Argentina History 08

Argentina History Part 8

The new viceroy found the situation very serious; liberal ideas (we indicate with this word both the tendencies towards reforms with the old regime, as well as those of complete emancipation) had made a great step forward. Shortly before his arrival, on May 25, the Chuquisaca revolt broke out, with the deposition of the president-governor, General Pizarro: Arenales, the future soldier of Independence, and the democrat Monteagudo were reported there. Another revolt broke out on July 16 in La Paz, with the creation of the Junta tuitiva, an independent government composed of only Creoles. Against this the viceroy of Peru sent Brigadier Goyeneche, who exceeded the repression, by having nine of the main rioters hanged; to quell that of Chuquisaca the Cisneros sent Marshal Nieto, who proved to be more humane: only Arenales was imprisoned, the others were sent to confinement. In Buenos Aires, the intellectuals won over the lower strata of the population for their ideas. Out of strength of thought and richness of culture, the lawyer Mariano Moreno, whom we have already seen favoring the candidacy of Princess Carlotta, and Manuel Belgrano, son of the Ligurian emigrant Domenico Belgrano Peri, emerged: both nourished by strong economic studies. Belgrano, who had already actively participated in the work of the consulate, of which he was secretary, Correo de comercio de Buenos Aires, a newspaper which, if it did not have the extraordinary influence on the revolution that the Miter and other historians wanted to recognize, undoubtedly contributed to the dissemination of ideas. A secret society was formed around Belgrano, which included Nicolas Rodríguez Peña, Augustin Donado, Paso, Manuel Alberti, Vieytes, Terrada, Darragueira, Chiclana, Irigoyen and Castelli, without counting the minors: shortly we will see them ‘action. Irresolute by nature, the Cisneros, on the other hand, did not have a faithful armed force, so that it could not succeed, if not in a very small part, in the execution of its most delicate task: the disarmament and dismissal of the Creole militias. Another serious difficulty is the poverty of the treasury: in the face of an annual requirement of 3 million pesos there was only an income of 1,200,000. Having failed to obtain a loan from the Spanish shopkeepers in the square, the viceroy, having heard the Cabildo, the Consulate and the Gremio de hacendados y labradores, represented by Moreno, decided to open the port of Buenos Aires to English trade. The effect was lightning-fast: in one year the income had risen to 5,400,000 pesos. On that occasion Moreno presented his famous memorial, of which the references to the doctrines of Filangieri are remarkable: written on 30 September 1809, it was disclosed for the press the following year, after the revolution took place (Representación que el Apoderado de los hacendados de las campañas del Río de la Plata directed to the Virrey, etc., Buenos Aires 1810), and is the fundamental document of that sudden economic revolution: not the least push to overthrow the whole old order of things.

According to clothingexpress.org, on May 18, 1810 the viceroy Cisneros launched a manifesto to the citizens of the viceroyalty, announcing the serious events in Spain, which had just met the day before, and assuring that, “in the fatal case of a total loss of the peninsula and the lack of a supreme government, he would not have made any determination except in union with all the representatives of the capital, who would then be joined by those of the provinces, while, in agreement with the other viceregns, a representation of the sovereignty of SM would have been established Ferdinand VII “. In this way the viceroy promised himself to buy time; but the patriots kept watch, and, drawn from their side, the alcalde Lezica a little with good luck, forced the viceroy to grant the authorization of the open Cabildo, the meeting was set for 22: the 450 invited were attended by 244 people, mostly traders, farmers and officials, 25 clergymen and 26 professionals, almost all lawyers. There was a heated debate between Bishop Lué, who supported the thesis that, even though Spain was defeated, the Spaniards residing in the colony had to take command, and Castelli, who with the head of the patricians Saavedra, affirmed the right of the people, and therefore of the Creoles, to choose the government. The fiscal Villota and the lawyer Paso participated in the discussion; but nothing concrete came about and ended up voting, by a very weak majority, a motion by which the Cabildo was charged with setting up a government council, to replace the viceroy, and awaiting the representatives of the provinces. It was a mistake to entrust this task to the Cabildo, who, the next day, claimed to impose a strange amendment to the deliberation of the assembly: that is, that the viceroy, although he had been declared forfeited, would preside over the junta. The patriots who, in the runion of the 22nd, had shown themselves indecisive, hesitant, divided in opinions, found themselves in agreement in rejecting the singular claim, and, after much agitation on the 23rd and 24th days, on the morning of the 25th they invaded the chapter house of the Cabildo and imposed on the regidores the proclamation of the “provisional governmental council of the Rio della Plata”, as follows: Cornelio Saavedra, president; Moreno and Paso, secretary ministers; councilors Castelli, Belgrano, Alberti, Azcuénaga, Larrea and Matheu, the latter two Spaniards.

Argentina History 08