Not in general, but maybe in the particular case of Guinea-Bissau, a tiny west-African state and former Portuguese colony. Two of the most powerful men in the country - the President and a rival General - were killed last week within 12 hours of one another. Interestingly, the grisly assassinations have been greeted as a welcome change, both within the country and without. The NYT has an interesting piece on the story that's worth a read.
Originally I was going to write that I had never heard of Guinea-Bissau before coming across this article. But after seeing a map of the country I realized that wasn't true: in a previous job I had been asked to write a two-pager on the outcome of the 2005 national elections and its impact on the country. I remember almost nothing about the contents of that briefing note, except that international observers were relatively impressed by the openness and fairness of the election - one that was taking place only 6 years after a bloody civil war. It looked like good news.
It wasn't. Almost four years later, the country appears to be worse off than it was in '05: the drug trade runs rampant and the average life expectancy is about 45 years. Oddly, that the freely-elected President has been shot and his rival blown up seems to be the best bit of news this country has seen in a while.
