Caudillos Research Articles

Etnocentrismo, racismo y miedo: los indígenas y los incultos en Martí

In the following article I return to the idea of ethnicity and liberalism in Latin America during the last part of the 19th century. I also discuss Marti�s view of the Indians after 1885, when his chronicles were fueled by the rhetoric of pro-indigenous groups such as the Friends of Indians Association. I propose to look at other ways in which Marti�s ethnocentric view of culture and race intertwined with his agenda of �defending� the Indians, especially in his essay �Nuestra America.� For that purpose I retrace some of my previous arguments and discuss other essays that have recently elaborated on Marti�s �other side�, the one that imposes on the Indians his own liberal agenda, and the vision of modernity that the elites were constructing in Latin America at the end of 19th century. In my previous articles I discussed Marti�s chronicles on the Guatemalan, Mexican and American Indians and here I will focus on the similarities between the positivists in Mexico and Marti�s emphasis on �scientific politics� as well as his fear that those that were at the lowest level of society could one day revolt against the republic and destroy the justice �accumulated in books.� For books symbolized for Marti the �lettered elite�, those that had power and exercised it to their own advantage. He talked about this fear in Mexico, and in his most famous essay he returned to it again with a somewhat different perspective, but still with the conviction that within a democracy everything could be solved and a revolt from the �unlettered� masses was not justified. I argue that even if �Nuestra America� meant a more positive view of the �Indian problem�, Marti still considers the Indians, the �gauchos� and the rest of the �incultos� as a threat. They were the natural ally of the �caudillos� that ruled for so long Latin America, charismatic caudillos such as Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Orden, progreso y centralismo, Chihuahua (México) bajo el mandato porfiriano (1876-1910)

Through the analysis of the official correspondence between Porfirio Diaz and several authorities from Chihuahua (Mexico), this article discusses the relationship between the federal government and this Northern state during the last decades of the 19th century. In order to accomplish this objective, three case studies have been reviewed: the regional elections in 1887, 1892 and 1903. In the last one, Luis Terrazas, a well-known local caudillo, returned to the governmental office after several years of apparent political reclusion. The disagreements that toke place in each one of these referendums reveal how the local politicians dealt with the central administration and under which conditions. The main thesis of this article stresses that the meddling of the federal government in Chihuahua did not necessarily disrupt the Terrazas family businesses and interests in the state. Finally, Chihuahua offers a unique opportunity to discuss the so called centralism of the Diaz administration in Mexico. Key words: Mexico, Chihuahua, centralism, “porfiriato”.

Tornel and Santa Anna: the writer and the caudillo, Mexico, 1795-1853

Tornel and Santa Anna: the writer and the caudillo, Mexico, 1795-1853

Heroes on Horseback: A Life and Times of the Last Gaucho Caudillos

Heroes on Horseback: A Life and Times of the Last Gaucho Caudillos

Caudillism and Militarism in Venezuela, 1810–1910

Caudillism and Militarism in Venezuela, 1810–1910