Chávez y Fidel por siempre

Watching three plus hours of Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chávez's television call in show Aló, Presidente would bore men stronger and younger than ailing Cuban caudillo Fidel Castro to death. So you can imagine my surprise when the octogenarian recluse called in to Hugo's program to warble words of amor to the oil soaked political plutocrat who is almost single handedly financing the dying remnants of Castro's dictatorship.

Castro's call was prompted by an hour or so of Chávez singing hymns lionizing the deader-than-a-doornail Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the almost dead Fidel Castro. The Cuban dictator cooed words of loving encouragement to his pudgy protege, croaking "I am very touched when you sing about Che", prompting Chávez to excitedly squeal, "there is electricity in the air tonight!" Unfortunately, the standards of decorum were to slide even lower. Calling Fidel "the father of all revolutionaries", Hugo replaced God with Fidel Castro while riffing on the Lord's Prayer, a move that may ruffle some feathers in overwhelmingly Catholic Venezuela.

"Our father, who is in the water, earth and air ... you will never die. You remain forever on this continent and with these nations, and this revolution .... is more alive today than ever, and Fidel, you know it, we will take charge of continuing to fan the flame."

Even if Castro weren't already wearing a colostomy bag, it's uncertain that his mere mortal plumbing could remain unmoved by the avalanche of Chávez's affections. I think I may need to be excused for a moment myself.

Castro death watch - part 35

Rumors swirled this week that the Cuban government would finally announce the death of longtime caudillo Fidel Castro. Frantic phone calls to Cuban exiles in Miami signaled that, perhaps this time, the dictator was pushing up daisies, and the announcement was going to come at "any hour". The deadlines came and went without any such announcement, and finally, Castro's Venezuelan lapdog Hugo Chávez cryptically announced that Fidel would "never die". Perhaps in response to the rumors, an article purportedly written by Castro with an August 25th byline was published in a Cuban communist youth newspaper.

Conspiracy theorists continue to spread the rumor that Fidel has, in fact, died already, shortly after he disappeared from public view last year for intestinal surgery. I'm not one to buy into such theories, but Fidel's continued public absence and the secretive nature of communist dictatorships makes these sorts of rumors inevitable. When will the next batch of rumors swirl? Probably next month, but until then, Cuba remains in a grim holding pattern waiting to rejoin the free world.

Castro turns 81

Cuban caudillo Fidel Castro celebrated his 81st birthday yesterday, to the apparent yawning indifference of most of the world. Granted, we used to care about how old Fidel Castro was, because each birthday Fidel celebrated roughly coincided with Cuba spending another year under his thumb.

However, Fidel ceded power to his only slightly less elderly brother Raúl over a year ago, before disappearing from the public eye completely. Fidel's golden years haven't exactly been kind to him. Since undergoing extensive intestinal surgery for reasons that are still classified as a Cuban state secret, the frail dictator has been seen only by a select group of cronies (like Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chávez) and foreign leaders (like Vietnam's Nguyễn Minh Triết). The Cuban people, the alleged beneficiaries of Castro's dictatorship, haven't seen hide nor hair of Comrade #1 in over year, making do instead with Raúl's Fidelismo sans Fidel.

Castro's disappearance from public view naturally sparked rumors that he died, but frankly, I don't buy it. No conspiracy theory is required for the dull, ugly truth that while the dictator himself is holed up in a palatial compound, wearing his colostomy bag and receiving foreign dignitaries, Cuba itself continues to decay at a slightly slower pace than the man himself. The "revolution" has, as all revolutions centered on a single authoritarian personality eventually do, stagnated from lack of fresh political energy. The next Cuban revolution will only take place after Cuban finally dumps the rotting corpse of Fidel's dictatorship alongside his skeletal remains.

Cuba's year without Fidel

Yesterday marked the 54th anniversary of the beginning of the revolution that brought dictator Fidel Castro into power in Cuba. Yesterday also marked the first year of Fidel's unprecedented absence from Cuban life since 1953.

