Dictatorship in Fact and in Fiction

Dictatorship in Fact and in Fiction focuses on independence movements led by "dictadores" in Latin America and the Caribbean. It presents theses and antitheses concerning the intellectual determinants and social conditions that give rise to and sustain what many call dictatorships. It also considers the false attribution of "dictatorship", relying sometimes on the stigma produced by the word and its cognates to refer to such figures as Jose Marti, Simon Bolivar, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Paraguayans named their "dictador," Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, "El supremo Dictador Perpetuo". Unlike his fellow "dictadores", such as Simon Bolivar, who achieved Independence by daunting deeds of physical and intellectual leadership, Francia ensured Paraguay's independence by enhancing its unity and productivity. And yet Sarmiento, despite his ethnic cleansing, is more widely admired. This example points to our moral duty to define "dictatorship" and, by extension, to the indispensability of the present volume.