FACES OF HATE

Terror is an essential part of every totalitarian regime. Along with the Secret Police, organized snitching and other coercive methods used by repressive states, 'Hate Mobs' have played a fundamental role as disguised members of the spontaneous masses who allegedly repress dissidents on their own initiative. The term 'Mob' has been widely used by historians to describe the events that led to the French Revolution and the terror that followed. A form of organized collective violence, 'Hate Mobs' members are hand picked and organized by oppressive governments. Their existence is a calculated move by those in power to intimidate the citizenry and play with outside image and propaganda. By having a group of supposed "civilians" (rather than men and woman in uniform) repressing human rights activists, independent journalists, bloggers, dissidents, a government can later on claim not being responsible for the actions of these mobs. Note that whereas some of the examples shown here correspond to government use of mobs against political opponents, in other cases mob violence originates in the totalitarian spirit of certain groups in society due to political, racial, ethnic, nationalistic and religious intolerance. Besides the common government involvement in certain dictatorial/tyrannical regimes, the existence of mob violence occurs also as a result of anarchy, inability/unwillingness of the police to operate at a particular moment or due to the chaos that occurs in civil wars, popular revolts, revolutions, etc.

CUBA: QUICK RESPONSE BRIGADES/BRIGADAS DE RESPUESTA RAPIDA

Whereas the name 'Brigadas de Respuesta Rapida or 'Quick Response Brigades' is a name given to state organized mobs in Cuba since 1988-1989, the Castro regime has organized since 1960 mobs of this type against those the state considered their "enemies" - political dissidents, independent journalists, human rights activists, artists, intellectuals, homosexuals, prostitutes, religious people, those leaving the country, etc.

Hate Mobs in Cuba, 1980-2011.

A collage of pictures compiled by the author of this Blog as the Logo for 'El Archivo del Chiva' or 'The Snitch Archive'. These faces correspond to state organized hate mobs in Cuba. These mobs do not constitute in most cases the "spontaneous acts of the people" against those that dissent against the state as the Cuban government claims. They are hand picked members from Interior Ministry, Communist Youth, Federation of University Students, Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Blas Roca Brigades, and other ideological organizations. Note that it takes a certain kind of evil human being to commit despicable acts of this type. The original photos were taken by foreign news correspondents in Cuba (AP, AFP, Reuters) as well as brave dissidents, bloggers, independent journalists and anonymous Cubans.

Weapons used by 'Quick Action Brigades/Brigadas de Respuesta Rapida' in Cuba to repress dissidents. Source: Photo sent from Cuba by political dissident Luis Felipe Rojas and published in his Blog Cruzar las Alambradas on May 29, 2011.

This is a written evidence that proofs the Cuban government encourages and organizes Quick Action Brigades. This is a 2 page document extracted from a government board in the province of Holguin, Cuba. It delineates instructions given by the regime to his followers on how to create Brigades in government enterprises (Overwhelmingly most enterprises in Cuba belong to the government), the amount of members for each brigade, the type of "rustic" weaponry to be used by squadrons, the ideological leader, etc. Source: Document sent from Cuba by Luis Felipe Rojas and published in his Blog Cruzar las Alambradas on May 29, 2011

Quick Response Brigades/Brigadas de Respuesta Rapida en Cuba armed with maces to repress dissidents. Placard in the back reads: "Socialism Here." Original source for this photo is unknown to the author of this Blog.

December 10, 2007. International Day for Human Rights. A picture of Dr. Darsy Ferrer (blue jeans and jacket/with his wife) As every year on this day Dr. Darsy Ferrer leads a group of protesters in Havana to publicly condemn discrimination and human rights abuses in Cuba. In response, the Cuban regime deployed the Quick Response Brigades and the State Security Police (visible and invisible with police dressed in uniform and civilian clothes) to end the protest by force. Photo from AP/El Nuevo Herald

What follows compiles pictures of the Quick Response Brigades against Dr. Ferrer's protest on Dec 10, 2007. Approximately 100 government organized brigades were sent by the regime to the site of the protest.


Regime followers accused dissidents of being "mercenaries" "scum" and "traitors." Photo from AP/El Nuevo Herald.

Collective Hysteria and extremism is what every totalitarian regime encourages among his most devoted followers. Photo from AP/El Nuevo Herald.

Cult of personality reflected in the 'Quick Response Brigades' shouts and hurrahs to their rulers: 'Long live Fidel' 'Long Live Raúl'. Photo from AP/El Nuevo Herald.

A leading thug in the Quick Response Brigades. He participated in state repression against Dr. Darsy Ferrer in 2006 and 2007. The level of 'screaming' 'hate' and 'extremism' makes this a reenactment of 'The Two Minutes of Hate' in George Orwell's 1984 novel? All previous photos from AP/El Nuevo Herald.

