I've been reading about military juntas and I can't really understand why they were so prominent in LA history. Is it because the army was given enormous power? How exactly did military leaders abuse instabilities in LA countries to come to power? Why couldn't previous governments prevent the coup happening? Also, what's the legacy of military rulers in different countries of LA when it comes to politics, economy?
More can be written, but you might like to start with a couple of previous discussions:
"Why were there so many military dictatorships in Latin America during the 1900s?", by /u/Susurros77, /u/QuickSpore, and [deleted].
"Why have coups become so much less common in South America?" by /u/CogitoErgoDoom.
This is not to discourage discussion. More questions, data and debate are welcome.