The best known in recent years is Argentina's Perón, who with the support of his wife Eva carries personalismo to exceptional lengths.

The 19th and early 20th centuries produce numerous examples of the caudíllo in Latin America. But as president of the liberated republics, while shunning any trappings of monarchy, he is not at all averse to assuming the useful powers of a dictator. In opposition to Spanish oppression his autocratic tendencies seem all on the side of virtue. Simón Bolívar, the hero of Latin American independence, is a prototype of the caudíllo. They are caudíllos, and the very specific loyalty which they inspire in their followers is the cult of personalismo. Strong men of this kind, frequently emerging from the army, are such a characteristic part of the region's political life that Latin America has its own word for them. The result is a pattern of prevailing political chaos in which the ambitions of ruthless leaders can be seen sometimes as the cause of the problem and sometimes as a temporary solution.

But centuries of authoritarian rule by Spain have not prepared these oligarchs to transfer power among themselves peacefully (as happens through the centuries, for example, in oligarchic Venice).

Small privileged groups of Europeans and mestizos, supported by the forced labour of illiterate peasants, incline naturally to oligarchy as a political system. Subsequent events suggest that Spain has left her colonies ill-equipped for self-rule. From the 1830s each new Latin American republic goes its own way, though often distracted by border conflicts with neighbours.

20th century america