He's a thug, but he's a smart thug, and one of the great masterful political manipulators of the 20th Century. Unfortunately its mostly been to benefit himself, not his people.

You have to give the man credit. He's held power for 45 years in the face of intense pressure from the most powerful nation on the planet, who has tried to kill him, isolate him, and ruin his economy in an effort to get him deposed. You can't argue with that kind of "success." If only his people could benefit from that genious.