Tudjman's was also a loathsome regime, and also had popular support, and that just underlines the point that dictators need to be in some sense popular. (In this case relatively popular with powerful people in foreign countries, which is a fairly common state of affairs for dictators, until they tread on someone's toes.)

That's a generalisation, but I think it's as true as most generalisations. There are some repressive regimes where it isn't true, typically colonialist regimes and puppet regimes, but, aside from that situation, the idea that in all dictatorships the vast majority are seething with a longing to overthrow their rulers is very hard to sustain. That doesn't make the regimes any less repressive for the unfortunate minority that gets pushed around or even murdered.