These guys were national heroes. True, thy could away with more than others, especially since the leaders and the Party benefited from them (Unless they became

These guys were national heroes. True, thy could away with more than others, especially since the leaders and the Party benefited from them (Unless they became a threat to replace the leaders etc..). But never underestimate the power of 24/7 propaganda and how they confessed to being CIA spies, how the risked lives of our comrades...blah blah. The higher you are the harder you fall. For these guys the top leader would decide, but for the poor peasant complaining about the bread, a local communist bureaucrat would do to ruin his life. They had statues built of them. Nothing a bulldozer can't remove :-)