Another important target of government repression in Cuba is against The Ladies in White/Damas de Blanco, created soon after the 'Black Spring/Privamera Negra' del 2003 when the Cuban government arrested hundreds of human rights activists, independent journalists and dissidents. In response to the wave of repression launched by the Cuban regime, a group of women established the Ladies in White in the Spring of 2003. For the past decade, these brave women have led public protests through the streets of Havana, Santiago de Cuba and other provinces in demand for the liberation of all political prisoners in Cuba. 'Quick Response Brigades' have been sent by the government to repress Ladies in White since their inception as an organization.

March, 2011. House of Laura Pollán in Havana surrounded by Quick Action Brigades. A Lady in White harassed by hate mobs. Government Brigades are attempting to block the march of the Ladies in White. Source: Rolando Pujol / EFE / El Nuevo Herald

April, 2010. Quick Response Brigade members attempt to mocker the Ladies in White without understanding the effect of these photos as demonstrations of extremism and hatred by organized followers of the Castro regime towards dissidents and human rights activists. Original sources for the previous 5 photos is unknown to the author of this Blog.

August, 2011. Violence against a member of the Ladies in White by Quick Response Brigades. This picture shows a female member of the Cuba's State Security applying a Judo choke technique to arrest this brave dissident and disable her capacity to speak. This is a common repressive method in Cuba aimed to prevent dissidents from shouting for freedom while been arrested. Photo from El Nuevo Herald.

December 10, 2009. Laura Pollán (1948-2011) (white T-shirt with the number 75 which is the number of political prisoners arrested in 2003 0 and a flower in her hand) founder/leader of the Ladies in White led a street demonstration during the International Day for Human Rights. In the picture she is surrounded by Quick Response Brigades who offend her and the Ladies in White. Photos from El Nuevo Herald.

December 10, 2009. Note that this thug (yellow/brown blouse) is a common face in the Quick Response Brigades. Photo from El Nuevo Herald.
Carrying mazes camouflaged with folded newspapers, a Quick Brigade member prevents the mobility/pushes back Berta Soler (Co-founder of the Ladies in White) 10 Dec, 2009. Photo from El Nuevo Herald.

10 Dec, 2009. A hysterical member of the Quick Response Brigades shouting all sorts of insults against Ladies in White. Most likely this old lady is a leading member of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) in her neighborhood. Photo from El Nuevo Herald.
5 March, 2011. A member of the Ladies in White forcibly arrested and thrown to the floor by female members of the State Security.

Arrest of Reina Luisa Tamayo mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo who was murdered by the Cuban state as a result of police brutality while incarcerated. In this picture, a female member of the State Security arrested Reina Luisa Tamayo who led numerous protests in memory of her murdered son and for the freedom of Cuba. Photo from El Nuevo Herald.

20 November, 2009. Photo of Reinaldo Escobar (middle) arrested by State Security Agents. When Cuban blogger and independent journalist Reinaldo Escobar publicly challenged a state security agent in charge of blogger/dissident surveillance (Agente Rodney) to a public debate, the government responded with force rather than reason. The regime sent the 'Quick Action Brigades' to the site where Escobar was and organized a Repudiation Act against him. State security agents kidnapped Escobar and transported took him to one of the most marginal towns in Havana where they released him late at night. Objective? To encourage that common delinquents assaulted and kill Escobar. Source: Batalla Contra las Ideas, Blog Del Compañero via Fotos desde Cuba Hoy (original links from Fotos desde Cuba/El Nuevo Herald no longer exist).

April-May, 1980. Brutal beating in Cuba by state organized 'Hate Mobs' against former political prisoners lining up in the Official Interest Section in Havana the in April-May, 1980 during the period known as the 'Mariel Exodus.' Picture from Cuban State Television.

April-May, 1980. Hate mobs in Cuba with placards quoting words from a speech by Fidel Castro given on May 1, 1980. The pogroms were directed against Cubans who decided to exit the country: In the placards it says: "Cuba for Workers: Get out all those who live from the sweat of our work." "The scum has to leave the country"

April-May, 1980. Hate mobs in Cuba with placards that stated: "Out with the scums" "Out with anti socials."

PANAMA: DIGNITY BATALLIONS - NORIEGA DICTATORSHIP
WorldPress photo. Arrest of Billy Ford by Dignity Batallions

Manuel Antonio Noriega and Fidel Castro.

Dignity Batallions were created at the end of Manuel Antonio Noriega's dictatorship. Noriega was a corrupt dictator with links to drug trafficking, terrorist/drug groups such as the FARC and several drug Cartels from Colombia and the the Fidel Castro regime who inundated Panamá with spies and laundry money operations. Most likely Noriega imitated the idea of the Dignity Batallions from Castro. Batalloneros or Dignity Batallion members were followers of Noriega's dictatorship from the lower classes (farmer and peasants) trained to represspolitical opponents who complained about government fraud in the elections of 7 May 1989. Opponents were followers of the political candidate for president Guillermo Endara. The picture shows the arrest of Guillermo 'Billy' Ford the running mate of Endara for the vice presidency. Ford eventually became vide president under the Endara presidency after the US led invasion and subsequent return to democracy in Panamá. Photo appeared in 1989 in the cover of Time Magazine and Newsweek. Ford eventually became vice president after the overthrow of the Noriega dictatorship in December, 1989. Photo also shown in Noriega's Panamá.

