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Becoming the Indispensable Man, 1865–1869 117 Regionalism and state-formation projects were not the only difficult issues facing Latin Americans in the nineteenth century. Additionally they had to contend with the phenomenon of caudillismo, the rule of the “indispensable leader” or military boss, who alone (at least in the leader’s mind) could rule a nation. During the years between 1865 and 1869, this chapter will argue, García Moreno emerged as a caudillo, although an unusual variant of the stereotype. Scholars have long debated the nature and origins of the caudillo. Some writers have viewed caudillismo as part of the heritage of colonial culture, which included an authoritarian tradition and a submissive lower class. Other writers focus on ambitious caudillos as tools of the wealthy, seeking control through a network of friends who became their core support. Others note that caudillos glorify local culture.1 Caudillos often were uprooted social misfits who rebelled against their parents and other authority figures, just as García Moreno allegedly distanced himself from his father.2 Most studies of caudillismo suggest that the phenomenon resulted from specific historical circumstances: the coming of independence , the slow emergence of true nation-states, and the resultant tendency towards political anarchy.3 Textbooks often refer to García Moreno as one of the most notable caudillos in all of Latin American history. Frequently compared to Juan Manuel de Rosas of Argentina, José Antonio Páez of Venezuela, and Rafael Carrera of Guatemala, García Moreno shared with them an aversion to the failed liberal dreams of the postindependence era.4 Yet García Moreno differs from the other three in important ways. Each of them belonged to the earlier age of caudillos and depended on the allegiance of a local region, or patria chica, as a home base. Rosas and Páez owned huge ranches where they could obtain rank-and-file soldiers and sustenance. Carrera came from Becoming the Indispensable Man, 1865–1869 Chapter Five 118 gabriel garcía moreno and conservative state formation a region in the interior of Guatemala heavily populated with indigenous people like himself who devotedly served him. All three enjoyed access to land, resources, and jobs, which they could distribute to loyal followers. García Moreno never owned an estate, however. He had to rely on the goodwill of elites from the north-central sierra and a lesser number of loyalists in the south and on the coast as his network of followers. In part he served as the “necessary gendarme” who protected the socioeconomic order his friends dominated. Caudillos also displayed personalismo (charisma ), usually because as heroic military figures, they were able to raise armies and lead them to victory. Although García Moreno was not a warrior , his speeches and deeds moved people. The reliance of caudillos upon personal traits, however, came at a long-term cost to the formation of state institutions and their legitimacy.5 García Moreno more properly fits into the second generation of caudillos , the oligarchic leaders who dominated much of Latin America’s history between 1850 and 1930. Although he would never have adopted the positivist philosophy underlying many of these regimes (mostly because positivism tended to be anti-Catholic), García Moreno endorsed the hegemonic notion of progress. He attributed much of his nation’s lack of development to the instability that had characterized politics until 1861 and continued to disrupt his first administration. Proponents of progress embraced principles of liberal economic development, as did García Moreno, but he uniquely melded these ideas into a conservative state-formation project.6 Caudillos also fractured institutions when they attempted to extend their terms of office (continuismo) beyond the years constitutionally permitted , as almost all of them did. To avoid the appearance of acting illegally , many caudillos refused the sash of office until their followers begged them to make the “sacrifice” and become president, which is of course what they wanted all along. García Moreno followed this pattern—never turning down a chance to serve nor resigning an office, despite his threats to do so. The Constitution of 1861 posed a major roadblock to his remaining in power in 1865, however. Therefore he turned to the solution adopted by many other Spanish American leaders: the selection of a puppet, Jerónimo Carrión. Sometimes, however, puppets cast off their creator’s strings (as Pinocchio rejected Geppetto’s) and strike out on their own. Such was...

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