I found Alison Spedding’s article “The Cultural Life of Coca” incredibly interesting. I didn’t realise that there was a cultural significance behind growing coca, I thought it was only a way to earn money. I found the symbolism behind the coca plant so beautiful and meaningful. It started to feel more personal to me sinceContinue reading “Week 5: Drugs”
Video by Jasmine, Sami, and Sarita
This weeks reading regarding the slaughterhouse was quite hard to read. Echeverría depiction of the scene, was very graphic and…
The reading this week painted the picture of Latin America being left in complete disarray following the departure of the Spanish. The resultant “power vacuum” was filled by the controversial Caudillos and the region was heavily divided between the new Latin America and the old. It is still unclear to me whether the Caudillos did more harm than good. Although they did provide a structure when there was none and did truly work in the best interests of their followers the Caudillos were also quick to turn to violence and only provided the “appearance of functioning states”. This is evident in the case of Peru and Bolivia when they were defeated by the poorer Chile. However, although it is easy to condemn the Caudillos as incompetent and unsuccessful if they had not stepped up into such a position of leadership anarchy could have ensued throughout the region with graver consequences.
What I found particularly interesting was the difficulties in ruling a region with such diverse geography. With such huge territories it was impossible to impose a centralised control over entire areas and so reading about the autonomy with which indigenous communities were able to live their lives gave a different perspective to that of the indigenous people who were viewed as less than in areas with a strong colonial presence. After reading this I was left with a desire to know how much of Latin America was truly under Spanish control? Were there any real attempts to expand control to more rural areas or were the Spanish content with their authority only truly upheld in urban areas and was the King and the Spanish back home aware of the limits of Spanish control in the colonies?
In Esteban Echevería’s The Slaughterhouse, the picture of a divided and corrupt Latin America is painted. The colonial institution of the Church is depicted as untrustworthy and exploitative serving only the Federalists and the elites and the portrayal of the Federalists is much the same. The gory description of the slaughter and the disorder of society depicted in the book represent the chaos of independent Latin America in the eyes of Echevería and his open support for a different regime to rule the region. Although this is a subjective and artistic representation of Latin America post colonisation I do believe it offers an insight into how one group viewed dictatorship and caudillismo.
Discussion questions
Do you think the Caudillos did more harm than good?
Were you surprised reading about the autonomous indigenous communities in colonial Latin America?
The reading this week painted the picture of Latin America being left in complete disarray following the departure of the Spanish. The resultant “power vacuum” was filled by the controversial Caudillos and the region was heavily divided between the new Latin America and the old. It is still unclear to me whether the Caudillos did more harm than good. Although they did provide a structure when there was none and did truly work in the best interests of their followers the Caudillos were also quick to turn to violence and only provided the “appearance of functioning states”. This is evident in the case of Peru and Bolivia when they were defeated by the poorer Chile. However, although it is easy to condemn the Caudillos as incompetent and unsuccessful if they had not stepped up into such a position of leadership anarchy could have ensued throughout the region with graver consequences.
What I found particularly interesting was the difficulties in ruling a region with such diverse geography. With such huge territories it was impossible to impose a centralised control over entire areas and so reading about the autonomy with which indigenous communities were able to live their lives gave a different perspective to that of the indigenous people who were viewed as less than in areas with a strong colonial presence. After reading this I was left with a desire to know how much of Latin America was truly under Spanish control? Were there any real attempts to expand control to more rural areas or were the Spanish content with their authority only truly upheld in urban areas and was the King and the Spanish back home aware of the limits of Spanish control in the colonies?
In Esteban Echevería’s The Slaughterhouse, the picture of a divided and corrupt Latin America is painted. The colonial institution of the Church is depicted as untrustworthy and exploitative serving only the Federalists and the elites and the portrayal of the Federalists is much the same. The gory description of the slaughter and the disorder of society depicted in the book represent the chaos of independent Latin America in the eyes of Echevería and his open support for a different regime to rule the region. Although this is a subjective and artistic representation of Latin America post colonisation I do believe it offers an insight into how one group viewed dictatorship and caudillismo.
Discussion questions
Do you think the Caudillos did more harm than good?
Were you surprised reading about the autonomous indigenous communities in colonial Latin America?
This week I felt like we truly saw the aftermath of the Spanish leaving Latin America. I do not mean this is a negative or positive way but rather in an attempt to understand perhaps why Latin America fell to so much war, violence and strife. After the independence from Spain Latin America had aContinue reading “Week 5: Caudillos Versus the Nation State”
Esteban Echeverría, El Matadero, is a piece of conflicting persuasion. Though the way of Caudillos was not in any way…
For this week’s blogpost, I’m going to write based on the questions posed in the lecture. These were the three questions: Why was post-independence Latin America such fertile ground for caudillos? Why were caudillos especially popular among the poor and powerless? Does even Echeverría show them some grudging respect? At this point in the 19thContinue reading “Week 5: Caudillos vs the Nation State”
After watching the lecture and reading “Caudillos Versus the Nation State”, I could see some of the appeal behind a caudillismo system. The Caudillos could appeal to the marginalized, as it is claimed that Guatemalan caudillo Rafael Carrera did when he restrained the state and vouched for the peasant’s rural autonomy. With the power vacuum […]
For this week’s blog post I want to focus on “The Slaughterhouse” by Esteban Echeverría. The very first thing I noticed about this short piece is how graphic it is, especially when it comes to the scenes of violence and sexual abuse. Echeverria states at the end of the piece that the story is meant […]
