"He's OUR Son of a Bitch"

What happened?

President Joe Biden's November gaffe in which he referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as "a dictator" was seen as a diplomatic embarrassment, not in the least by US secretary of state Antony Blinken who was filmed visibly grimacing at the statement and potential prospect of having to smooth things over later.

However, as inappropriate as the remark may have been, the President of the People's Republic of China shouldn't feel insulted - the West has a rich history of counting dictators as friends and allies. Assistance varies between installing deranged psychopaths over democratically elected leaders, to providing brutal despots with military assistance which can be used to suppress opposition, or even invade neighbouring countries.

Today, we have compiled a selection of nine such dictators, with a brief description of their actions.

These dictatorships are commonly known for intolerance of dissent, and human rights abuses such as the arbitrary arrest, torture and execution of political opponents, human rights activists, journalists and trade unionists. This is but a small selection of the many candidates we could have chosen.

Dictator #1 Rafael Trujilo (Dominican Republic)
Active years: 1930-1961
Known for: Ethnic cleansing of up to 50 thousand Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent. Forced disappearances and torture of journalists and political opponents.
• The US saw the Dominican Republic as a key ally in the region, and Trujillo's anti-communist stance aligned with American interests during the Cold War. From it's inception in 1947, the CIA provided financial and military support to the regime, turning a blind eye to the human rights violations being carried out. Trujillo's regime was characterised by a cult of personality, with his image displayed prominently throughout the country.



Dictator # 2 Anastasio Somoza (Nicaragua)
Active years: 1937-1956
Known for: Repression, violence and torture against activists and labour leaders. Began an oppressive family dynasty that ruled Nicaragua till 1979.
• Although Somoza was recognised as a ruthless dictator, the United States continued to support his government as a non-communist stronghold in Nicaragua. President Franklin D Roosevelt said in 1939 that "Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch".

Dictator #3 Fulgencio Batista (Cuba)
Active years: 1952-1959
Known for: Corruption, political persecution, torture and killings of approximately 20,000 cubans. Surveillance of the citizenry and informant networks enforced by brutality.
• Batista's rise to power came after a military coup in 1952, when he overthrew the elected government of President Carlos Prio Socarras. His CIA-supported administration was characterised by corruption, torture, repression, and violence. Batista and his cronies amassed huge fortunes through embezzlement, bribery, and extortion. The secret police, known as the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (BRAC), operated with impunity, targeting anyone perceived as a threat to the regime.



Dictator #4 General Suharto (Indonesia)
Active years: 1965-1998
Known for: A 32 year reign marked by widespread human rights abuses, including mass killings, torture, and political repression. The Indonesian people suffered greatly under Suharto's rule.
• General Suharto came to power in Indonesia through a CIA-backed coup in 1965 and implemented a series of policies that consolidated his power and suppressed any form of dissent. Under the guise of eradicating communism, Suharto unleashed a campaign of violence that targeted not only suspected communists but also intellectuals, activists, and ethnic Chinese Indonesians. Estimates of the number of people killed during this period range from 500 thousand to over one million.

Dictator # 5 Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire)
Active years: 1971-1997
Known for: Widespread corruption and the accumulation of vast personal wealth for Mobutu. Arbitrary arrest of political opponents, journalist and activists. The ensuing civil war killed up to 3 million people.
• The regime's security forces, including the feared Special Presidential Division, operated with impunity, instilling fear in the population and ensuring Mobutu's grip on power. The CIA, seeing Mobutu as a bulwark against communism in Africa, provided him with financial and military assistance, turning a blind eye to his human rights abuses and corruption.

Dictator #6 Augusto Pinochet (Chile)
Active years: 1973-1990
Known for: Executions and forced disappearance of at least 3100. Mass interment and 29 thousand people tortured in prison camps.
• Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile through a US-backed military coup in 1973 which overthrew the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. Pinochet's secret police, known as the DINA, carried out widespread human rights abuses, targeting political opponents and dissenters.
The state gave small payments in exchange for blood donations from the impoverished population and sold the blood overseas thus enabling Pincohet to literally become rich from the blood of his own people.



Dictator #7 Revolutionary Government Junta (El Salvador)
Years active: 1979-1982
Known for: Death squads massacring villages of peasants who had been unwittingly labelled as supporters of communist revolutionaries. Murder of ArchBishop Oscar Romero, who was gunned down in front of chapel-attendees while celebrating mass.
• Romero's funeral was attended by 250,000 citizens of El Salvador as well as government security forces who threw bombs into the crowd and opened fire from the roof of the National Palace. Despite knowledge of atrocities, the junta was supported by US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan who gave over $1 billion in support of the fight against radical communism.

Dictator #8 Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
Active years: 1979-2003
Known for: Deaths and disappearances estimated by Human Rights Watch to be 250- 290 thousand. Over 1 million killed during the Iran/Iraq war.
• While eventually becoming known as an enemy of the West, Saddam Hussein was once regarded as an ally of the USA. The war with Iran in the 1980s saw millions of dollars in US support pour into Iraq. Meanwhile, the secret police, known as the Mukhabarat, operated with impunity, arresting, torturing, and executing anyone deemed a threat to the regime.

Dictator #9 General Efrain Rios Montt (Guatemala)
Years active: 1982-1983
Known for: The CIA supported regime implemented a scorched-earth policy, targeting indigenous communities suspected of supporting left-wing guerrillas.
• The indigenous population of Guatemala bore the brunt of these atrocities. They were subjected to massacres, torture, and forced disappearances. Women and children were not spared, as they became victims of sexual violence and were often separated from their families, leaving them traumatised and vulnerable.



Addendum

Honourable mentions should also be made for Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines), Reza Shah Pahlavi (Iran) Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Syngman-Rhee (Korea), Castelo Branco (Brazil) and Pol Pot (Cambodia),

We should also point out that one doesn't have to necessarily be an autocrat or hold total power to benefit from Western military assistance. Rebel groups, terrorists, generals and politicians with controversial methods and motivations include, but again are not limited to Los Pepes (Colombia), various Jihadi Militants in Syria, Xhafer Deva (Albania), Chiang Kai-Shek (China), Castillo Armas (Guatemala), Emmanuel "Toto" Constant (Haiti), General Phoumi Nosavan (Laos), Misrata Militia (Libya), Los Zetas (Mexico), Vang Po (Myanmar) and Hashim Thaci (Yugoslavia).

Further recommended reading: David CN Swanson 20 Dictators Currently Supported by the U.S.
Nicolas JS Davies 35 countries where the U.S. has supported fascists, drug lords and terrorists (salon.com)

Mubutu, Suharto & Hussain