The Figure of

the Dictator in

Latin American

Literature

By: Emily Henke and Sarit Gluz

Characteristics of the Latin American Dictator

• Men with military experience• Rise to power through coup d’etats• Long periods of power• Violence key in the retention of power and

authority over public• Controls the rights of the population• Controls government branches (judicial,

congress)• Government controlled press• Controls trade and unions

Dictators in Latin America

• Juan Manuel Rosas – Argentina – 1835-1852

• Porfirio Diaz- Mexico– 1880-1911

• Rafael Leónidas Trujillo- Dominican Republic– 1930-1961

• Gustavo Pinilla- Colombia– 1953-1957

• Augusto Pinochet- Chile– 1974-1990

Juan Manuel de Rosas1835-1852

• Before Rosas, Argentina faced war and instability.

• Rosas promised stability, order and equality.

• During the Rosas regime, “ The Era of Terror”, clashes between los Federales and los Unitarios.

• Implemented repressive organizations:– La Sociedad Popular

Restaurador– La Mazorca

• Authors: Echevarria, Sarmiento

The Slaughterhouse El matadero

• Written in 1837 by Esteban Echeverría (1805-1851) of Argentina

• Published 30 years after Echeverría’s death

• A political allegory against Rosas: A young man with liberal tendencies is brutally murdered by thugs in a Buenos Aires slaughterhouse.

• Highlights conflict between Latin American liberals and conservatives.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo1930-1961

• After gaining power, Trujillo created a secret police force that tortured and murdered those opposed to his rule.

• Nicknamed “El Chivo”• Remained in power with

the help of the CIA and the backing of American senators, representatives and others who accepted bribes from the dictator.

• Authors: Vargas Llosa

The Feast of the GoatLa fiesta del chivo

• Written in 2000 by Mario Vargas Llosa (1936- ) of Peru

• Narrates the end of the Trujillo regime and the beginning of a brutal democracy in the Dominican Republic of the 1960s.

• Portrays Trujillo’s terrorization of the nation, but also depicts the conspiracy and revolution that ultimately led to his demise.

• Gives voice to Trujillo and his victims.

Gustavo Pinilla 1953-1957

• Gained power after a military coup against Laureano Gomez

• Began as a populist leader, but lost support when promises could not be kept and he was reluctant to give up power

• Forced out of office by a military junta in 1957

• Authors: Garcia Marquez

The Autumn of the Patriarch El otoño del patriarca

• Written in 1975 by Gabriel García Marquez (1927- ) of Colombia

• Garcia Marquez’s dictator is widely believed to be a composite character based on the dictators Marquez encountered in his lifetime. The composite character is principally influenced by Gustavo Pinilla of Colombia.

• Portrays a dying tyrant with the dreamlike style and symbolic descriptions classic of Garcia Marquez.

The President El señor presidente

• Written in 1946 by Miguel Angel Asturias (1899-1974) of Guatemala

• Takes place in an unnamed Latin American country usually assumed to be Guatemala

• Uses satire and surrealistic dream sequences to portray a totalitarian regime and the psychological toll it takes on a society.

• Asturias aims to “reflect the voice of the people, gathering their myths and popular beliefs and at the same time seeking to give birth to a universal consciousness of

Latin American problems.”

Augusto Pinochet1974-1990

• In a military coup, seized control of Chile from socialist president Salvador Allende

• Pinochet headed a military regime

• Tortured and murdered over 3,000 Allende supporters and forced countless others into exile

• Charges with human rights abuses

• Authors: Isabel Allende

Of Love and ShadowsDe amor y de sombra

• Written by Isabel Allende in 1987

• A love story with underlying political themes

• Surrounds the Chilean political history of dictatorship and military control.

• Concerns the political crimes committed in Chile – disappearances, torture, murder

• Alludes to the Pinochet regime– shows parallel between the fictional and real political situation

Bibliography• "Augusto Pinochet." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 8 Mar. 2007

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet>.• Chang-Rodriguez, Eugenio. Latinoamerica: Su Civilizacion Y Su

Cultura. 3rd ed. Boston: Thomson Heinle, 2000 • Garganigo, John, Rene De Costa, Ben Heller, Alessandra Luiselli,

Georgina Sabat-Rivers, and Elzbieta Sklodowska. Huellas De Las Literaturas Hispanoamericanas. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.

• Knopf. "Of Love and Shadows." Isabel Allende. 1987. 8 Mar. 2007 <http://www.isabelallende.com/love_shadows_frame.htm>

• Moses, Michael Valdez. "Big Daddy:the Dictator Novel and the Liberation of Latin America." Reason (2002). 8 Mar. 2007 <http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-89389299.html>