Last year, Fidel traveled to two rallies for his annual July 26th speeches. And then he disappeared, for good. After suffering an unknown intestinal ailment and transferring power to his only slightly less elderly brother Raúl, Fidel has been photographed, videotaped, interviewed over the phone, and feted by fellow autocrats from Vietnam and Venezuela, but he hasn't been seen in public by anyone. Fidel's appetite for enervating four hour speeches and interminable television appearances quickly sparked rumors that the "real" caudillo had died on the operating table, and the "recuperating Fidel" (as seen above) was nothing more than a body double for a dictator now pushing up daisies.

Do I believe Fidel is dead? No, but I believe Fidelismo is dead, and has been dead since Cuba's oil-for-sugar deal with Soviet Union collapsed. The lingering 17 year hangover has seen the corpse animated, like a zombie, but the consciousness had been snuffed out. Cuba is now in a bizarre holding pattern, with Fidel still officially alive, while Fidel's revolution is dead but unburied. The entire world appears to be holding its breath, waiting to bury the dictatorship the second the dictator himself expires (except, of course, the people who Fidelismo even more than Fidel does). Even Raúl himself has seen the writing on the wall, but he too feels compelled to wait until Fidel's body is in the grave before he starts shoveling the dirt of la revolución on his coffin.

Après le déluge, que vient après?

UPDATE: Apparently, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal linked to this article, but it's for subscribers only.

Final finale for Fidel?

The political role of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has been up in the air since he transferred power to his younger brother Raúl nearly a year ago. Fidel, who has not made a public appearance since the handover, was still seen as being at least nominally in charge despite the formal handover. Skepticism abounds, with some people believing Fidel may actually be dead, while others believing that he's been shunted aside, while others believing that he's primed for a comeback.

Soon, however, we may be finding out what role if any Fidel will be officially playing. Raúl has set October 21 as the date for general elections to the Cuban National Assembly, the Communist party organ that "chose" (actually rubber stamped) the country's president, who just happened to be Fidel Castro, decade after decade, by unanimous margins. National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon declared that he would once again nominate Fidel for the presidency back in March, but if Fidel's name doesn't come up when the Assembly convenes after the election, it's a safe bet that Raúl will win the job by a Fidelesque landslide. And after that? You can bet that only time we'll be seeing Fidel in the news after that is in the obituary section.

All of this begs some interesting questions. Is Fidel out of the way for good? What sort of changes will Raúl make? Obviously, Raúl has seen the writing on the wall regarding the economic and political viability of one party socialist states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Cuban people are becoming noisily fed up with empty store shelves and ever shrinking government rations. It's a safe bet that Raúl, who is no spring chicken himself, won't rock the boat too much (least of all on human rights). After all, he's invested too heavily in the status quo to turn Cuba into Canada, but it will certainly be interesting to see what Raúl will do once he wields the same unlimited political authority that Fidel was used to.

Memorable CIA failures revealed

For some inexplicable reason, people outside of the United States still regard the American Central Intelligence Agency with the fear and respect the organization hasn't commanded inside the United States since the end of the Cold War. For the most part, the CIA is a mere shadow of its former more infamous incarnation, and has more famous for interoffice leaks than heroic feats of international espionage. So why were they once so feared? This week, the CIA released its so called "family jewels", a treasure trove of previously classified information detailing the shady operations of the American spy agency.

So is there a dictator angle to any of these reports? You bet your ass there is. The CIA's role in bringing Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to power is pretty old news, but the release of the jewels shows that the CIA had other dictators on their mind as well. The CIA's comically hamfisted attempts to knock off Cuban dictator Fidel Castro are also old hat, but the newly released documents reveal that the CIA tried to outsource getting rid of Castro to the midwestern branch of La Cosa Nostra (aka, "the mafia"). After arranging a relatively modest payment, the CIA provided the mob with a powerful poison to take out Castro. Apparently, the plan was abandoned when the mob's Cuban stringers got cold feet and gave up.

Another interesting revelation is that the CIA had hatched a hopelessly botched assassination plot against then Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos, apparently to stall or possibly derail upcoming talks on the transfer of the Panama Canal from United States to Panamanian sovereignty. Apparently, word had leaked out to the press, forcing the CIA to cancel the plans and issue a denial to reporters. What it may have involved, or how it would have been pulled off is strictly a matter of conjecture.

