Dictators are famously petty people. Their sensitivity to threats to their power leads to attacks on dissidents that are awful.
But sometimes, those attempts can be hilarious.
In September 2023, journalist Newton Barry moved from Burkina Faso to live in exile in France after threats to him and his family. Barry continued reporting on Burkina Faso’s military junta run by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré.
In December 2023, Barry was found guilty of defamation for something critical of the Defense Minister that he posted on his Facebook page. Barry was still living in France, so he was charged in absentia.
Barry didn’t know about his conviction until he read about it in an online newspaper later. While it’s one of the humorous dissident outcomes, there is still a frightening reality for dissidents in their countries.
Danger Remains Real
Burkina Faso’s over-the-top reaction to a journalist shows the two faces of dictators. They go to absurd lengths to secure their power, and sometimes, that absurdity can’t help but be funny.
But Barry had to flee the country due to credible death threats to him and his family. Even in exile, he has received threatening messages from dangerous people representing the regime.
The absurdity of dictatorships comes in part from desperation. Authoritarian regimes can crumble before organized opposition movements with clear leaders. Fareed Zakaria notes that elites who peel off in support of the opposition can turn an unstable regime into one whose final days are upon it.
So, dictators are incentivized to go to absurd lengths to silence voices that could explain what they’re doing wrong and how they could be replaced. Authoritarians rarely get the luxury of retiring peacefully. Dissident movements often fight oppressive leaders with similar brutality as their leaders inflict on the people they’re holding hostage.
It’s not wrong to laugh at an authoritarian’s bizarre behavior. Strangeness is part of the authoritarian package.
However, it is imperative not to let the humor inherent in a dictator’s absurdity mask the extreme cruelty that odd behavior also enables.
The collective North is literally a dictatorship imposed upon the people of the Global South that serves the extraction of value. It is hard to get rid of this dicatorship and secure your national interests without your own dictatorship. Traore is not just a funny guy from a colonial caricature but a hero to millions of young Africans.