What is the significance of a caudillo?

Answer 1

A Caudillo is a Spanish term that describes the political and/or military leader leader of an authoritarian country. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as 'dictator' or 'strongman.' Caudillos have had a huge impact in both Spain and Latin America, examples being Juan Peron (Argentina), Fidel Castro (Cuba), and Francisco Franco (Spain).

Note that Caudillo is used to describe a charismatic populist leader, as opposed to dictators like Somoza or Allende.

Answer 2

CAUDILLOS are organized as Military-Run Governments with the leaders officially styling themselves as Presidents but retaining their military affiliation. As opposed to the leaders of Illiberal Democracies, even the Constitutions of their countries (which are useless) do not legitimate them in the way that Illiberal Democratic Dictators are legitimated on paper.

While the term is linguistically Spanish and developed from references to individuals like Peron and Franco in Spanish-speaking countries (Argentina and Spain), it has been apportioned to a lesser degree to refer to military juntas led outside of the Spanish-speaking world, especially in the Arab World.