History has not been kind to many countries in the Latin American region. Since the early 14th and 15th centuries which saw the conquest of the Latin American region by Iberian monarchs, the region has witnessed instability, violence and a penchant for allowing dictatorial regimes to flourish. Most of the Latin American republics were formed in the 19th century and were a direct consequence of the lack of people’s confidence, in civilian rule and democracy. This failure of many civilian governments was a result of wide spread dissatisfaction among the people because of high poverty and corruption. It is important to note that historically most of the Latin American countries had an influx of slaves in the 14th century and earlier, many of them worked in blue collar jobs and farming labor. Many of the ruling elite, in those countries, looked upon themselves as saviors and took on the mantle of power. Many were military chiefs who indulged in coups and usurped power. However, the styles of governance varied, across the countries. Although some dictators were known to be brutal and ruled with an iron hand, some preferred more humane but strong approaches. One case in point is, Fidel Castro of Cuba. Due to his revolutionary ideas and overthrow of a corrupt regime, he became one of the respected dictators in his country (Kornblith, 2015). Latin American regimes are a mix of conservative oligarchy and military dictatorships. The overthrowing of monarchs did not result in stability or democracy. The elitist forces who had economic power wanted political power too. The illiterate masses were not given many rights and sometimes even citizenship was denied. Most of the infrastructure was destroyed during the wars and some of the poor did not earn wages, they were surviving on cultivating small parts of land (Lewis, 2006, 15).
This paper looks at a few examples of some of the most dictatorial regimes in Latin America, to understand the origins and their actions.
Nicaragua. Anastasio Somoza Garcia was born in 1896 and took over Nicaragua, as a dictator from 1936 to 1956. He was a brutal ruler and was known to crack down heavily on any opposition. Though he did not support democracy, he did not support communism either. This was one regime which was supported by America. Somoza went to Philadelphia to study business, where he met his future wife, Salvadora Sacasa. America played a role in Nicaraguan politics, since the early 20th century. In 1912, the United States, sent marines to Nicaragua to support the conservative regime. Once the Americans left in 1925, General Sandino staged a revolution against the government till 1933. In the meantime, Somoza got involved in politics, thanks to his wife’s uncle Juan Sacasa who later became President in 1933. Somoza, was nominated as the head the National Guard. Sandino was opposed to the presence of American marines and Somoza perceived Sandino as a major threat. Sandino was captured and executed in 1934. During the years of depression, President Sacasa’s rule was weakened and Somoza took the advantage and seized power and became President in 1937. Soon enough, he started cubing press freedom and opposition. He started giving all the powerful seats in government to his friends and relatives. He displayed his unlimited greed, by buying airlines, shipping companies and other business. He controlled the railway system and moved his own goods, without paying a fee. His sons continued the same way and his regime is known to have kept Nicaragua poor and weak over the years. He was assassinated in 1956 by a young poet. Today, Nicaragua, is ruled by President Daniel Ortega, who won the general elections in 2007 (Minster, 2014).
Chile. Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. He was born on November 1915 in Valparaiso, Chile. He joined the military and became a Sub-Lieutenant. He was promoted quickly in the military ranks and the turning point was when he met Senator Salvador Allende in 1948. Allende was elected President in 1970 and he promoted Pinochet again. During the next three years, Pinochet helped formulate economic policy and assumed importance in the government and was promoted to the post of Commander-in-Chief in 1973. Allende’s trust in Pinochet of course, backfired badly. Within 20 days of being promoted, Pinochet staged a military takeover of Chile. President Allende was killed in the takeover of the palace. Pinochet soon, assumed full power by taking over the Navy, Army, Air Force and Police under his command. Pinochet’s economic policies were controversial and so were his military strategies. He was instrumental in the selling of state-run companies, which lowered taxes but unemployment increased. Many opponents have accused him of several murders and kidnappings but the Spanish court dismissed it. Pinochet is one of the dictators which many argue was liked and hated. He ensured that Chile did not bow down to communism and was a patriot. Others think he was a brutal tyrant and was responsible for thousands of killings. Chile has seen six free and fair elections since Pinochet and is currently a presidential constitutional republic headed by President Michelle Bachelet (Minster, 2014).
Cuba. Fidel Castro was born in 1926 is one of the dictators who embraced communism. His parents were from meager backgrounds and he studied law at the University of Havana. He stood for elections after in 1952, but the elections were never held since Cuba was taken over by Fulgencio Batista. From 1953 onwards, Castro became a revolutionary and with the help of new recruits and ‘Che’ Guevara, he took over power from Batista in January 1959. Castro began taking over all U.S. companies and the United States reacted by cutting off trade and diplomatic relations. In 1961, he declared support to communism and became a staunch ally of the Soviet Union. He also allowed the Soviets to deploy nuclear missiles on Cuban soil, leading to the missile crisis. His socialist policies were responsible for economic problems, which forced many Cubans to move to America. Relations with America have now improved (History.com, 2009).
References
History.com Staff., 2009. Fidel Castro. History.com, Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fidel-castro
Kornblith M., 2015. Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America. Americas Quarterly, Retrieved from: http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/democracies-and-dictatorships-latin-america
Lewis P., 2006, 15. Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America: Dictators, Despots, and Tyrants.
Rowman and Littlefield, Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.in/books?id=LAvw-
YXm4TsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Minster C., 2014. Latin American Dictators. About.com, Retrieved from:
http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/presidentsanddictators/tp/10dictatorslist.htm
