The Creation and Control of a Caudillo

Abstract

A P FIFTY YEARs of rather blase tolerance from United States society, Latin American specialists in every realm of endeavor are being called upon to answer complex questions about their area of interest. As a result a great deal of material has been amassed to provide some guide-lines to answering these problems. Probably the plea which appears most frequently is one for understanding between two cultures with very different systems of values, governments, and peoples. This plea has produced a marked emphasis on the differences of the two cultures and a phenomenon that many scholars feel is unique to Latin America. One of these features that has received some seholarly attention is the phenomenon of caudillismo. The term caudillo means simply military leader. It has assumed a rather derogatory meaning chiefly through association of the term with such individuals as Francia, Rosas, Villa, G'6mez, Franco, and more recently, Fidel Castro. As a result of such association, studies of the caudillo as a type tend to dismiss him as an autocratic expression of some flaw in the Latin American character, and to classify caudillos as among the unfortunate features of Latin society. One of the earliest caudillos was Martin Giiemes. He was active in the war for independence in Argentina and ruled the northwestern province of Salta from 1815 to 1821. During his tenure in office the province repulsed several Spanish attempts at penetration. As a result of his seemingly arbitrary actions, the terms caudillo, despot, and tyrant are frequently used in historical treatments of his career. Martin Guiemes was born in Salta in 1785. His father was the royal treasurer of the province, and his mother was a member of the prominent Goyechea family in neighboring Jujuy. He was one of nine children, and the subsequent marriages of his brothers and sisters were to aid him in his career. His father died in 1807, and his mother