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[Lloyd Lachow]

The world's longest and most durable reigning dictator
is 79 and still swinging away. Fidel Cas tro of Cuba
deposed caudillo Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and has
monopolized power since then. While he boasts an
excellent system of free medical and dental care, his
nation is considered one of the world's poorest.
Crimes include such vague references as "disrespect,"
"insults to the symbols of the homeland" and
"dangerousness." 

The 10th "worst living dictator" is also little known:
Alexander Lukashenko, the youngest in the bunch of
villains at 48, who came to power in Belarus in 1994.
An admirer of Stalin, he reportedly paved over the
graves of 250,000 victims of the dreaded dictator in
Soviet days. Freely elected, he has nevertheless
manipulated subsequent elections, harassed journalists
and jailed political opponents. 

Who did Wallechinsky miss? Four dictators are listed
as "dishonorable mentions." They are Omar al-Bashir of
Sudan, Robert Mug abe of Zim babwe, Bashar al-Assad of
Syria, and the leaders of the People's Revolutionary
Party of Laos. What about Hu Jintao of China?
Wallechinsky notes that Jintao has been in power only
recently and it's still too early to judge his
performance as general secretary of the Chinese
Communist Party. 



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