In my past studies I always found the caudillos a very interesting Latin American cultural phenomenon. In previous readings it says the origin of a caudillo state was not the civil war stricken environment that was so common in Latin America after Independence from Spanish rule, but rather it was the cultural idea of machismo. The machismo man was a man whose characteristics were extremely closely aligned with the ideal characteristics of a caudillo. They featured an extremely powerful man who was charismatic and portrayed a superiority over other men.  However to say that caudillos were caused by machismo alone is outlandish. It appears that the rise of the caudillo was more a mix of these two things; a cultural identity as well as the circumstances that lead to the regional need for a strong leader who will protect the people.

Its also easy to look at the caudillo as an enemy of the people, especially coming from a democratic country like America. They forced people to agree with what they said, if they didn’t comply to the ideas of the caudillo their lives were at stake. There are instances of caudillos tying those who were not loyal to his reign to posts along the side of the roads and leaving them to die there as a threat to others whose loyalties might lie elsewhere. However the reason the caudillo is so popular and how it rose to power in Latin America was because it was the protector of the people in a small region. The people in the region believed that if they were left to a central autonomous government that because of this they would lose their land and their rights. The caudillo acted as a guardian in a community against external threats. One of the most prominent caudillos was Juan Manuel de Rosas from Argentina. While he was of wealthy background he spoke to the people as if he were one of them, and made them feel included and protected. However unlike most caudillos he didn’t simply try to just maintain social order within his own region, he also created a coalition, while be it a loose one, of caudillos that allowed him to create a more centralized government in Buenos Aires, all the while allowing the caudillos to rule their own regions. The government was never as strong as the liberals wanted it to be but it allowed for peace to exist. It also laid the groundwork for a more centralized government in the future.
The caudillo played an important role in the development of Latin America and the effects of this type of government can be seen even today in their rulers.