Want to read more? Of course you do. Indulge yourself by clicking here, but be warned - there's a TON of information to download.

Chávez on dictatorship: "Who, me?"

This week has seen an overload of authoritarian irony. First, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, with a completely straight face, that he was the only "absolute and pure democrat" in the entire world, right before somewhat obscenely comparing himself to Mohandas Gandhi. Someone always has to try and one up the last guy in these sorts of contests, and Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chávez has accepted the challenge. Breezily denying that he's become a dictator, Chávez hinted that it would be easy for people to make that mistake because, well, there's a yanqui imperialist plot to depose him. Apparently, Chávez "sounded hurt" by the allegation that his regime has taken steps to obliterate political free speech in Venezuela, and did not, apparently, acknowledge the massive street protests that took place after he replaced Venezuela's oldest television network with a government propaganda channel.

In another bizarre bit of news about Chávez, Hugo's naked cock worship of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro shows no signs of slowing down. Following Fidel's recent Cuban television appearance, Hugo applauded the return of his idol, but apparently he's tired of Fidel's newfound penchant for Adidas tracksuits. Instead, Hugo wants Fidel to resume wearing his military fatigues. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to create their own Freudian postulate on why Hugo's so desperate to see Fidel don his classic authority figure outfit again. Daddy issues, anyone?

Fidel is apparently still alive

The latest news is that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is apparently still alive, still looks old and feeble, and from the looks of the photo, he's also fond of sharing tight, awkward embraces with Vietnamese top dog Nguyễn Minh Triết.

The elderly Castro appeared on Cuban state television (ie, on all channels) to discuss such jaw droppingly banal topics like how great flush toilets are in Vietnam. Actually, considering how much of Castro's lower intestinal tract has been removed, I imagine the caudillo himself is probably relieving himself into a colostomy bag, but I digress.

Fidel's ridiculous television interview only dealt with softball questions about how he's feeling and what he's been eating, which means the more serious questions about whether he's going to try and drag his carcass back into the executive office to replace his brother Raúl. I would have asked him when he plans to kick the bucket so Cubans can stop living in a moribund Communist dictatorship, but there are just some things you can't say in Cuba, you know?

Video Fidel

I hope someone here can speak Czech and translate this, because I can't get enough this sort of thing. Or this one:









UPDATE: Speaking of requiring a translation, take a look at this article about Belorussian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko from Azerbaijan. Can anyone tell me what the hell "there are evil wishers who discommend cooperation" is supposed to mean?

It's May Day, comrades!

It is May Day, comrades! Our glorious leader has smashed the decadent, capitalist world order and restored power to the proletariat! Long live the workers! Long live the Red Army! Long live Comrade Stalin!

Click here to visit the glorious people's May Day parade in Moscow, 1959!

UPDATE: Speaking of Soviet hangovers, Joshua Foust at Registan.net is unimpressed with the glacial pace of Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov's "political reform" in Turkmenistan. Read Joshua's analysis here.

UPDATE II: Fidel Castro a "no-show" at Havana's May Day parade. Poor Hugo.

¡Socialismo hasta muerte!

Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chávez held a press conference yesterday to announce that elderly Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is "in charge" once again after nearly 10 months out of power following botched intestinal surgery. Chávez went on to quote his sycophantic Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales by saying that Castro will be present in Havana for Cuba's unintentionally retro-kitsch Soviet style May Day parade.

There has been no apparent comment yet from Fidel's younger (but still elderly) brother Raúl, who assumed Fidel's title and duties when the caudillo went under the knife in July. If you think Raúl is disappointed, imagine how Cuban dissidents and journalists feel about the end of Raúl's modest experiments with liberalization.

Before his hospitalization, Fidel had moved past late North Korean tyrant Kim Il-Sung for the title of the 20th century's longest reigning leader with 47 years in power. While Fidel does not appear to be dying of cancer, he is 80 years old, which is fairly old even by communist dictator standards. Will there be a backlash by Castro? A backlash against Castro? Will Fidel attempt to pretend this interregnum never even occurred? It's all too soon to say, but if Fidel really is back, we can all look forward to rich western Marxists creaming their jeans in delight at Cuba's extended date with repression and poverty.

Castro and Chávez lash out at ethanol

Once upon a time, a certain autocrat of an oil rich country decided to team up with his geriatric Marxist paramour to create a partnership for the production of a trendy biofuel we in the United States like to call ethanol.

In 2005, Hugo Chávez directed the Venezuelan state oil company to strike a deal with the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras to import ethanol to Venezuela. At the same time, Chávez ordered that 700,000 acres of land be set aside to grow sugar cane for the production of ethanol. Finally, as a hand out to his doddering Communist amigo, Chávez planned to let Cuba build 11 sugar processing plants as the final step in Venezuela's newfound commitment to ethanol production industry. After all, enthused Chávez, ethanol is clean fuel! More money for the Bolivarian revolucion! And so on and so forth. Castro was delighted because Cuba is rich in sugar, and poor in fuel. Sugar to Venezuela means fuel coming back to Cuba. Everyone wins!

And then, it all went sour. And for a reason even a five year old would be embarrassed to admit. Jealousy.

You see, Chávez's hated archenemy, US president George W. Bush, visited Brazil, and struck up an ethanol partnership of his own with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva. It makes sense, after all. The United States is the world's largest ethanol producer, while Brazil is the second largest. An ethanol partnership is not only logical, but frankly, inevitable.



One can logically presume that Hugo Chávez's face must have looked like he was choking on a rat sandwich when he saw this photo. What? Yanqui imperialists making their own ethanol side deals with Brazil? Unacceptable!

And so, Chávez did the only sensible thing a man in his position could do: throw a temper tantrum. Chávez performed an about face, and denounced ethanol as a "waste of space" that could be growing "food for the hungry" instead of "filling rich people's cars". A cynic would note that Venezuela's economy is completely dependent on producing oil to fill "rich people's cars", and that Chávez himself was going to clear 700,000 acres for growing sugar cane as a cash crop for ethanol, but I suppose there's no point trying nitpick with dimwitted Socialist autocrats, is there?

Never one to be outdone by his lapdog, Fidel Castro added further bombast by denouncing George Bush as "condemning three billion people" to "premature death" by starvation. All it took for Chávez's pie in the sky ethanol dreams to come crashing down was the participation of "the devil". In one fit of pique, Chávez has spited Venezuela out of countless millions of dollars worth of ethanol production, and Cuba has deprived itself not only of fuel, but of an actual market for its sugar crop. Producing ethanol from sugarcane not only provides a market for the existing sugar crop (now trading at near record lows on the world market), but increases demand for sugar cane, thereby raising the price. And that would actually provide Cuba with desperately needed hard currency to lift itself out of poverty, as well as providing cheaper fuel for itself.

But, no. It wouldn't do for the hemisphere's leading Marxist morons to engage in any enterprise, no matter how profitable or sensible it may be, that the United States may engage in as well. We can only hope for both Cuba and Venezuela's sakes that both Chávez and Castro ride off into the sunset, and leave the serious business of governance to new leaders who put the economic and social welfare of the people ahead of the petty personalities of their rulers.

Comeback Castro?

Could Cuban dictator Fidel Castro be readying himself for making a political comeback?

After transferring his unlimited presidential authority to his only slightly less elderly brother Raúl following apparently botched intestinal surgery in July, Fidel Castro has been bedridden and out of the political limelight. As we all know, Fidel may be a dictator, but he's never been the shy or retiring type. So when news came out of Cuba that the octogenarian Fidel may finally be recovering from his mysterious ailment, speculation began immediately as to when he would be getting back to his more familiar role as Cuba's caudillo.

I'm taking the skeptical view, myself. At this stage, Fidel is too old, too weak, and too far removed from the levers of power after his eight month hospitalization. The constant attention of a certain deranged paramour notwithstanding, the rest of the world is waiting for Fidel to die so that they can start talking to Raúl about Cuba's long delayed entry into the club of democratic nations. He may get out of the hospital, but I just can't see him getting back into the proverbial driver's seat.

Aló Presidente, mi amor!

Good news for my rich, socialist readers: Fidel Castro says he's feeling better every day! Cuba's Eternal Maximum Leader telephoned to say hello to - who else? - Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chávez on the latter's television show, Aló Presidente.

