Latin American History

The caudillo regime was a popular form of leadership throughout Latin America during the 19th century, the 20th century and to some extent, even today. The rise of “caudillismo” was a product of the vacuum of power that existed after the wars of independence in Latin America. According to Wiarda, caudillo leaders share some undeniable characteristics: a military background, a personalistic and patrimonialistic style of leadership, extended holding of power and authoritarian ways of governing. Another important point is that caudillo leaders often want to maintain close relationships with the United States (Wiarda 248-249).
One of the most important modern “caudillos” of the 20th century was Trujillo, from the Dominican Republic, a marine, this paper will analyze how Trujillo’s regime portraits the notion of caudillismo and personalism. Trujillo’s leadership could be characterized as personalistic and patrimonialistic, this is illustrated in the way he treats his subordinates and by his authoritarian political character in the Dominican Republic, he is the image of the regime: “the father of the nation”. The office became Trujillo’s patrimony and he did with it as he pleased, staying in power, through puppet presidents, for over 31 years. Another facade of caudillismo illustrated in Trujillo’s leadership was the patron-client relationship; he often valued his men based on the loyalty they showed, and recompensed them accordingly, either with money or with posts in the government. The relationship between Trujillo and the United States contributes to support the caudillismo nature of Trujillo’s regime; throughout his political “career” Trujillo tried endlessly to maintain close relationships with the US, especially by eliminating any trance of communism in the island, and by portraying a “democratic” face to the world.
Personalism in Trujillo’s regime is illustrated by the parameters he used to hire his officers, basing his decisions on personal qualities rather than professional. This is exemplified by the personalities of Johnny Abbes Garcia and Henry Chirinos. Trujillo hired Abbes based on his personality, on his lack of emotions. He promoted him to head of the SIM because according to Trujillo, Abbes’ “cruelty was an advantage for someone on his position” (Llosa, 59). Another quality that led Trujillo to hire Abbes was “the subtlety and originality with which Johnny Abbes Garcia rid the regime of his enemies” (Llosa, 63); these personal qualities that Trujillo valued so much, as well as his loyalty to the bloody regime, led Abbes to stay as head of the SIM since 1958. An even more striking image of personalism is the figure of Henry Chirinos, the Constitutional Slob. Trujillo had hired Chirinos because he trusted him and he served as a constitutionalist, allowing Trujillo to mold the law as he pleased, thus “legitimatizing the needs of the regime” (Llosa, 113) Because of these attributes Chirinos had been serving the regime for over thirty years holding various positions such as: deputy, senator, Minister of Justice, member of the Constitutional Tribunal, ambassador plenipotentiary and charge d’affaires, among many others (Llosa, 113). Trujillo’s relationship with Chirinos exemplifies the personalistic idea that loyalty is preferred above all else and that friends are preferred as political and business associates (Holden, 27), as well as the political corruption in the county.
Personalism and patrimonialism were also illustrated by the influence the family of Trujillo had on the island during the regime. His brother, Petan had become the owner of the Dominican Voice (Llosa, 18). His wife was one of the most famous writers and moralists of the country, was publishing books written by Almoina. Nepotism, the idea of family continuity, was also present during the regime. Trujillo had a great desire for his family (sons, and brothers) to continue the legacy of his regime “Is there one of them capable of continuing my work?” (Llosa, 120). However, he knew that none of his family member had the conviction or the skills required to lead the country, all they wanted was money. Trujillo called himself the “Father of the Republic” and his mother “the Sublime Matriarch” (Llosa 19). This serves to contribute to the idea of patrimonialism associated with caudillismo. The regime belonged to Trujillo, who in turned distributed his patrimony according to family ties and loyalty. The idea of patrimonialism is also present in the way Trujillo managed the finances of the island, as if they were just an extension of his properties, he often benefitted from the economic growth of the country; especially during the period of modernization, when he acquired a significant amount of money. He had over 6 million dollars in an account in Switzerland (Llosa, 116). He also had control of the economic sector of the country, with the profits coming and going from his own pocket (Llosa, 115).
Another dimension of Trujillo’s regime is the notion of clientelism or patron-client relations. In these kind of relationships, “the patron (Trujillo) distribute favors to clients, who in return advance the cause of the patron” (Holden, 23). An important characteristic of clientelism is the idea of loyalty, a patron expects his clients to be loyal to him at all costs. Clientelism is exemplified in Trujillo’s regime in two perspectives: those who were loyal and those who weren’t. Trujillo tended to value loyalty in his officers (Abbes, Chirinos, for example), he expected them to always be neat and dressed in order to show respect for the regime and himself. The Collective baptisms in the Palace Chapel are also an example of clientelism, (Llosa, 125) during these baptisms he guaranteed the loyalty of the lower class of the country through compradrazco. However when the clients showed disloyalty, the results were often violent and dark. Examples are the cases of Roberto Lamada and Bayardo Ciprota (Llosa, 63) writers that displayed the illnesses of the regime, and were killed by the SIM. An even more striking case was the case of Jose Almoina who wrote “A satrapy in the Caribbean”, a book attacking Trujillo and his family (Llosa, 62). Almoina was Trujillo’s secretary and his writing caused him to feel the deadly hand of Johnny Abbes. Finally, a last case that illustrates the cost of dishonor during the regime was the case of the Mirabal sisters (Llosa, 23), in which three sisters were killed because they reveled against Trujillo. In conclusion, all of those who were disloyal to the regime ended either dead due to some mysterious “accident” or in the bellies of the sharks.
A close relationship with the United States is a pillar of great importance when it comes to caudillismo. It not only functions to validate and legitimize the regime world-wide, but it also guarantees economic stability for the country. Trujillo was handpicked by the United States to dominate the island, mainly because he was anticommunist. He was trained in the marines (Llosa, 14) and did everything to show that the Dominican Republic stood against communism.
It was the transition from authoritarian to totalitarian that led to Trujillo’s demise (Wiarda, 256) He lost the loyalty he so much desired from the members of his party, who turned against him to become the anti-trujillistas that killed him one night in May of 1961 (Llosa, 299)