Gilmar Visoni Alonzo Libros

This book provides a novel analysis of the military campaign of Rafael Carrera during the popular insurrection of 1837-1840 in Guatemala. Over the course of three years Carrera, a semi-literate farmer, and his army of peasants established Conservative control over Guatemala and accelerated the disintegration of the Central American Federation. Although Carrera’s rise has been analyzed from a political and socio-economic perspective, the present work shows that Carrera’s vertiginous success is the product of a peculiar and misunderstood approach to warfare that combines guerrilla recruiting practices and rural insurgency logistics with conventional combat tactics and operations. Gilmar Visoni-Alonzo argues that Carrera’s hybrid warfare was made possible because of the conditions created by the militarization of Latin American society following the administrative reforms of the Bourbon monarchy in the late eighteenth century. The concept of hybrid warfare is offered as an alternative model to understand the success of other insurgencies.

F. Jacob / G. Visoni-Alonzo: Introduction: Conflict and Warfare in the Latin America’s Martial Century – W. L. Bernecker: European Neocolonialism and Military Interventionism: “La Guerra de los Pasteles” as a Franco-Mexican Case Study – T. Pérez Vejo: A Historiographical Myth: Spanish Royalists against Insurgent Criollos – D. Pruonto: Mexico in the 1860s: An International Conflict Zone – G. Visoni-Alonzo: Hybrid Warfare: The 1837 Revolt of Rafael Carrera in Guatemala – H. Gutiérrez: The Indian Frontier, Nation, and Identities: Chile in the 19th Century – F. Pattaro Amaral: Factional Conflict and Female Political Behavior in 19th Century Colombia – E. M. Mator Antônio: The Absent Presence: The Military and Struggles for Independence of Portuguese America – P. Bales: United States-Latin American Relations during the Long Nineteenth Century – F. Jacob: George Kennan and the Cuban Image: The Spanish American War, the Perception of Cuba and American Public Opinion – K. Pearl: Not Ready for its Close-up: The Mexican Army and Film Versions of the Siege of the Alamo