Who were the caudillos and what type of government did they set up for the new countries of latin america?

The caudillos were authoritarian strongmen who controlled many of the Latinamerican countries after independence from Spain. A modern day example could be Somoza in Nicaragua who held supreme power and remained in power for many years just by military force and outlawed any opposition until the Sandinistas challenged him in recent times. Also, in Spain, Francisco Franco could also be considered a caudillo like the Fuehrer in Germany or Il Duce in Italy.