How did anticlerical policies differ among Latin American countries after independence?

Following independence from Spain and Portugal, anticlerical policies in Latin America varied significantly in intensity and duration as new nations sought to establish state control over colonial institutions.123

• Mexico: Following its 1821 independence, Mexico repeatedly proscribed Catholic education and promoted anticlerical interests. In 1859, Benito Juárez declared the separation of church and state, and by the 1920s and 1930s, the government enacted suppressive legislation that led to the Cristero Rebellion. While these laws remained on the books for decades, the church eventually gained greater freedom, and diplomatic relations with the Holy See were resumed in 1992.412
• Venezuela: Under the government of Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1870–1888), the state pursued a policy that virtually crushed the institutional life of the church, even attempting to legalize the marriage of priests.1
• Colombia: The country experienced intense anticlerical legislation and enforcement between 1849 and 1884, including the 1861 expropriation of church lands. However, this period was followed by a reversal in 1888, when the government restored full liberty and independence to the Roman Catholic Church.152

In many other parts of the region, governments similarly seized church properties to meet financial needs, though the extent of these conflicts depended on local political dynamics.3