For the first time in over six months, Castro was heard speaking to a live audience, saying that he feels "stronger" and "more energetic", much to the delight of the lovestruck Chávez who cooed, "You don't know how happy we are to hear your voice and know that you're well".

Just when we thought we were out, he keeps pulling us back in! Castro's health is still a state secret in Cuba, and what information leaks out tends to be spotty. Castro's high priced Spanish doctor would only go on the record to deny earlier unconfirmed reports that el jefe has cancer. It seems Castro has declined to divulge the nature of his illness to any Cuban doctors - a wise move considering that so many of them are defecting from Cuba.

Does Fidel's newfound "energy" and "strength" mean that he will be kicking interim president, and younger brother, Raúl back to the curb? Not a chance. Will we continue to see Fidel and Chávez continue their nauseating, prolonged public displays of affection? Bet on that.

UPDATE: "Caramba! It's Fidel!"

Dear Fidel: please hurry up and croak already

I realize that I'm in no position to talk, especially considering the nature of my blog, but here goes: I'm starting to get sick of the Fidel Castro deathwatch.

A newly released 10 minute video shows Venezuelan leader (and the world's newest dictator) Hugo Chavez chatting amiably with a red, white and blue tracksuited Fidel, who reportedly looks "heavier" and "healthier" after spending the past six months in the hospital recovering from intestinal surgery last July.

My first thought about this was, "why does it seem like Chavez spends more time in Havana than he does in Caracas?" My second thought is, "hey, wait a second, how old is this footage, anyway?" since the most recent photos look an awful lot like pictures of a red, white and blue tracksuited Fidel taken back in August. The Cuban government classifies news of Fidel's health as a state secret, and given the Communist dictatorship's record on misinformation and propaganda, it's entirely plausible that this "new footage" is old footage meant to stave off concerns that el caudillo may die at any moment. It's even possible he actually is recovering. Who knows at this point?

Not me, and frankly, I'm losing patience with the entire saga. Even if he does recover, does anyone expect that the 80 year old Fidel will take back the reins of power from his only-slightly-less elderly brother, Raúl? Absolutely not.

Cuba failed to take notice when the collapse of the Soviet Union sank all of its other client states, largely because of the personal will of Fidel Castro. It should have, and the dismal state of the Cuban economy, once kept afloat by Soviet sugar subsidies, is in such a dismal condition that Cubans are fleeing to Haiti. You can't buck history forever, and once Fidel's gone, it's a sure bet that whatever regime is left in charge will start dismantling Fidel's dinosaur state piece by piece. They're just waiting, respectfully, for the hero of la revolución to kick the bucket before they do it.

I'm waiting impatiently, too. So Fidel, please - do us all a favor and just croak already so that Cuba may live again. Thanks.

UPDATE: Time is running out, so VOTE for the next Top 10 dictator to be profiled. The polls will be closed next Monday!

Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1959

Miami, Florida's large Cuban-American population is preparing for Fidel Castro's imminent demise - with a party.

The Miami Herald is reporting that preparations are underway for a massive celebration to be held in the 75,000 seat Orange Bowl Stadium to celebrate Fidel Castro kicking the bucket. Event organizers are downplaying the celebration of Fidel croaking, and are playing up the aspect of Cuban liberation. Either way, you can guarantee that this is going to be the event of the century, and that the stadium is going to packed to the rafters with jubilant Cubans, including longtime Cuban exiles, second and third generation Cuban-Americans, and people just looking to get in on the biggest party in America.

UPDATE: CNN bites my style.

Chavez still in denial about Fidel

It wasn't so long ago that Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chavez alleged that rumors of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's imminent demise were untrue.

Well, I think we all know what to expect from Chavez when it comes to the topic of his hero, don't we?

Chavez is starting to change his tune, somewhat, finally acknowledging that the 80 year old Castro is "fighting for his life". Comparing Castro's fight against peritonitis to his more famous struggle against Fulgencio Batista, Chavez declared:

Fidel is in the Sierra Maestra again. He's fighting for his life. We don't know; we want him to recover, and he continues progressing, although slowly.

To date, Chavez is the only one who is saying that Fidel is "progressing", but then again, optimistic lies and hyperbole are a part of any good dictator's handbag, so when Chavez comes out makes this sort of statement, the rest of the world can be assured that Castro will be dead by February.

I say "revolutionary powers", you say "dictatorship"

The single most important element in any dictatorship is the ability to rule by executive decree without the interference of a legislative or judicial counterbalance, even so much as a rubber stamp one. So it comes as no surprise that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (seen at left, with parrot) will be using this ability to put the finishing touch on his leap from merely being a heavy handed autocrat to being a full blown dictator.

Venezuela's rubber stamp parliament will shortly be voting on (and approving) a measure that will grant Chavez the ability to rule by decree, thereby turning Venezuela's legislative and judicial bodies into mere spectators, and removing the last checks on his political power. Chavez claims he requires these "revolutionary powers" to "advance the Bolivarian revolution" This is certainly not the first step Chavez has embarked upon to remake Venezuela into a carbon copy of Fidel Castro's Cuba, but it might be the last one he needs.

This newest step comes on the heels of Chavez pulling the plug on a television network he views as being "hostile to the Bolivarian revolution", consolidated power by merging all the left of center parties into a single pro-Chavez party, and is in the process of re-writing the constitution to eliminate his own term limits. So what does this add up to? Let's review:

• The virtual elimination of opposition political parties
• The neutering of a free press
• No term limits
• The ability to rule by decree

It is now entirely disingenuous to suggest that Chavez has not given himself dictatorial powers, and even more ludicrous to suggest that he'll stop here. Will there be anyone left to impose any sort of limitations on his political power, or any political opposition powerful enough to slow down the rapid dissolution of democracy in Venezuela? American and European leftists have fallen in love with Chavez, but then again, they don't actually have to live in Venezuela, and wouldn't oppose Chavez even if they did. As predicted, their support for democracy for little brown people overseas has disintegrated, just as long as their dictator is as far to the political left as they are - preferably further.

So what's really wrong with Fidel?

What's wrong with Fidel, how long does he have to live, and will he be returning to power? Contradicting earlier reports leaked from Brazil, the Cuban government has broken their silence - somewhat - on the state of their sickly dictator, Fidel Castro.

Unnamed "Cuban officials" have now told members of a US trade delgation in Havana flat out that "does not have cancer" and "is not terminally ill". They have also declined to comment publicly on just what has kept the planet's longest reigning dictator out of public view (and out of power) since late July of this year. Fidel's homie Hugo has his back, but it's unclear whether or not Cuba's official statement, like so many others, is strategic disinformation, and whether or not there is a struggle for power going on behind the scenes.

I'll personally go out on a limb predict that the cancer prediction is not only accurate, but that Fidel will be leaving his hospital bed in a casket sometime before summer of 2007. After that? All hell will break loose.

Raúl goes soft?

His brother isn't even dead yet, and already, pro tempore Cuban dictator Raúl Castro is already sabotaging "the gains of Cuba's glorious socialist revolution". First, he announces his intentions to reach out to the United States, and now he's releasing political prisoners.

Though I have announced time and time again that I am not a cynic, I have reasons to suspect that Raúl's motives are not purely altruistic. Cuba's economy has been a shambles (to put it politely) ever since the Soviet Union, and it's ridiculous sugar price supports, went the way of the great auk. Even oil handouts from Venezuela can't prevent Cuba's moribund economy from collapsing. Has Raúl read the writing on the wall?

Naturally, it's bad for this blog to hope that Raúl undoes the enormous social, political and economic damage his brother has brought upon Cuba, but communist dictatorships went out of fashion 15 years ago, and more embarrassingly, nearly all the former Warsaw pact nations now enjoy political freedoms and their attendant economic benefits that Cubans can only envy from afar. Romania, the poorest member of the Warsaw pact at the time of the organization's collapse, has a per capita GDP nearly twice that of Cuba's.

Time will tell, but Raúl will likely not produce any drastic reforms until his brother kicks the bucket sometime in early 2007. After that, all bets are naturally off. Unless the already elderly Raúl develops a terminal illness himself, time will naturally be of the essence to act quickly before a power vacuum emerges and hard liners attempt to keep the wheezing dinosaur of Soviet style communism afloat.