Week Five: Caudillos Versus the Nation State

The reading this week painted the picture of Latin America being left in complete disarray following the departure of the Spanish. The resultant “power vacuum” was filled by the controversial Caudillos and the region was heavily divided between the new Latin America and the old. It is still unclear to me whether the Caudillos did more harm than good. Although they did provide a structure when there was none and did truly work in the best interests of their followers the Caudillos were also quick to turn to violence and only provided the “appearance of functioning states”. This is evident in the case of Peru and Bolivia when they were defeated by the poorer Chile. However, although it is easy to condemn the Caudillos as incompetent and unsuccessful if they had not stepped up into such a position of leadership anarchy could have ensued throughout the region with graver consequences.

 

What I found particularly interesting was the difficulties in ruling a region with such diverse geography. With such huge territories it was impossible to impose a centralised control over entire areas and so reading about the autonomy with which indigenous communities were able to live their lives gave a different perspective to that of the indigenous people who were viewed as less than in areas with a strong colonial presence. After reading this I was left with a desire to know how much of Latin America was truly under Spanish control? Were there any real attempts to expand control to more rural areas or were the Spanish content with their authority only truly upheld in urban areas and was the King and the Spanish back home aware of the limits of Spanish control in the colonies?

 

In Esteban Echevería’s The Slaughterhouse, the picture of a divided and corrupt Latin America is painted. The colonial institution of the Church is depicted as untrustworthy and exploitative serving only the Federalists and the elites and the portrayal of the Federalists is much the same. The gory description of the slaughter and the disorder of society depicted in the book represent the chaos of independent Latin America in the eyes of Echevería and his open support for a different regime to rule the region. Although this is a subjective and artistic representation of Latin America post colonisation I do believe it offers an insight into how one group viewed dictatorship and caudillismo.



Discussion questions


Do you think the Caudillos did more harm than good?

Were you surprised reading about the autonomous indigenous communities in colonial Latin America?

Comments

  1. EquestrianOctober 9, 2020 at 12:46 PM

    In response to your first question, I'm not sure what the Caudillos overall effect was, but I think the people did what they though was best at the time for them. They didn't have much representation and they had to come up with their own solution, hence the Caudillos. I was also surprised about learning about the independent indigenous communities. I had previously had thought that the Spanish had total control of the region, so to hear that there were these independent communities was very interesting. I also want to learn more about them and how they were able to remain independent.- madeleine k.

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