Socialism hasn’t really gotten a good reputation in the last few decades. It’s often associated with the related-yet-more-extreme communism which has a history that’s pretty much riddled with wars, strife and poverty. Socialism is a lot more than just the extreme version of it however, and every political wing has had good and bad leaders.
Let’s take a look at some socialist leaders that we’ve seen in history that were fairly popular. Do note that popular doesn’t mean you have to agree with their point of view or even that the rest of the world at the time did.
Dilma Rousseff
This former Brazilian leader has carried on the legacy that Lula started and made Brazil a place that could be attractive to investors without it leading to poverty and bad living environments for Brazil’s people. It’s a course that has set Brazil on a nice path of growth and has put them back on the map internationally.
Fidel Castro
Despite being a man mostly associated with cigars and liberating Cuba, he was the man who alongside Che Guevara freed his country from a feudal regime and kept on running the country the way it should have been despite the way Washington and the rest of the world may have felt about it.
Nicolás Maduro
The current Venezuelan president is very much anti-America and isn’t exactly known for taking it easy when it comes to negotiations or letting people know how he feels. He wants to turn Venezuela into a socialist utopia and will stop at nothing to very little to get there.
Vladimir Lenin
Lenin was one of the first in a long line of left-wing Russian leaders, and he was the main reason why the Tsars were finally over and done with. He’s also well-known for his writings which laid the groundwork for a lot of communist leaders later, which were mostly based on the class struggle that was very prevalent at his time.
Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chavez certainly needs no introduction. He’s the man that started what Nicolás Maduro is trying to finish and the man that brought socialism to Venezuela. Much like his successor, Chavez was known for being a tough negotiator and someone that went to great lengths to help his country grow.
Evo Morales
Bolivia, another Latin American country that is heavily socialist, was taught by Morales that equality and nationality are very important principles to live by. Apparently Morales even had a pretty modest lifestyle himself to uphold those principles in his own life.
Che Guevara
Still an often used as a symbol for rebellion, Guevara was one of the Focoist leaders that reformed his country in one of the most extensive ways possible
