Nicolae Pleșiță Nicolae Pleșiță Nicolae Pleșiță (; April 26, 1929 – September 28, 2009) was a Romanian intelligence official and secret police investigator. From 1980 to 1984, he led the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Securitate, the secret service of Communist Romania. He was described by the "New York Times" and Associated Press at the time of his death as "a die-hard Communist and ruthless chief of the Securitate secret police." A participant in various actions taken against armed or peaceful anti-communist groups, Pleșiță began his career as a Romanian Communist Party cadre, and rose through the ranks of the Securitate while
Nicolae Ceaușescu Augusto Pinochet's coup. Nicolae Ceaușescu was a close ally and personal friend of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaïre. Relations were in fact not just state-to-state, but party-to-party between their respective political machineries, the MPR and the PCR. Many believe that Ceaușescu's death played a role in influencing Mobutu to "democratise" Zaïre in 1990. Ceaușescu reduced the size of the Romanian Army by 15%, for which he organised a mock referendum. In line with his policy of keeping a facade of "popular democracy" he also ordered large rallies for peace to be held. In August 1976, Nicolae Ceaușescu was the