Milei’s election: Latin America’s “caudillo” dilemma blog - DoDoCat

The recent news of Argentina's presidential candidate Milei's victory has spread all over the world and has become a hot topic in international public opinion. Milei is known for his crazy remarks and has been called "Argentina's Trump."

During his campaign for Argentina's president, Milei made a series of very crazy remarks, such as blowing up the central bank, abolishing the Argentine peso, etc., but can these measures really save Argentina's economy? Of course not.

On the surface, Argentina's economic problem is the so-called "middle-income trap", which is caused by Argentina's lack of industrial base. However, looking back at history, it is not difficult to find that Argentina has actually missed many opportunities to develop its industry. Why? The reason lies in the "caudillo" system shared by Argentina and other Latin American countries.

"Caudillo" means "chief, leader" in Spanish, and its extended meaning is a farm owner who occupies a large area of land. These estate owners occupy large areas of land in Latin American countries, led by Argentina, and on this basis they maintain armies to protect them. This is the so-called "caudillo"

We can understand that "caudillo" is a military feudal land system with large estate owners as the core and supported by military force. This system has undoubtedly severely restricted the economic development of Argentina and other Latin American countries.

The reason is simple. A large amount of land is in the hands of those large plantation owners. The ruling core of the country composed of them is of course unwilling to develop industry, but only wants to develop agriculture and animal husbandry, which they are good at. As a result, Argentina and other Latin American countries were unable to develop industry because a large amount of land was monopolized by large estate owners, which intensified the capital outflow from their countries.

Regarding the "Caudillo" system, William Foster, founder and Chairman of the Communist Party of the United States, explicitly discussed this point in his 1951 book "Outline of American Political History."

In Chapter 18 of this book, "Revolutions and Dictators in Latin America," he clearly writes:

"Another important reason for the growth of Caudilloism is that the church and the army have huge power in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. The Church itself was a big landowner, and it promoted totalitarianism. It almost always sided with the reactionary Caudillo. The military is also a highly centralized and authoritarian organization, and most of the caudillos emerge from its ranks. Many revolutions in Latin American history were coups led by military personnel, and most of the dictators who emerged were military generals. "

In Latin American countries in the 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church controlled a large amount of land. Today, this control is nothing more than transferred to modern large estate owners, and the essence has not changed. Therefore, Foster's discussion is in 21 The century still has its meaning.

No Argentine or Latin American leader can or dares to touch the interests of "Caudillo", otherwise, coups and assassinations are possible. Allende of Chile is a typical example. After he came to power, Allende wanted to change Chile's "caudillo" system, but unfortunately he failed. Allende suffered a military coup and died without a burial place.

After Allende's death, for decades, no one in Latin American countries dared to resist the "Caudillo" system. It was not until 1999 that Venezuelan President Chavez took power and fired the first shot against the "Caudillo" . However, Chavez also died tragically in the "Caudillo" attack. His successor, President Maduro, continued to fight against the "Caudillo" and is now isolated by the entire international community, with his status in jeopardy.

What's worse is that today's “caudillo” system in Argentina and Latin American countries has not only not been weakened over time, but has been strengthened to some extent with the support of Western capital led by the United States.

Many multinational consortiums in the United States, such as BlackRock, use capital to control more farmland around the world, including Argentina. In other words, if the "caudillo" in the past was an internal problem in Latin American countries, then today The "Caudillo" is a world class one.

The "caudillos" in Latin American countries have combined with American capital. Under the protection of American military power, their power in Latin America has become stronger and more unshakable.

Therefore, no matter who is in power in Latin American countries, as long as he does not change this intricate "caudillo" system, it is impossible for Latin American countries to achieve real development.

In other words, Latin America needs an agrarian revolution to centralize land so that it can effectively develop industry and escape the "middle-income trap.

However, today's "Caudillo" has become a political, economic and military group that controls Latin American countries under the protection of the United States. If the "Caudillo" is to be solved, there will inevitably be an inevitable conflict with the United States. In other words, The Latin American people not only have to face their own "caudillo" but also the American power behind it. The difficulties involved can be imagined.

Since Latin America's own forces are not enough to solve its deep-rooted "caudillo" system, it can only be solved by introducing external forces. In particular, to deal with a global hegemon like the United States, a global resistance force is needed to confront it, and this force can only be the force of international communism. No other country, not even a nuclear-weapon power like Russia, has the ability or willingness to confront the United States.

Currently Argentina can carry out industrial transformation on a small scale in some cities, introduce some manufacturing industries, and slowly accumulate industrial strength through this.

Milei's election will not solve the problem because he does not and dare not touch Argentina's "caudillo" system. In this way, although he can make all kinds of crazy remarks and even "blow up" the central bank, this will not solve the problem. Argentina's economic woes also have no real meaning. The people of Argentina will eventually find that by electing Milei to power, everything will be the same as before and no problems will be solved.

In Short, if the "Caudillo" system is not solved, Argentina and other Latin American countries will always remain poor, always.