Lukasescu: Ceausescu 1989, Lukashenko 2020? (a video comparison)

Inevitably, especially after Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko told a hastily called pro-regime rally on Sunday 16 August (dwarfed by the anti-regime sentiment of everyone not at the rally) that neighboring countries had amassed military forces on the border, and on Monday 17 August got booed and told to resign by workers at a factory to which he traveled by helicopter, observers have been drawing comparisons to Nicolae Ceausescu, especially on 21 and 22 December 1989. Over the past week and especially the past few hours, more and more people are calling Lukashenko…”Lukacescu”! A quick search revealed one of the earliest recent uses of this term, from back in April !:

“Dear friends! I am reading all of your comments now, and so I think that ‘Lukasescu’ will envy the destiny of Ceausescu soon!” https://charter97.org/en/news/2020/4/13/372860/

Of course, that was wishful thinking back then…thankfully less so today! Personally, I tend to think the difference in regime type, international distribution of power and global zeitgeist, and Belarus’ delicate location and cultural and geopolitical significance for Russia, make Romania 1989 and Belarus 2020 quite dissimilar, as will likely be seen in how Belarus 2020 plays out. Nevertheless, Mark Twain’s quip about history rhyming rather than repeating itself can’t help but be apt here when you compare some of the videos from the time to those of the past few days: