http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-gadhafi/index.html
This article relates to our discussion regarding the classification of dictators. One student (sorry can't remember who) pointed out that one person's dictator is another person's freedom fighter (or something to that extent). This was perhaps one of the reasons we had a difficult time reaching a consensus regarding who would be included in the "dictators" section of our human rights museums.
This article reports President Chavez's response to the news that his "good friend" President Gadhafi had been killed. Chavez is reported as having said that Gadhafi was a, "great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr" and that he would miss his friend. While I think its safe to say that the vast majority of the world would consider Gadhafi to have been a dictator and tyrant rather than a revolutionary and martyr, it is important for us to keep in mind that there will always be those people who go against the status quo and support people who have committed terrible crimes because they do believe the person was justified in their actions. Therefore reaching agreement over who will be historically labelled a dictator 100s of years from now is not easy and is definitely not black and white. The rulers we consider dictators will always have supporters that honor them as brave revolutionaries or martyrs.
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