Latin America’s Struggles After Independence

Latin America went through many years of colonial rule from Spain, but around the 1800’s they began to seek their independence. The years to follow were full of rebellion and war, trying to gain their independence from colonial Spain. The “Americanos”, now believed that they were able to rule themselves, and that it was no longer necessary for Spain to keep controlling the Americas. When Latin America finally defeated Spain, new issues began to arise that were caused by many years of war, which led to chaos and a sense of imbalance in the hands of Latin America. Many of these struggles impeded Latin America’s success to rule themselves, and create their own democracy. Some of the main challenges and struggles that were most predominant in the independence of Latin America, was the economic instability caused by many years of war, the burden of colonialism from Spain, and the strong hand of the caudillos.

Many years of war made Latin America’s economy suffer, and made it almost impossible to be able to recover from their debt. A stable economy was crucial to be able to gain credibility, from other countries so that investments would continue. In Peru, for example the silver mines and machinery where destroyed beyond repair. “Horrendous economic devastation had occurred during the wars of independence. Hardest hit were…Peruvians silver mines. Their shafts flooded, there costly machinery wrecked.” 120(Chasteen ). This made Peru suffer greatly because this was one of their main trades. In Mexico, one of their largest economic struggles was the lack of transportation infrastructure, meaning that Mexico did not have railroads. Mexico also lacked navigable rivers which made it much harder to be able to...

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...c Church and its power didn’t help the liberal ideals for democracy. The caudillos, and there uncontrollable power, also made the government vulnerable, in which cases they were over thrown by caudillo leaders. If these obstacles did not exist I believe Latin America would have had a smoother ride to democracy.

In conclusion, after Latin America’s independence, they faced many challenges that would hold them back from being able to create an ideal democracy. Some of the important struggles were the poor economy in Peru and Mexico. The Catholic Church with its conservative ideals that wanted to keep its power, and Argentina and its caudillo rule of Rosas. Many of these countries faced similar issues that with time would soon be overcome.

Works Cited

Chasteen, John Charles . Born In Blood And Fire, A Concise History Of Latin America. W W Norton ,