A Comparative Analysis of Latin American Leaders: Visions and Ideals

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the visions and ideologies of prominent Latin American leaders, specifically focusing on Bolivar, Sarmiento, and Santa Anna. It examines Bolivar's aspiration for a unified and powerful Latin America, rooted in shared language, origin, and culture, which reflects his utopian ideals for a strong republic. The essay further explores Sarmiento's critique of the impact of Spanish colonization, highlighting its negative effects on contemporary generations and the societal hierarchies it created. Finally, the essay delves into Santa Anna's evolving political views and the influence of his personal life, including his liberal outlook and his impact on the future of Latin America. The analysis underscores the leaders' differing perspectives, from Bolivar's vision of a strong republic to Sarmiento's critique of colonization and Santa Anna's liberal approach.

Running Head: THE FUTURE OF LATIN AMERICA
The Future of Latin America
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author Note

1THE FUTURE OF LATIN AMERICA
The aim of the paper is to present an evaluation of the views as proposed by Bolivar
in his essay the ‘Jamaica Letter’, Sarmiento and Santa Anna in their works respectively. The
view of all these leaders was marked by their principle as well as with their liberating
mindset. However, the political views of these leaders were deeply impacted by their
personal lives largely.
The vision of Bolivar was marked by his aspiration of finding America as one of the
greatest nation, acclaimed via the virtue of the area that lies under her along with her wealth.
His aims were towards establishing a government that is perfect, which perhaps exhibit his
utopian view. His views can be extended further to realize, that his visions were towards
developing a republic nation. His ideas involved consolidating the new world into the identity
of a singular nation. The proposition was put forward on the line of the argument that such
union should be based along the line of language, origin, custom and several other factors.
In the views of Sarmiento, the colonization of South America by the Spanish
colonizers have affected the contemporary generation of the country in a negative way,
thereby pushing it back in degradation. He deeply condemned the ideals of colonization’s that
have been acquired by the colonized people after they have gained their independence. As
such, the implication of the ideals can be experienced in the scenarios where the wealth has
been acquired by the section of the population that is wealthy. Post-independence scenario
thereby experienced an increased passion of domination.
The views of Santa Anna was highly marked by his regard for his ideologies and
principles. He was referred to as the man of destiny, who almost enjoyed the position of
being an ‘uncrowned monarch’. Being a political figure of many parts, his political views
kept on changing to a greater extend. As such, his political career is marked by continuous
changes in his political outlook. His personal lives are also marked by turmoil and the

2THE FUTURE OF LATIN AMERICA
marriages were done on the basis of gaining financial benefits. The part of the letter
concerned in the essay speaks about his grief and remorse that affected his political career as
well. He was liberal in his outlook and thereby placed his subjects in the foremost.
The leaders, as they have been discussed in the due course of the essay can be marked
by their differing political opinion. Though Santa Anna did not voice as such about the future
of Latin America, his views were deeply rooted in the outlook of the future in a liberal way.
On the other hand while the view of Bolivar was at forming a strong singular republic state
Sarmiento, voiced his concern for the attributes of colonization and the need to dismantle the
societal hierarchy accumulated from the colonizers.