2. What methods did dictators use to rise to power in Nigeria, Cambodia, and Haiti? How did they stay in power?

General Sani Abacha rose to power in Nigeria through the use of military force, overturning the country’s elections, and taking power after a period of governmental corruption and instability. Abacha maintained his rule with force backed up by militia, stealing over 3$ billion by the time he died in 1998, returning the country to civilian rule.

In Cambodia, and underground communist movement amassed power before launching an armed rebellion against Cambodia’s current government. After a civil war, the Khmer Rouge and its leader Saloth Sar, who adopted the pseudonym Pol Pot, marched into the nation’s capital, declaring their power. The Khmer Rouge maintained their power by executing intellectuals, teachers, merchants, and anyone in opposition to them. Money, private property, and religion were also abolished to form a communist agrarian society in which many more starved. This movement ended in 1998 with the death of Pol Pot.

Haiti's first dictator, François Duvalier, was able to rise to power after becoming minister of public health and being endeared by the country's people. After being elected prime minister, "Papa Doc," a name given to him by the peasant population, became a ruthless dictator. Duvalier maintained his power by suppressing the current Haitian military and forming his own parliamentary forces which terrorized the population. Before his death in 1971, Duvalier declared himself to be president for life and named his son to be his successor.