Venezuela. However, the evolution of international public opinion on both dictatorships are diverging. So much so that Álvaro Vargas Llosa writes in a recent opinion column that: “while the awareness of the Venezuelan tragedy spreads like an oil spill, the attitude towards Cuba has been ‘normalized’; without any discomfort, the existence of that regime is accepted.”More…