4. Manuel Noriega

A study of the methods used by Manuel Noriega to rise from poverty to become dictator of Panama for six tumultuous years in the 1980s. As Chief of Intelligence he was the most feared man in Panama. He developed connections inside and outside the country that made him rich, powerful, and a key ally of the US in the region, while also working for Fidel Castro and the Medellin drug cartel, among others.