Batalloneros or Dignity Batallion members in the Santa Fe Plaza in Panama City on 10 May, 1989. Source: Noriega's Panamá.

THAILAND: PRO GOVERNMENT MOBS - SUNDARAVEJ REGIME

September 3, 2008. State of Emergency in Thailand. Pro-Government mobs in Bangkok, Thailand brandished weapons to break an opposition march. Opponents demanded that Prime Minister Amak Sundaravej quit from office. Photograph: Wason Wanichakorn/AP/The Guardian

VENEZUELA: BOLIVARIAN CIRCLES - CHAVEZ REGIME

With 2.3 million members nation wide in Venezuela, The Bolivarian Circles/Circulos Bolivarianos are rank and file organizations created by the Hugo Chavez government to spread the ideas of the so called Bolivarian Revolution among the population at large, specially the lower classes. opposition members in Venezuela have criticized these "circles" as violent hordes used to repressed those that dissent against the Chavista regime.

The 'children's division of the Bolivarian Circles/Circulos Bolivarianos. Source: Reportero 24 The use of minors for political purposes, indoctrination and extremist tendencies is a major human rights violation. Bolivarian Circles Logo - Source: Google Images

Armed members of the Bolivarian Circles in Venezuela. Source: Google Images

INDIA - HINDUTVA MOBS

An extreme form of ultra nationalism and alleged Hindu superiority is practiced by the Hindutva Mobs in India. Their doctrine is based on hate and violence against 'Non-Hindu' minorities. Source/Photo from Axis of Logic: Shahid Siddiqi, A Story of Hate & Terror
UNITED STATES - ANGRY WHITE MOBS AND RACIAL SEGREGATION

Even at the heat of a free nation there are certain groups that preach totalitarianism. Behind every extremist attitude there is a totalitarian mentality in action. There is exception to this rule in the case of certain groups in the United States up to the 1950s and 1960s when certain groups persisted in maintaining racial segregation in the South. Actions resulting from this mentality resulted in angry white mobs physically attacking and repressing Afro Americans, specially those in the Civil Rights Movement. The picture shows the use of violence by white mobs against an Afro American in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Source: Bilgrimage

INDIA: FLASH MOBS, POLICE INACTION AND RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

September 7, 2011. Religious intolerance in the city of Karnataka in Southern India. A violent mob physically attacked to Jehovah Witnesses who were peacefully speaking about the Bible. Source: Press Review Online: JW News, Inaction of Police Emboldens Mob Violence in Southern India
ANTI SEMITIC VIOLENCE

Mob Violence against Jews in 1881 during the rule of Tsar Alexander III in Russia. (Newspaper illustration)
"From Russian погром "a wreaking of havoc" Source: Listen Vanessa

1896 - Switzerland. Anti-Semitic outpouring unleashed by Dreyfus trial.
"Reporting on the trial for a Viennese newspaper, journalist Theodor Herzl notes the anti-Antisemitism rampant in the very cradle of Jewish emancipation. He concludes that full acceptance of Jews in Europe is impossible."
The newspaper reports mobs shouting: "Death to the Jews! Death to the traitors!"
Source: Listen Vanessa

JAMAICA: HOMOPHOBIC MOBS

February 15, 2007: An angry homophobic mob of 2,000 gathered around a pharmacy in St. Andrew, Jamaica because 3 men whom they had branded as homosexuals were hiding inside. The police was called to the scene to rescue the 3 "visibly terrified men." The police had to fire tear gas to the crowd to escort the men into their vehicles. Source: Towleroad, Angry Mob of 2,000 attacks, Stones Gays in Jamaica.

These photos were initially taken from El Nuevo Herald/AP/AFP/Reuters and other foreign correspondents in Cuba. They were also taken by courageous bloggers, independent journalists, dissidents in Cuba and sent abroad. Most of these pictures have widely circulated on the Internet and are also available in various websites on Cuba. In many cases the URL (original source) to the initial links where I obtained the pictures no longer exist as websites such as El Nuevo Herald newspaper leave only certain news available for a brief period of time to non-members and then the photos/links/news are removed from accessibility. This Blog in any way claims authorship for any of these photos. My intention is absolutely non profit. The objective of 'Totalitarian Images' is merely educational and condemnatory. I aim publish on this Blog information, analysis and historical facts on totalitarian regimes as well as make visible violence and human rights violations to those interested on the topic. In most cases the author of this Blog will refer to other websites that have also published these pictures.

Interested on this topic? Here are some educational references:

Ann Coutler, Demonic (A book that describes the psychology of mobs)
Gustave Le Bon, The crowd : a study of the popular mind
Gustave Le Bon, The psychology of the people
Williand D. Carrigan, ed., Lynching reconsidered: New perspective in the study of mob violenceMobs during the French Revolution. Gallery of Images
Mobs during the Russian Revolutions. Gallery of Images