Tyrannical Thoughts

Who remembers General Duong Van Minh? Big, jovial chap who (with American approval) overthrew President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam on November 1, 1963. He didn’t last long: His turn came at the end of January 1964. Then there was another, and another, and another. And now Moscow’s Communist protégés are in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City). Will it be thus in the Philippines? Certainly the advent of President Corazon (“heart” in Spanish) Aquino prompts further thoughts on the overthrow of tyrants, and what comes next.

The trouble with strongmen is that they rarely know when to bow out. The “hate Marcos” school, now dominant in most countries, including his own, has forgotten, or never knew, the chaos of uncontrolled crime and disorder he inherited from his predecessor when he was first elected president in 1965, or the rapid benefits he brought during his first two terms of office. All this was before the sweet corruption of power took over.

BC

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Brian Crozier

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Who remembers General Duong Van Minh? Big, jovial chap who (with American approval) overthrew President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam on November 1, 1963. He didn’t last long: His turn came at the end of January 1964. Then there was another, and another, and another. And now Moscow’s Communist protégés are in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City). Will it be thus in the Philippines? Certainly the advent of President Corazon (“heart” in Spanish) Aquino prompts further thoughts on the overthrow of tyrants, and what comes next.

The trouble with strongmen is that they rarely know when to bow out. The “hate Marcos” school, now dominant in most countries, including his own, has forgotten, or never knew, the chaos of uncontrolled crime and disorder he inherited from his predecessor when he was first elected president in 1965, or the rapid benefits he brought during his first two terms of office. All this was before the sweet corruption of power took over.