The history of Latin America in the 20th century is replete with examples of dictators ruling their countries like their own private fiefdoms. In one example from about 1988 to 1989, General Manuel Antonio Noriega ruled Panama in just such a manner, taking cues from Niccolo Machiavelliâ??s The Prince as if this book was his own instruction manual.
Noriega seized power from the political leadership of the country and ruled in his own interest. He was deeply implicated in the murder of a political rival, Dr. Hugo Spadafora, he ruled the drug trafficking trade, abused rival presidential candidates, and detained and grossly maltreated one group of officers involved in an attempted coup before executing other coup-plotters later. In total, he followed the princely dictum that being feared is better than being hated. However, his downfall came when he rhetorically challenged a foreign power, the United States, and his sympathizers took his hyperbole to heart. Essentially, Noriega followed Machiavelli's playbook well and doing so enabled him to rule for a few years, until another power dethroned him.
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