By Kean Huy Alado
To lead a country, one must be decisive, serving, and stubborn to a degree. However, something aspiring leaders may not immediately recognize is the necessity of protection. Many global leaders over the years have fallen victim to assassination attempts over political beliefs, management of the country, general etiquette, and wars, but not all were slain in those attempts. Here is a list of global leaders who faced such attempts:
The late Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, met a tragic ending July 8, 2022, at a train station in Nara during a campaign speech. Abe was an influential and divisive politician of Japan who was shot by a crowd member, Tetsuya Yamagami, using a homemade firearm.
He was arrested by Japanese prosecutors immediately after delivering the fatal injury and claimed that Abe had connections to a religious group that Yamagami resented because of their involvement in his mother’s bankruptcy. Abe’s death affected Japan by creating a backlash towards Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and continues to show effects today, including greater distances between candidates and voters, as well as greater security policies.
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, also suffered an abrupt ending from an assassination attempt Dec. 27, 2007. She was the first female leader of a Muslim country and during a bid for her third term, Bilal, a 15-year-old suicide bomber, shot at her and then shortly blew himself up.
Bilal died in the incident and was ordered to kill Bhutto by the Pakistani Taliban, possibly due to conflicting political views. Despite that, the individual who ordered the hit has never been identified. Her death pulled Pakistan into civil unrest, leading civilians to protest in the streets and provided more insight into how the Pakistani government functions.
The infamous Cuban political leader was credited with the communist transformation in the country and survived 634 creative assassination attempts by the CIA, including involvement of the mafia, an exploding cigar, explosives under a colorfully painted seashell, a poisoned pen, and many others. The CIA was concerned about the communist regime, especially because of the Cold War. Strangely, Castro survived all attempts and lived to the ripe old age of 90 before dying Nov. 25, 2016. He remains an infamous figure for his survival and influence in Cuba.
The current Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is also familiar with assassination attempts. According to Channel 9 in 2022, Zelensky stated, “Well, that’s 10 assassination attempts, means that there’s only 10 people willing to have me killed,” understating his situation by comparing his attackers to the vastly larger military of Russia that has committed war crimes against Ukrainians during their war. More recently, in May 2024, a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky was uncovered by Ukrainian counterintelligence. The suspects were two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, a division made to protect top officials, who were thought to be following the plot created by the Russian Federal Security Service. The colonels have since been detained and indicates the severity of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The former U.S. President, Donald Trump, was the most recent leader on the list to survive an assassination attempt. As of now, there have been two alleged attempts. The first occurred July 13, 2024, and the second followed nine weeks later on Sept.15, 2024. The first attempt ended with the gunman, Matthew Crooks, being killed by a secret service counter sniper after he grazed Trump’s ear; and the second, Ryan Wesley Routh, apprehended after a rifle barrel was spotted by secret service. Trump is no stranger to strong, polarizing stances and behavior that one may see as unfit for presidency, which very easily paints him as a target to many people, especially if he were to obtain a victory in the upcoming presidential election. These could explain potential grievances held by Trump’s assassins, but exact motives have not yet been identified.
Unsurprisingly, survivors of assassination attempts rallied their supporters and increased spirits and morale in their communities. It unified the people to stand under the politician and even gave the leaders an aura of power, stability, and strength. However, considering the alternative result, junior nursing major Angie Duque predicted that, “people would be nervous to see what would happen to the country financially and mentally,” indicating the weight a political leader holds over the nation.
Valmyr added that, “Even though there may be some sentiments behind justifying such actions, it’s important to find peaceful resolution to conflicts and uphold the principles of democracy and law.” Through that, Barry students appear to favor a more civil approach to disputes and conflicts with their leaders’ plans.
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