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see main page: Caudillo
Caudillo (Spanish pronunciation: [kawˈdiʎo];Portuguese: caudilho[kɐwˈðiʎu]; Old Spanish: cabdillo, from Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput "head" Caudillo means “little head” or “little chief”). The term is often associated with the military leaders that ruled countries in Latin America in the early 20th century when political conditions were unstable in the wake of long armed conflicts. In some cases, they were not elected democratically. Leaders who came to power after a country had won its independence, or after the end of a civil war, had to be charismatic because their control over their armies and the civilians depended on popular support. The caudillos brought temporary order to Latin America, but did not always exert their power non-violently. In some cases, caudillos used force to effect the changes they wanted and to ensure the obedience of their constituents.
Overview
Many of the new caudillos came from European families that lived in Latin America or Europe and did not understand the suffering that the Latin Americans had experienced. Caudillo leadership was authoritarian. Many opposed the influence of the Church; before the independence movements, the church had held power, and civilians disliked that the pope had such influenced over people with whom he never came into contact.
Venezuela
The caudillos of Venezuela experienced a sense of unity among their elite, office and traders of land. The lower classes of Venezuela have not always held the same cohesion as the elites. While there have been many different leaders of Venezuela the most prominent names that people can easily associate with Venezuela are Simón Bolívar, José Antonio Páez, and Juan Vicente Gómez. Some may even add Carlos Andrés Pérez and Hugo Chávez because they did not come into power after a long armed battle, but rather had been voted into power by the people but often-showed characteristics of a caudillo.
Simón Bolívar is important to Venezuela because he is the one who lead Venezuela to their independence. He was appointed in 1813 to commander of the Venezuelan forces. Bolívar became president of Gran Colombia in December 1819. He then involved himself in battles that he should not have and lost support from the people of Venezuela as they moved to different areas and soon pushed their struggles on those countries. Bolívar died in 1830 after many excursions where he died penniless and disillusioned after all of his ‘great’ leading.
José Antonio Páez led the separation of Gran Columbia between 1829 and 1830. He was the president from 1831-35. Páez made a good caudillo because he could fight for himself and hold his own among the people that he was representing. He could fight hand to hand, ride, swim, and live off the land just as easily as his Ilanero counterparts live. He took away the church’s tax immunity and made the state the supreme thing in the country.
Guatemala
Guatemala gained its independence from Spain in the 1820s and suffered through many different authoritarian rulers and military regimes as many of the other countries in Latin America faced.
Rafael Carrera represents the type of caudillo that was very prominent among cuadillos. He was a mestizo; he was not highly educated and seemed to be just as much one of the people as the person he fought beside in the Civil war in Central America in the 1820s. He soon adopted the conservative beliefs, as he got deeper into the mindset of a soldier. Carrera is the top example of what a caudillo is in Guatemala.
Manuel Estrada Cabrera was the dictator of Guatemala from 1898 until 1920, while he is not considered an actual caudillo it is important to note how he used his position of power to advance his country and begin to modernize. He oppressed the people of Guatemala into voting for him based on the secret police, army and his systematic oppression. Cabrera also used his power to remove virtually any competition that came into politics by imprisoning the person or murdering them. He began his career not as a politician but a lawyer and became president when José María Reina Barrios was assassinated in 1898. He ruled Guatemala in a manner to promote internal peace and marginal improvements of the economy. He tried to continue to grow the coffee industry in order to grow the economy. He is responsible for the United Fruit Company’s entrance into the Guatemalan country and building the infrastructure in 1901. Eventually there was an armed revolt in 1920 that lead to the stripping of his fortune and his time in jail began, where he ultimately died.
General Jorge Ubico became the dictator of Guatemala in 1931 and continued to rule until 1944, Ubico is also not a caudillo but also shows similar traits to a caudillo and the leading styles of a caudillo. He came into his position as president based on the support of his liberal and progressive supporters. He tried to reestablish the international credit, rebuild infrastructure and improve the health of the public. He seemed to be a man of the people when elected, but quickly put vagrancy laws in effect that forced the indigenous farmers to work specific hours on specific plantations in order to keep the workers distributed equally among the lands. Ubico also put laws such as a Probity Law that forced public officials to register their assets upon entering and leaving office. Along those lines he made sure to double his salary and pay himself for life. He virtually eliminated all political opposition until he suspended freedom of speech and press in June 1944. A movement to overthrow him quickly established and the revolt occurred the day following his repeal of freedom of speech and press. He fled to New Orleans in July of that year.
Mexico
Mexico began its revolt against Spain in 1810, gaining independence in 1821 but continued to fight a civil war among the leaders as the country divided into Federalist and Centralist factions. The Texas revolution separated a large part of Mexico leading to the Mexican–American War in 1846.
Porfirio Díaz served as the president of Mexico from 1876 until 1911. He did not find the leadership of Archduke Maximilian of Austria acceptable and lead the coup in 1867 to overthrow him. Once Díaz became the president of Mexico, he worked to modernize the country with oil production and mining. Although Díaz had overthrown Maximilian he faced the efforts of Maximilian to oppose him with a political newspaper to publish articles against Diaz. Diaz also had to face Madero who wanted to defeat him when he toured the country in hopes of winning the election against him, Díaz used his power and put Madero and many of his allies in prison because he did not want the opposition in the polls. Madero had been put in jail under the charges of incitement to riot. In February 1911 Madero thought he could oppose Díaz and which he eventually did when Díaz stepped down and signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez.