https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/opinion/belarus-democracy-lukashenko.html

A somewhat depressing read but important because Trump is doing some of the same things as Lukashenko to cement his dictatorial power. Trump is just getting started with taking control and setting up his police state to quash dissent, but I have no doubt that he intends to be president for life.

“ In hindsight, 2020 was a turning point. The regime sensed the danger of the moment and the ensuing crackdown was violent and swift. Tens of thousands of people were arrested, a local human rights group estimates that there are more than 1,000 political prisoners, and, according to U.N. estimates, more than 300,000 people have left the country in the time since.

I am one of them. I had been a commercial photographer, mostly weddings, until 2020. But in 2020 I decided to start documenting the election campaign and, after the elections, the protests. I don’t think I missed a single major Sunday protest in 2020. By the end of that year there was the sense that things were closing in. The following July I was detained, which felt like a warning. I left soon after for an artist’s residency in Poland and have been postponing my return ever since.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/opinion/belarus-democracy-lukashenko.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SU8.2PiP.GV3HGN0aCp4R&smid=url-share