The correct answer to this open question is the following.
The rise of caudillos in the Latin American countryside was a result of independence movements in that caudillos stepped into the power vacuum left by weak central governments and these Caudillos controlled positions or areas where revolutionary governments had not power or little power.
A Caudillo is the equivalent of a leader or strong man that controls a militia. The name comes from the independence movements times form Spain in Mexico and Latin America.