Military regimes, authoritarian regimes in which the military as an organization holds a preponderance of power, were ubiquitous in Latin America in the post-World War II period. The region became associated with the military junta, a group of commanders of each of the branches of the armed forces ruling either collectively or in the service of a preeminent personality. The 1970s was the high water mark of military rule, when generals controlled most Latin American countries, with the exception of Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, and the English and French-speaking Caribbean.
