Memory failure

All of Libya loves him, embattled strongman Moammar Gadhafi declared as US warships moved closer to his country. The joke yesterday was that the Libyan president has no enemies because he has killed them all.

If Gadhafi truly believes his people love him, he might want to abandon his avowed original plan of staying put in his own land (even if it means dying “like a martyr”) to stop further bloodshed, and instead seek refuge in a friendly country.

After several years, his people might truly love him enough to allow not just his physical return but also his political comeback – or at least a fresh chance for his children.

The experiences of other ousted strongmen are not encouraging. Among the best that Gadhafi can hope for is to live up to the ripe old age of 91 and escape indictments for human rights violations and other offenses by dying of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, like Chilean strongman Augusto Pinochet.

Gadhafi can take heart in the fortunes of at least one ousted strongman, whose strikingly attractive wife once had a private audience with him in Tripoli.

Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii and his remains, kept in an air-conditioned crypt in Batac, now look like an exhibit at Madame Tussaud’s. But in the land that inspired people power revolutions around the globe, people have not only forgotten and forgiven, they have also voted into high office the widow and children of Ferdinand Marcos, and restored their cronies’ vast fortunes and influence.

Mother and son are so heartened by their full rehabilitation that both have openly expressed the hope that Ferdinand Jr. would one day become president.

In pursuing this dream, Bongbong Marcos could find himself being pitted against the son of another president kicked out by people power, Joseph Estrada. The sons are both in the Senate, with Jinggoy so far outshining Bongbong.

Other countries kick out oppressive rulers – and make sure they stay out of power and are punished for their abuses.

We kick out oppressive and corrupt presidents, and then promptly forget why they were kicked out.

And then we welcome them back, or at least their relatives, with arms wide open.

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How have other countries fared with their ousted despots?

Haitians – or some of them, anyway – recently welcomed back Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, whose presidency was marked by summary executions, torture, and even the sale of body parts harvested from his poor compatriots. Duvalier, whose $3-million wedding to his wife Michele was likened to the opulent wedding in Ilocos of Marcos’ youngest daughter Irene to Greggy Araneta, was ousted shortly before Marcos, on Feb. 7, 1986.

But the warm airport reception last Jan. 16 was where Haitians stopped. Duvalier, who claimed he wanted merely to help in the reconstruction of earthquake-devastated Port-au-Prince, was arrested and now faces trial for corruption, misappropriation of public funds and theft.

A despot who was once Gadhafi’s guest after being ousted in 1979, Uganda’s self-appointed “president for life” Idi Amin Dada, died and was buried in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Peru’s Alberto Fujimori, returning from Japanese exile, was convicted of human rights violations and embezzlement and must serve up to 25 years in prison.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Tunisia’s former strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, his wife Leila and several of their relatives for large-scale corruption following Ben Ali’s ouster last Jan. 14.

In Asia, the children of Indonesian strongman Suharto have not managed a political comeback, although there is grousing that they are still being treated with kid gloves.

The South Koreans famously arrested, convicted and put behind bars their two authoritarian presidents for corruption and human rights violations. The two later received clemency.

In Europe, people power has had mixed results, with no guarantee that the collapse of an authoritarian regime would lead to a functioning democracy.

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It depends a great deal on who takes power after the revolution. Egypt has allowed ousted president Hosni Mubarak to remain in Sharm el-Sheikh, apparently protected by the shadowy individuals who have taken over the country’s reins.

Tunisia remains a regime in transition, with no strong figure to hold the country together.

The Philippines had an organized opposition to galvanize people power in 1986, and opposition members stepped in quickly to set up a new government even as the Marcoses reluctantly packed up.

There is no such strong opposition in Libya or Tunisia, and even in Egypt the most organized opposition is the outlawed Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood.

Gadhafi isn’t exaggerating when he warns that chaos is likely if he is ousted. Some quarters are warning of civil war.

We didn’t see that kind of chaos after the 1986 people power revolt. The promised freedom was won, and the new leaders and an empowered nation set out to make democracy work.

Perhaps the difficulty of establishing a functioning democracy in 25 years – a struggle that took many countries hundreds of years to accomplish – have made us forget how bad it was under an authoritarian regime.

The failure to make anyone pay for the atrocities of the martial law regime, or to send anyone to prison for large-scale corruption (including a convicted ex-president), have also made Filipinos wonder if all the accusations were merely made up. Such doubts make forgiving and forgetting easier.

With no formal indictments being brought so far against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband since the end of her presidency, even some foreign observers have started wondering if all the accusations hurled against her are true.

All this can be regarded as a collective failure, which could serve to embolden besieged strongmen like Moammar Gadhafi. But it can also be seen as part of a continuing struggle to build a strong nation.

The task of building cannot be accomplished if we suffer from memory failure.