The covert dictatorships

There is nothing more objectionable than everything that is covered up, hidden or bathed in a certain appearance that is not real, that only seeks or pretends to deceive those who see it, feel it, buy it or share it. Very typical and well known are the phrases and images of the old cattle dealers, mostly gypsy people, who tried to sell equine animals trying to hide or conceal their years, deficiencies or physical problems based on momentary fattening, paints, dyes or lacquers and even injections of stimulants to give the equine a healthier and different appearance.

This custom still exists and although it has changed the modus operandi and group of action, is increasingly in vogue and really, it is very often found among the thinning of those who are dedicated to politics. The reason for this is quite simple, in the absence of true values, good training, sincerity and clever programmes that really make voters fall in love, the beggars and empty-handed aspirants to government have to resort to deception and deceit. 

Thus, those who have in mind the adoration, the cult or the obsession for the anchored and old policies very rejected in the world by malignant or nefarious; those who do not know how to do anything that is not under the deception or are incapable of presenting something serious and of full acceptance by their attractiveness, usually disguise themselves as lambs to appear what they are not. Nowadays, everyone rejects any kind of dictatorship as vile and harmful, regardless of whether it is military or civilian. More or less recent examples of these bring to mind past truffled periods of dictatorship in which the world itself or large areas of it have suffered greatly from their vicissitudes, punishments, persecutions, and injustices.

I believe that it has been amply demonstrated that none of the past or the few current dictatorships can be an example of anything good, but on the contrary, of great repression, persecution, injustice and nonsense that bring out the ugliest and most harmful aspects of human beings; which, in short, only serve to allow some privileged people to live and enjoy themselves at the expense of the rest being subjugated.

There are few of these left and not all of them follow the same pattern or political tendency, but they do coincide in their methods, ways of execution and intermediate and final objectives. We see examples of this in North Korea, China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, as well as certain sister cousins in the Russian Federation, a few Bolivarian countries, other poor unfortunates in the Middle East and also in the African continent.  

The worst of this form of action does not only come from those who, like the previous ones, declare themselves as such; but from those who, once they have reached power - through the use and even abuse of appearing to be democratic parties - act surreptitiously in order to gradually introduce their ways, customs and even force the implementation of laws, even though they really are fully dictatorial, they do not appear to be so.

Laws, which without the slightest doubt, cut back the rights and liberties of citizens and lead them clearly, progressively and without discouragement to a dictatorial state even though it is never recognized by them as such. They are more dangerous because by using the powers of the State, buying up the media, intensifying control of the networks and following large and very effective propaganda campaigns, they manage to nullify the opposition, persecute anyone who wants to show their disagreement, prevent anyone from being able to exercise their right to free expression and, in successive phases, even go so far as to restrict people's movements, the right to private property or access to bank or savings accounts; they try to expropriate companies and other types of freedoms by protecting themselves in certain endogenous or exogenous circumstances, which in one way or another, allow them to justify and extend to the maximum their position and capacity to legislate at their free will or to cover any need.

In order to maintain social peace, a fundamental element in retaining people in their homes and avoiding demonstrations or protests - once the country's survival has been nullified or broken by various situations of their own or provoked - the time has come to act and put pressure on the work environment by limiting the framework of free trade, continuity of employment or the efficiency of the industrial and banking system. It is then that the needs of the population are created, which are supplied with an endless number of different subsidies, gratuities, gifts, royalties, perks and various supports on them and create an environment of total dependence on the State, the subsidy and a way of maintaining "freely" their support by exercising the policy of fear "either me or chaos".

If, in addition, as has happened on this occasion at the global level, a pandemic or a general economic crisis appears, it is then that the ground for all the above is laid, so that the steps to be taken and the time needed to execute and implement them are reduced by an outrage.  

Sometimes, it is not so easy to achieve the planned objectives or to follow step by step the path marked out to reach the desired end point. People can resist in spite of the great propaganda campaigns or even if they are wrapped in beautifully coloured cellophane paper with bitter almond shells. Then it is necessary to act underhand, sowing the seeds little by little on the basis of justifying the need to protect authority "in danger" from the malignant attempts of the political forces of the opposition; forces, which according to them, only seek to overthrow the legally constituted government by unorthodox means through attempted coups d'état, and in their search, are forced to give away imaginary political-patriotic forces that intend to attack or overthrow them; when in reality, it is quite the opposite, since they are the ones who have implanted them to protect their backs and remove and even persecute the one they intend, if only to criticize their way of governing. 

They are doing this by and with all possible means, even officially after the lure of protecting the Constitution - which they want to totally change and even repeal - the State, the Government and the people who make up the State, and to pursue every kind of personal attack' against them, however slight, which they describe as improper, a sign of hatred and totally illegal.

However, they do not mind having previously been very permissive with other types of attacks, even made by themselves, against persons from other parties and State institutions - alien or contrary to their purposes - since these, in order to smooth out their spurious purposes, should be attacked or at least, discredited as much as possible so that they are seen by the general public as something unworthy, nineteenth century or residual.

After keeping the Army absent-minded, apart, parked and well tied up; it is clear that their second step consists in achieving, by means of the necessary dismissals or expulsions of the inflexible, to convince the police, judicial, prosecutorial and State Attorney's office leadership of the need to act in their defense in such a way and manner that they will never be harmed. To this end, they do not skimp on the means and forms of successive approaches, direct or indirect, including the use of coercion or the always successful offer and temptation of personal and professional promotion, shortening the necessary time frames, skipping the inconveniences that make it difficult to achieve and seeking, which there always are, people with weak character, little training or those who, being very much of their own mind, always put their personal or party benefit before what is expected of a civil servant for the national good. 

Nor do they hesitate to apply abnormal alliances and even employ official positions and government representatives to devise obscure plans against the parties or authorities that govern in communities that are not their own or in their favour; possibly prevaricating by using their position to hide realities or distort official data and pretend to forge ugly alliances based on lies, in exchange for certain trifles that lead them to govern in places where they do not and thus be able to exercise greater regional control.    

Before, during and after all of the above, the conquest of the "fourth power", that of the media, is essential. The media is a sector that should or can exercise great influence on the social and economic affairs of the population. At first sight it seems difficult to conquer or convince; but in the end, everything and everyone usually has a price and it is incredible to see, read and listen to people and media, once worthy representatives of truth and honesty, sold to the cause by a series of contracts or subsidies for including in their articles or talks matters that favour changes in the opinion of their followers for the benefit of those who seek to change the situation.

Last but not least, there is the role played by the more and more common parties of nationalists, separatists, terrorists, greens, animalists and all sorts of strange elements, tendencies and thoughts, which in order to achieve their purposes, personal benefits or to complement their dark and hidden agendas, are able to sell their souls to the devil; For this reason, they do not hesitate to unite in a coalition with those who, out of pure necessity of votes for the necessary support of their final cause, have the wide range of offers from all entities open to them in order to please their desires and aspirations, even if they need to put a pincer in their nose when voting together for the same proposal or law, or just a few days before, they deny and even repeatedly deny that with such parties, they will never make a pact. 

This is not an easy task in many cases, since, most of the time, certain changes are needed in the mentality of the citizen, which are really only achieved if previously and for years, it has been possible to deepen the formation and opinion of the people, penetrating little by little in the systems and forms of indoctrination in the formation and at the time of creating the programs and imparting the education.

When the conjunction of all these stars is aligned, only a small sprout or coup de grace is needed to be able to exercise the primary idea with full conviction that nothing is going to get in the way of that task anymore. It is then that it becomes impossible for the friendly countries themselves or for the members of the same intergovernmental associations to which one belongs to be able to change the trend or to redirect the situation. Today, the world has lost its capacity for arbitrariness, influence and leadership. Everyone follows his or her own path, few think of others, and except in the case of a potential war, everyone is left to follow his or her own path without problems for others.

Recovering lost time and space, if they can ever be recovered, is not a simple or short task because the ideas, needs and ways of living have taken the necessary and strong root or accommodation among the population. For many it has become the only way to live and have to change it, it means making many adaptations, risks and changes of mentality, which they are not willing to do.

I don't know if all that has been said so far could sound familiar, close or already implanted in their environment. I can tell you that it sounds familiar to me. What is more, I think we are on the verge of reaching the point of no return. Furthermore, I am one of those mentioned victims who cannot exercise their constitutional right to apply their freedom of opinion and expression, sometimes - even today - when I try to present my comments on widely known and specific facts for the analysis and opinion of those who usually follow me, which far exceed a few thousand. This tends to happen more often when the topics dealt with revolve around certain, let us call it, unorthodox actions of the government.