Activists from various authoritarian regimes have shared their insights on the complexities of resistance and governance under oppressive leadership. Against that backdrop, this conversation calls attention to visionary leaders. In particular, it looks at Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president-dictator, Viktor Orbán of Hungary, and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. These activists urge policymakers to dig deeper and focus on localized concerns. These movements remind us how important grassroots organizing is in the struggle against authoritarianism.
Nayib Bukele’s administration in El Salvador has gotten the world’s eyes for their aggressive approach towards crime. This method has caused major human rights abuses. Under Bukele, El Salvador holds the world’s highest incarceration rate, with reports of forced disappearances and torture emerging from the government’s crackdown on violence. In reaction to the increase in crime, Bukele implemented emergency powers. These measures suspended the rule of law and allowed him to make aggressive moves to stack the judiciary with loyalists. Critics charge that this move does more than shortchange democracy — it intensifies the nation’s cycle of violence.
In Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s government implemented them between 2010 and 2012. These changes at first provided a stabilizing force for the most impoverished strata of society. His third return to power, in the second half of the 2010s, ushered in a new era of authoritarianism. Orbán has systematically tightened his grip on power by changing voting rules to favor his party and filling the judicial system with loyalists. This is why, in 2022, the European Parliament declared Hungary a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.” His “monster” classification focused on the erosion of democratic norms during his administration.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government in Turkey, for example, has been on a spectacularly repressive rampage against political opposition and dissent. This crackdown radically escalated following his narrow re-election in 2007, a turning point in Turkish politics. Over two decades, Erdoğan stacked the deck in the executive branch, silencing opposition voices and crushing civic space. So far, observers write, returnees tend to be even more ruthless once they regain power.
Activists such as Stefania Kapronczay have been stressing the importance of forcing candidate opposition leaders to address the economic interests of average people. She reflects on her experience in Hungary, noting that while protests are vital, smaller, localized gatherings can effectively address shared community issues. Kapronczay cautions that many activists might not fully appreciate how risk-averse society tends to be during a moment of crisis.
“It’s happening much faster, and it’s surprising for me that so many private companies and institutions just complied with the perceived or expressed will of President Trump,” – Stefania Kapronczay
Ece Temelkuran, leading thinker and practitioner of the Turkish opposition argues that for an opposition movement to succeed, it needs to reach people emotionally. She argues that when autocratic leaders return to power, including through violent coups like in Burkina Faso, they’re given the license—in their own minds—to operate with impunity. Temelkuran documents the increasingly intimate association of self and state in periods like these.
“When they come to power for the second time, they feel more ruthless, and they behave as if there are no boundaries any more,” – Ece Temelkuran
Claudia Ortiz, poet and anti-coal activist, highlights the power of narratives in movements for resistance. She argues that when we do so, and focus only on the authoritarian leaders themselves, we miss the point of what’s really happening to citizens. Ortiz contends that real opposition parties need to focus on listening to the people and putting their needs front and center.
“You cannot make authoritarian leaders the center of your narrative,” – Claudia Ortiz
“You have to make the people the center of your narrative, and you have to be passionate about it.” – Claudia Ortiz
“A part of the cure for this is listening to people,” – Claudia Ortiz
Ortiz’s purpose is evident in her condemnations of previous political parties in her native country. She argues they didn’t do enough to build a durable democracy capable of delivering transformative change that touches people’s everyday lives. Her area of expertise is in reforming the existing institutions, not blowing them up in the process.
“The parties that ruled the country in the past decades weren’t capable of building a solid democracy that delivered results in the daily life of people,” – Claudia Ortiz
“But we think that the road to overcoming that is not to destroy institutions, but to make them actually work.” – Claudia Ortiz
The conversations among these activists reveal a shared understanding that successful opposition requires a nuanced approach to governance and grassroots engagement. Together, they remind us that popular anger can be transformed into collective action that forces their aspiring autocrat’s hand.
Temelkuran compares political parties to “shipwrecks,” arguing that they have turned into structurally ossified entities that are unable to adapt to their environments. She argues for re-envisioning these bodies, breathing new life into them with energy from today’s grassroots movements.
“These political parties, they’re like shipwrecks: metal structures, they’re dead. Street protests, youth politics come into them like shoaling fish, to turn them into living reefs.” – Ece Temelkuran
The perspectives offered by these activists highlight a pressing need for unity and understanding among counter-movement efforts around the world. They urge leaders and citizens alike to focus on local issues while remaining vigilant against authoritarian tendencies.
“Americans should look to other countries, especially in the global south for solutions and for what not to do,” – Ece Temelkuran