Dissent in Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu Dissent in Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu Dissent in Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu was voicing disagreements with the government policies of Communist Romania during the totalitarian rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu after the July Theses in 1971. Because of the strong secret police (the Securitate) and harsh punishments, open dissent was rare. Notable acts of dissent include Paul Goma's 1977 letters to Ceaușescu, the founding of SLOMR (an independent workers' union) in 1979 and a number of work conflicts, such as the Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 and the Braşov Rebellion of 1987. Dissent from within the Romanian Communist Party came
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