Taking on the global brotherhood of despots
How autocrats collaborate, and how they fall
In 1999 Hugo Chávez made a choice. He had won Venezuela’s presidency promising revolutionary change. His chief of internal police brought him evidence of graft within his regime: some top officials were stealing from a fund for the poor. Chávez listened, said nothing and sacked the whistleblower. Insiders got the message: if you are loyal, you can steal. Chávez (pictured) wanted to stay in power for ever. He bet “that corrupt officials would prove more malleable than clean ones, and he was right”, writes Anne Applebaum.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Gangsters-in-chief”
From the July 20th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Culture
Why many French have come to like “Emily in Paris”
Even if they may not want to admit it
“The Perfect Couple” and the new map of Moneyland
Depictions of the super-rich on screen reflect the times
What should “inclusion” include at the Paralympics?
The games make a virtue of their diversity. But there’s still room to grow
The information wars are about to get worse, Yuval Noah Harari argues
The author of “Sapiens” is back with a timely new book about AI, fact and fiction
Arnold Schoenberg was one of classical music’s most important rebels
But, 150 years after his birth, he is underappreciated
Despots and oligarchs have many means to meddle in American politics
The extent of the foreign-influence industry may surprise you