This week’s reading reminded me a lot about Colombian history. Caudillos were so important, that even nowadays, big parts of Bogota are named after them.  These political leaders were present where the people was not able to turn to the government or elite institutions, certainly, they were a very important feature of the colonial life. Politics influence every aspect of society; education, economy, and even religion, the caudillos played an important part of colonial life, and it definitely influenced the rural areas.

I agree with the readings when it says that it is difficult to talk about caudillos without talking about violence, territorial losses, and even economic difficulties. Caudillos are certainly one of the root causes of Latin America modern challenges. When I think about how long it took for Colombia to come up with an agreement to end up the civil war caused by the division between two political parties, liberals, and conservators, which were sort of founded by the division the caudillos had with the Urban Elites. This was the start of a sequence of events that led Colombia to struggle with insurgent groups like Las FARC, violence, and even more division. This is not only the case of Colombia.  Apart from this, I will dare to say that I like the idea of having a strong leader for a small portion of rural land. Sometimes, big central governments neglect the rural provinces, and they don’t have any way to make their needs present.

It seems to me that liberalism in Latin America was really idealistic and frustrated by a constant flaw in the political system. Maybe we are never going to be able to achieve it, but I also think it is worth trying and believing in what it proposes. I would really like to know more about the situation in Central America and Mexico,