This book features biographies of 32 of the most notable figures in Latin American history. To the 23 individuals from the first edition, consisting mostly of revolutionary, political, and military figures of the past, are added nine new biographies of contemporary Latin American presidents, providing an updated view of the region’s leadership. Several patterns run through the individual biographies. The concept of native identity is an important aspect in the stories of Malinche, Juárez, Sandino, and Zapata—profoundly affecting the politics of modern Brazil, Mexico, and Nicaragua. One also sees a continuing compulsion to rebel against overwhelming odds in the cases of Manuela Sáenz, Che Guevara and Daniel Ortega.

Jerome R. Adams is a freelance journalist living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Jerome R. Adams
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 403
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4284-3
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5552-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
Introduction      1

1. Doña Marina (La Malinche): Mother of Conquest      5
2. Pierre François Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture: Commander of a Slave Army      14
3. Simón Bolívar: Liberator of the North      25
4. Manuela Sáenz: Spirit of the Liberation      34
5. José de San Martín: Liberator of the South      47
6. Bernardo O’Higgins: Chile’s Irish Liberator      60
7. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento: Educator of a Continent      73
8. Pedro I and Pedro II, Brazil’s Emperors: Divine Right and Democracy      85
9. José Martí: Revolutionary Poet      96
10. Benito Juárez: Builder of Democracy      104
11. Pancho Villa: Political Warrior      114
12. Emiliano Zapata: Indian Reformer      120
13. Dolores Jiménez y Muro, Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza and Hermila Galindo de Topete: Women of the Mexican Revolution      127
14. Augusto Sandino: The Visionary versus the Marines      133
15. Juan Perón: Monarch of the Working Class      142
16. María Eva Duarte de Perón: Angel of the “Shirtless Ones”      151
17. José Figueres: At the Center of Latin America      161
18. Fidel Castro: Socialist Revolutionary      173
19. Ernesto “Che” Guevera: Existential Rebel      183
20. Bishop Romero: Modern Martyr      194
21. Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet: Ariel and Caliban      203
22. César Chávez: Hispanic Spartacus      231
23. Vicente Fox: Breaking the Political Mold      256
24. Néstor Kirchner Ostoic and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner: Peronist Pair      281
25. Daniel Ortega Saavedra: Sandino Redux      305
26. Luís Inacio Lula da Silva: Brazil’s Diminutive Giant      329
27. Hugo Chávez: Elected Leftist      352

Chapter Notes      383
Select Bibliography      387
Index      393

“especially valuable”—Library Journal; “useful”—Booklist; “uniquely conceived”—Choice; “of great value”—ARBA; “highly readable…very informative…a good addition”—Reference Reviews.