Cannibal with fork in hand

The other day, he declared himself (in addition to the official status of the Russian President and the unofficial status of its "tsar") the leader of the anti-colonial movement. This is quite natural in the context of his anti-Western rhetoric, but completely unexpected given the fact that the Russian Federation is still a colonial state, and its war against Ukraine is nothing more than an attempt to restore the lost rule of the metropolis. As well as relations with Belarus, a completely subdued Moscow, turned into a puppet in this shameful war adventure.

But the bottom line is that Putin's message has specific recipients - the countries of the 3rd world, which, it seems, are still in the paradigm of the USSR, which spent billions of dollars and a lot of resources to export "revolutions" and its own model of regimes to African, Latin American, Asian countries, and islands of Oceania. This foundation is very favorable for Putin's manipulations, since it is mostly about poor countries whose development is distorted not so much by the colonial past, but more by the inability of the local elites to adequately manage their societies. This is the foundation on which dictatorships, corruption, nepotism, and contempt for human rights thrive.

Everything would be fine, but the previous "leader of the anti-colonial movement" was Robert Gabriel Mugabe. The former president of Zimbabwe and a follower of Maoism, who left behind loud curses against the USA and the impoverished country. Such are the consequences of his "black redistribution", that is, the expropriation of the lands of white farmers, justified by the struggle against colonialism, as a result of which the country's GDP fell by half for two years.

Putin has nothing to share. In Russia, everything has long been divided and redistributed by him and his associates from the FSB. And Russia will fall under the burden of military expenses and international sanctions, no matter what the "import substitution" adepts say about it. And it is unlikely that Putin will live to the age of Mugabe (he died at the age of 95 and was considered "the oldest dictator on the planet") - because his physical end is unlikely to be natural.

Perhaps he will have time to go through a few more exotic statuses. But one - a cannibal - has already firmly established itself behind him.  This was noticed by the adviser to the head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podolyak yesterday: "The Ugandan dictator Idi Amin called himself the lord of all animals on earth, fish in the sea, and the conqueror of the British Empire (no one could verify it anyway). Putin calls himself the owner of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as the stolen Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Find 10 differences," Podolyak wrote. 

Supporter of Hitler, "victor of America" ​​(declared war on the United States for one day to declare his victory), serial killer (not only of political opponents, but also of his own wives and mistresses) and ... cannibal Idi Amin became the embodiment of the peak of stupidity and inhumanity of dictatorships, in the same line with Stalin, Paul Pot, and his idol Mao.

Putin, who at the age of 70 has become a worthy addition to this list, is basically the consistency of the aspirations of the average Russian plebs. Infantile, lazy and helpless without a "leader", he was never capable of state-building. The conclusion of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa is quite logical and suitable for characterizing Russian society: "The worst thing is not that there are human scum like Robert Mugabe, but that there are people who vote for them, elect and re-elect them, as well as make them "national heroes", as Mnangagwa did with Mugabe."

Of course, Putin is different from his African counterparts. But the fact that he is a "cannibal with a fork and knife" in no way distorts his misanthropic nature. By threatening the world with nuclear weapons, he is far from "raising the stakes" or engaging in blackmail. In this way, he makes it clear that he is ready to burn the whole world for the sake of the "Russian national idea". Because, in principle, after realizing his final defeat, it is not natural for someone like Putin to think how everything will end: a gallows for his own neck or a nuclear apocalypse. The second option is even more attractive for a cannibal.

About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist, Editor-in-Chief of the Espreso.West website. 

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