The illiterate, idiots and alcoholics. The worst tyrants of Latin America

The President of Mexico gave the United States over half a state. The president of Guatemala did not learn to read or write until the end of his life. The President of Paraguay led to a war that killed over 60% of the country's population. Welcome to Latin America - the land of otherwise competent leaders

Mexico gained independence on August 24, 1821. The Mexicans had momentum from the start, adopting the empire as a form of government. The young state was very restless. The political system was quickly changed to a republican one, and then our hero, Antonio López de Santa Anna, entered the scene. He became president in 1833 thanks to his merits in the war with the Spaniards. Three years later the first problems started.

Disasters begin

US settlers were pouring into Texas. Their culture, language and religion differed from Mexicans. They quickly lost their liking in an unstable state. In 1836, Texas declared independence. The Mexican Army, led by Santa Anna, set about putting down the revolt. In the beginning, she captured Fort Alamo, as reported by half of American films. However, in the Battle of San Jacinto the Mexicans suffered a spectacular defeat, and the president himself was taken prisoner .

Antonio López de Santa Anna surrenders to the Americans after the Battle of San Jacinto (William Huddle's painting, public house).

The reason was terrible leadership. Santa Anna chose a place between the forest and marshes for the camp, which made the defense difficult. Almost all Mexicans died or were captured. The casualties of the Texans were only 30-40 killed and wounded. While in prison, the president signed the recognition of the independence of Texas, which was incorporated into the US in 1845.

How not to learn from mistakes

End of political career? And where there! It is true that Santa Anna was removed from power for a few years, but in 1839 he again took over the government in Mexico . Relations with the US were very tense at the time. The United States made claims against the territories of California and New Mexico. It is not hard to guess that the Mexicans were not willing to give up such a piece of land.

The Yankees decided to use force, and in May 1846, US troops crossed the border. Of course, Santa Anna was in charge of the defense, but he hadn't learned much since the end of the previous war. The Americans quickly occupied the disputed territories. The Mexicans, however, did not want to make peace, so a decision was made to occupy their capital.

On September 14, 1847, US troops captured Mexico City, defeating an army of defenders on the way. The president fled to Jamaica. As a result of the war and the "excellent" command of Santa Anna Mexico lost nearly half of its territory . Today it includes the states of New Mexico, California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah and partly Wyoming.

The titles lost by Mexico to the United States during the reign of Santa Anna (in white) (image:public domain).

Mexicans did not learn from mistakes. Santa Anna took power once again in 1853. This was by far the most successful of his presidencies. He has not lost any war, he has not lost territory. He ruled for two years, and lost power as a result of a coup. He did not return from exile until 1874 and died two years later.

No education required

When Santa Anna in Mexico happily handed over the country to the Americans, Rafael Carrera took power in Guatemala (Mexico's southern neighbor). A pig trader by profession, illiterate by education, alcoholic by passion .

President Rafael Carrera y Turcios (portrait by unknown author, public domain).

He started his career during the cholera epidemic. At that time, he was the head of one of the divisions of gravediggers burying the victims. In the forests of Guatemala, rural priests spread word that plague was the punishment for sins and officials were poisoning the water.

Not surprisingly, the slogans of fighting the government gained a lot of support. The situation was taken advantage of by Carrera, who gathered the disgruntled peasants under his orders and set off for the capital. In 1840 he managed to get it. He ruled with breaks until his death in 1865.

One of the greatest achievements of the new president was giving away 1/5 of the country to Great Britain - Belize is located in this area today. In return, the British were to build a road connecting the Atlantic coast with the city of Guatemala. They did not build. In addition, Carrera's merits include the liquidation of state education and giving the Church the best lands in the country.

Guatemala City Market during the reign of Rafael Carrera (photo:Miguel Alfredo Álvarez Arévalo, public domain).

Foreign specialist

The next dictator we'll talk about will be William Walker. He was in power for only a year, and his place of reign was Nicaragua, a country located on the isthmus connecting North America and South America. Our hero was a brawler from the United States. He tried, among others to join the California Peninsula and the Mexican state of Sonora to the US. No luck.

