(CNN) -- The first refuge of tyrants and buffoons is to blame someone else for the messes they make. On the world stage, that usually means blaming America when things do not go their way. It's an old trick. It's easy to spot. But it doesn't work as well as it used to. Russia's Vladimir Putin is using it to bolster his standing ahead of Sunday's presidential election. The Iranian regime just dusted off the old trick in advance of Friday's election, the first national vote since the disputed, probably stolen, 2009 election. So have Egypt and Syria, blaming "foreign conspirators" for their people's demands for democratic change. Even Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, with elections approaching, has blamed his cancer on the CIA.
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Frida Ghitis: Tyrants like to blame someone else for the messes they make
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Ghitis: rulers in Russia, Iran, Egypt and Venezuela have pointed fingers at the U.S.
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She says this tactic has worked for decades in the Middle East
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Ghitis: But the search for distractions is not working as well as it used to
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