The post independence period in Latin American represents the golden age of the caudillos (military leader). The time was thick with political instability and the chaos of the period created confused and disjointed political campaigns. The most successful caudillos had alliances with a number of popular groups and depending on the nation they were either Indian, Black, mestizo, or a combination thereof. These caudillos often mobilized followers with various methods and used a number different strategies to create new forms of political participation in Latin America during this era.
Juan Manuel Rosas best epitomizes the caudillo in this traditional system. Rosas comes out of the province of Buenos Aires and was raised in the rural countryside from a working class family of cattle ranchers. Rosas kept his power through a mix of personality, popular religion, patriotic fervor, and fear/terror.
Rosas had a lot of ways to mobilize and solidify widespread support for his policies. One way was to dispense "vast expanses of public lands " to those who supported him. Another way involved the use of patriotic celebrations known as fiestas federales, which were federally sponsored parties and holidays that served as an arena for emphasizing his political agenda. These parties involved traditional forms of expressions that combined popular religion and patriotism to foster support for Rosas. They usually involved lots of speeches and patriotic rhetoric that was meant to bring people together and reinforce the message of a united Argentina under Rosas. In creating a popular following, Rosas skillfully used the "federal look " to establish political unity. The federal look was a dress code imposed by law and sometimes violently enforced by police which involved a red ribbon with an inscription that read "death to the Unitarians ". Red was the color of San Baltasar, a popular African Saint that appealed to many blacks among the Argentine population.