We seem to be facing rather more than a fair share of aftermaths just now. The end of the Soviet-Afghanistan war probably heralds the intensification of the civil war within the wider one. Then we have the dangerous situation in Kampuchea, from which the Vietnamese Communists are starting to withdraw. To the northwest, the durable dictator of Burma, Ne Win, steps down (or so he says). Not long ago, the durable strongman of Tunisia, Habib (“darling,” in Arabic) Bourguiba, was ousted by compatriots who no longer loved him.
In Argentina, less-than-competent civilians are still grappling with the mess left behind by incompetent military rulers. Much the same may be said of Brazil. Only Stroessner of Paraguay goes on forever. And in Mexico, if the eternally ruling PRI (how, indeed, can you have an “institutional” revolutionary party anyway?) loses any more of its dexterity in fixing election results, it could well find, next time round, that even Mexican eternity has its limits.
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