&gt;&gt;How do you think Hoover stayed in place that long? You can pull a great many things without needing to disappear people at four in the morning.<p>Still Hoover or whoever in USA is no match for Mao or Stalin or Castro as far as their potential to inflict torture and control over their citizens is concerned. A president in US cannot be a president for his entire life, it&#x27;s only 8 years max (that too if people wanted him&#x2F;her to be).<p>While in Cuba we can see Castro remained in power until he couldn&#x27;t move his body even so much and then also he put his crony (his brother) in power. That is dangerous and worrisome.<p>&gt;&gt;While Putin is certainly more willing to suppress political opponents, I doubt the Russian surveillance network is even remotely in the same league as the NSA.<p>The way Putin and his cronies suppressed homosexuals in Russia sends chills down the spines of free thinkers.<p>In short, with your neighbours and even family members spying on each other and reporting to Putin&#x27;s people, you don&#x27;t need sophisticated surveillance network in the first place.<p>In USA, the situation is far, far better than what the Snowdens and their supporters are trying to portray.