After returning to his homeland, he was put on trial , however, the jury acquitted him. The entire escapade gained him popularity. Luck smiled on him in 1855. The liberal faction in Nicaragua wanted to seize power from the hands of the conservatives. In turn, Magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt wanted to gain control of the profitable transport of goods across the isthmus (the Panama Canal did not exist at that time). Our hero was the perfect candidate for these tasks.

William Walker collected 60 thugs and set off for Nicaragua. After landing, he increased his forces by 270 more volunteers. The army of Nicaragua was so weak that in October 1855 it took the capital city of Granada.

Initially, Walker ruled through his puppet, Patricio Rivas. Nicaragua's neighbors saw the domination of the Americans in the region as a threat. In March 1856, they declared war on her. Patricio Rivas fled and Walker took power.

He started with "impressive" reforms:introduced English as the official language, restored slavery, confiscated land from his opponents . He hoped for support from the US government, but miscalculated. His army was decimated by cholera and more battles being lost. Eventually he was forced to flee, but before that he had already given the order to burn Grenada.

Nicaragua in the time of William Walker (fig. Public domain).

Upon his return to the US, was greeted like a hero . In 1860 he tried to return to Central America. After landing, he was captured by the British and handed over to the Honduran authorities, who decided to execute him.

Ignorance of geography is harmful

A little later, in 1862, Francisco Solano López took power in Paraguay. The previous president was Carlos Antonio López. The similarity of surnames is, of course, not accidental. The new president had great ambitions. Most of all, he wanted his country to gain access to the strategically important mouth of the Parana and Uruguay rivers called La Plata. The intervention of Brazil in Uruguay in 1865 became the pretext for the war. Brazil supported the rebels, and Paraguay the government side.

The rebels also had the support of Argentina. López requested permission to march through its territory to aid the Uruguayan government. When he was refused permission, he attacked the Argentines. Thus tiny Paraguay was at war with both Brazil and Argentina and soon rebel-infested Uruguay.

La Plata as seen from the International Space Station (Photo:Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, public domain).

At first it was going well, as Paraguay had the largest army on the continent . However, this situation could not last forever. The Allies slowly occupied more and more territories. In 1870 they finally caught up with Francisco Solano López. While dying, he reportedly exclaimed:"I am dying with my homeland." And there was a lot of truth to that.

The war ended in the ruin of the country, the death of over 60% of the population and many years of occupation. The majority of the victims were men, so by some estimates there were four Paraguayans per Paraguayan at the time. Of course, the lack of manpower caused hunger, and this in turn caused epidemics. Until the end of the 19th century, Paraguay remained a poor and backward state.

Cruel voodoo follower

Let's move to a little closer to our times. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc. He ruled in Haiti from 1957–1971. Interestingly, was elected in a democratic election which he honestly won . But that's where democracy is over.

Paraguayan soldiers. As you can see, they did not serve in the army of a wealthy country (Fig. Public domain).

Papa Doc did not trust the army, so he created a militia called Tonton Macoute. The name comes from the Haitian language and means a monster that is used to scare children. The formation dealt with eliminating the political opponents of the dictator. Her repertoire included stoning, burning alive and hanging in public . Admittedly, Papa Doc had a momentum in the use of terror. His regime's death toll is estimated at over 40,000.

Of course, there were attempts to overthrow the dictatorship. One of them was taken by 13 Haitians in August 1964. Of course, they were defeated, and the revenge was terrible. Some of the rebels came from the town of Jérémie. On Papa Doc's orders, the families of the conspirators were murdered. Two-year-old children and eighty-year-old elderly were killed. It started with the little ones so that parents would have to watch their offspring die.

The article was based, inter alia, on on Clifford Staten's book The History of Nicaragua, Greenwood Press 2010).

Duvalier also used more subtle methods to stay in power. A large proportion of Haitians are voodoo. Papa Doc tried to look and act like Baron Samedi - a deity associated with magic and the underworld.

Papa Doc died in 1971. His son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as Baby Doc, took power. Such long rule and successful succession, however, does not mean that Papa Doc was a good leader. On the contrary, in his day corruption flourished, state funds were stolen en masse, and thousands of people left the country. The dictator could, however, count on the support of the USA because of its ostentatious anti-communism.

***

These are just a few examples of Latin America's embarrassingly inept and cruel dictators. Of course, there would be some really good leaders, but it would be a vast minority. It is worth considering when criticizing democracy.