Caudillos Versus the Nation State & “The Slaughterhouse”

This week’s reading of the Caudillos Versus the Nation State as well as “The Slaughterhouse” by Esteban Echeverría helped me to better understand why post-colonial North America is currently so drastically different than post-colonial Latin America, despite sharing a similar history. In part, the vast geography that composes Latin America makes sense of the staunch difference in indigenous relations and political unrest. Because early conquerors of Latin America recognized the indigenous peoples as having a distinct society (something that was not considered in Canada until the 1990’s), the indigenous peoples had become accustomed to being able to operate in their own communities under the protection of strong leadership from the outside. The makeshift alliances created between the conquerors and the Latin American people were key for dominating forces wishing to gain power. Between the recently landed Europeans, the elites, the mixed-race middle and lower classes, and the rural indigenous peoples, it was abundantly clear that independence meant something different for each different group in each distinct area. Some elites longed for tradition and conservatism while others embraced the new wave of liberalism and change. Since they were equally privileged groups, their success at any given time was dictated by how much support they could respectively gain.

 

“The Slaughterhouse” was written in a detached and somewhat sarcastic tone that exemplifies how genuinely disassociated people of different castes and classes were from each other. For me the details of this story depict a very unfortunate and disturbing series of events. Echeverría’s illustration portrays the actors as savage and uneducated. The way in which the individuals are able to find enemies among a group of those with whom they are relatively similar depicts the intricacy of the caste system, as well as the instability and subsequent violence that plagued their environment. The group ultimately bands together once it identifies a common enemy in the light-skinned passer-by riding English saddle. This illustrates, what Dawson suggests to be, the “great struggle that confronts Latin America, [being] the battle between civilization (read Europe) and backwardness (read dark skinned people of the countryside)”. This story indirectly explains why Latin America was so fractured in the time of caudillos who, because there was so much disagreement and chaos, could only maintain control over small spheres of influence.

2 Thoughts.

  1. Your take on The Slaughterhouse is very interesting and highlights the divisions and factions in post independence Latin America. The common unification against a common enemy (whether that enemy is justified or not) seems to me to be a very common theme throughout history. During independence the many various revolutionaries had a common enemy (in most cases) The Spanish Crown. However once the crown was driven out there was no longer a grand enemy. The big baddie so to speak was no more. This seems to have led to these same revolutionaries turning inwards against themselves. This is very clearly portrayed in The Slaughterhouse. The Federalists despise the Unitarians even though both are products of the revolution, their only difference seemingly the type of nation they desire.

  2. I agree that Latin America was fractured after independence, and I think this is both why the caudillo came to exist, and why the caudillo’s efforts often resulted in spectacular failure. Charisma and popularity were main traits of caudillos, and these were sufficient to lead a weak state during times of peace and plentiful resources. But the least push of conflict or hunger could break up the unstable power of the caudillo. In The Slaughterhouse, the caudillo was never even present. I think that suggests how the people blindly supported him. The power of the caudillo was based in what he represented, and his weakness came from the lack of any actual ability to control the people.

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