When dreams get corrupted

By John DiLorenzo ‘24

Belarus, the last dictatorship of Europe, a nation constantly at odds with itself, has an uncertain future. Belarus was founded in 1919 by the Soviet Union. It is widely expected that for 80 years Belarus was one of the many USSR puppet states. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed which led to all smaller puppet states declaring independence, including Belarus.

The Belarussian story is one of false promises, and tales of freedom, only to be taken away. The first president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, was elected in July 1994. He is still the president in 2020. The term limits for the Belarussian president were supposed to be five years. Right before the election of 1999, a referendum was passed, pushing the election to 2001, and then right before 2001, a referendum was passed that would eliminate term limits. Lukashenko is still the president, but life in Belarus has been anything but free.

Since then, there has been an election in 2006, an election in 2010, and an election in 2020.

The first election in 2006 was between Lukashenko and Alaksandar Milinkievič, a Belarussian lifetime politician who devoted himself to public service. After Lukashenko won the election 84% to 6%. In 2010, Andrei Sannikov challenged Lukashenko. From 2005-2010, there were many protests that were violently dismissed and many people were beaten or killed by KGB officers. After the election ended, Lukashenko had won 80% to 2%. All elections since then have ended the same, with Vladimir Lukashenko winning by disproportionate amounts.

August 9 marked the 2020 election. It was between Lukashenko and Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya. Alexander Uan-Zo-Li, a Catlin Gabel school parent, and a former citizen of the U.S.S.R. shared his thoughts on the election.

The Belarussian protests via (Wikipedia Commons)

“Svetlana has stated that she will not be a real president, meaning that if she is elected, she will simply be in power to ensure a free election for next time. She is carrying the torch for her husband, who was arrested by Lukashenko for posing an opposition,” said Uan-Zo-Li

Svetlana is the wife of Sergei Tikhanovsky, a leader in the opposition to Lukashenko. Sergei was imprisoned by Lukashenko, for being “anti-Belarus.” Svetlana had rallied many Belarussians to support her in the 2020 election. So when the results came in, and Lukashenko had won 80% of the vote, the country was outraged.

Protests began to emerge all over Belarus. The reason for all the protests being that everyone knew that there was no way that Lukashenko got that many votes. This was not surprising to reporters around the world, given that the presidency in Belarus is directly responsible for keeping track of votes and maintaining the integrity of the voting system.

Now the fate of Belarus is being questioned by many concerned citizens who for many generations have been taught to embrace the government’s propaganda as the truth.

“The fate of Lukashenko will affect the world,” said Uan-Zo-Li.

Uan-Zo-Li continued. “Nowadays, Russia is almost fascist. Putin can do as he likes, with no repercussions, and it has hurt the ideals of freedom across the world. But Putin wants Lukashenko to survive in a wicked state, meaning that Lukashenko is Russia's ebony when strong, and friend when weak,” he said.

Now there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to what is next for the Belarussian opposition. Many speculate a coup is on the rise, while others expect the military to back the opposition, and some believe that Lukashenko will remain in power. Either way, all agree that Belarus will not be a functioning nation for many years to come. While Belarus is far across the world, their issues could possibly arise close to home. Many people fear that President Donald Trump, could not give up power and demand that he stay in power.

But Uan-Zo-Li thinks that “if Belarus becomes a functioning democracy, then Russia's grasp is weakened. The other thing to remember is that all of Russia’s power comes from selling oil. If Lukashenko is no longer the President of Belarus, then Russia's power over Europe starts to diminish, and then subsequently, oil prices drop, and Russia and Putin have loads of problems.”

Belarus has serious implications for the Western world and is an example of what happens when democracy fails.