The logo for Lesson 11 is a caudillo


The end result was a long struggle between these two camps, which had local variants in each nation. The energies that could have gone into building the new nations were wasted in political bickering, and all too often the reins of power were held by caudillos. These tended to ally themselves with the landowning elite and with the Church, and thus were drawn into the conservative camp. The alliance of military, landowner and priest was a powerful one that was to dominate Latin American politics for many years, and in some cases continues into our own times.