Andresito Guacurari
Andrés Guacurarí, Andrés Guasurarí or Andrés Guaçurarí y Artigas (Santo Tomé, November 30, 1778 - Rio de Janeiro, around 1821), known as Comandante Andresito, was a soldier and Guarani missionary leader. He was one of the first federal leaders of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Of Guaraní origin, he governed between 1815 and 1819 the Great Province of Las Misiones, of which the current Argentine province of the same name is only a remnant. He was one of the most faithful collaborators of the general of the Banda Oriental (current Uruguay) José Gervasio Artigas, who sponsored him and adopted him as his son; allowing him to sign as Andrés Artigas.
Spelling of the last name
In Portuguese, Commander Andresito's last name is spelled Guaçurari (with c cedillada) and pronounced [guasú rarí]. In the Guarani language, the word guasú rari means 'surly deer' (being guasú: 'big', and rarí: 'surly'). However, several mistakes have been made with this surname:
- the lack of tilde in the last syllable makes it look like a serious or flat word; and
- Some confuse the ç Portuguese cedillada with a c Spanish.
So the surname has been transcribed many times ―both in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay― as «Guacurari», pronouncing it wrongly like this: [guakurári]. However, in the monuments of Santo Tomé (Corrientes) and Posadas his last name is written in two ways in each one, and one of those ways in each monument is "Guasurarí". In addition, several people pronounce it correctly [guasú-rarí]. However, in the face of the repeated and widespread error of correct pronunciation of Andresito's Guarani surname, the following is detailed:
Commander Andresito's first and last name can be seen written in several ways:
- Andrés Guaçurary and Artigas
- Andrés Guaçurarí
- Andrés Guasurarí (monumento en Santo Tomé, Corrientes)
- Andrés Guazurarí (monumento en la costanera de Posadas, Misiones)
- Andrés Guacurarí (sic, by Guazurarí)
- Andrés Guacurari (sic, by Guazurarí)
- Andrés Guacararí (sic, for Guazurarí)
- Andrés Guacarari (sic, for Guazurarí)
- «Artiguinhas» (with the meaning of ‘son of Artigas’, a name given to him by his Brazilian subordinates
- Andres Tacuarí, the name given to him by his Lusobrasslian enemies
- Andrés Tacuari [sic, by Tacuarí], name given to him by his Lusobrassian enemies
Their bloodlines
Andrés Guacurarí has indisputable indigenous lineages, whether they are Guarani or some other culturally "Guaranized" ethnic group, however it is considered that he also possesses (common in his native region and in his time) some European lineage. On his part it is known that he was successively united to two women: Melchora Guazurú ( La Melchora Guaçurú) and then Benedicta Blanco.
Biography
Its beginning in the War of Independence
He was born in the Jesuit reduction of Santo Tomé ―in the current Argentine province of Corrientes― in the Governorate of Misiones, which belonged to the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata (which had been created two years earlier, in 1776) belonging to the Empire Spanish. Some historians [citation needed ] claim that he could have been born in São Francisco de Borja (present-day Brazilian city of São Borja, which is opposite the Argentine city of São Tomé). He was from a Guarani family, which—had Artigas not mediated—would have excluded him from the official ranks of the time.
Continuer of the struggles that had, among other exponents, José Sepé Tiarayú, the historical role of Andrés Guacurarí began when in 1811 he joined the troops of Manuel Belgrano in the attempt of the expedition to liberate Paraguay from the royalists. Later he accompanied Belgrano to the Banda Oriental with the same objective, however, when Belgrano was displaced from the leadership of the troops and was replaced by the Unitarian José Rondeau, Guacurarí decided to join the federales led by José Gervasio Artigas.
Artigas legally adopted him, which allowed Andresito to receive promotions, like an officer in the army.
Towards the end of 1812, already as commander of the Western Missions, Andrés Guacurarí managed to dislodge the Paraguayan troops that had occupied the department of La Candelaria (located in the southwest of the current Argentine province of Misiones). This attitude is explained by the distrust regarding the Paraguayan attitude in the war for emancipation, both with respect to Spain and the increasing interference of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve and the expansion of Brazil.
The defense against the Luso-Brazilians
Andresito Guacurarí was the main captain in the Argentine defense of the extensive territories located between the Paraná River to the west and the Yacuy River to the east during the Luso-Brazilian invasions. In 1815 he defeated the invaders in La Candelaria (near the current city of Posadas), later liberating Santa Ana, San Ignacio Miní and Corpus. In September 1816 he crossed the Uruguay River at Itaquí; he again defeated the Brazilian troops, thus managing to liberate a large part of the Eastern Missions, in the extension called El Tapé (the road , in Guaraní; in this case, the road to the Atlantic ports). Once again victorious in the battle of Rincón de La Cruz, he laid siege to his hometown, but the reinforcements that came to help the defenders forced him to withdraw again behind the Uruguay River.
The Luso-Brazilians went on the offensive again, advancing on the Aguapey river bar. On January 17, 1817, by order of the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, under the command of Francisco das Chagas Santos, they invaded the Mesopotamian Missions, looting and destroying the towns of La Cruz, Yapeyú, Santo Tomé, Santa María, Mártires, San José, San Ignacio Mini, Apostles, and San Carlos. However, Guacurarí faced them in these last two squares, defeating them and forcing them to withdraw. The situation allowed him to go on the counteroffensive with Sití, Matías Abacú and Mariano Mverá as main lieutenants, advancing until he reconquered San Francisco de Borja and a large part of the Eastern Missions.
In these circumstances, the Comandante General de Misiones Andrés Guacurarí (a position for which he had been appointed at the end of 1814 by the leader of the League of Free Peoples, José Gervasio Artigas), in In March 1817, he founded the new missionary capital in the Miriñay river bar: Nuestra Señora de la Asunción del Cambay. At the beginning of May Guazurarí recovered all the territory abandoned by the Portuguese and Paraguayans and then managed to defeat das Chagas Santos, who had invaded Misiones again, in Apóstoles on June 2, 1817.
Last campaign
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Between 1818 and 1819, Guazurarí attended the internal front at the direction of Artigas. He marched on Corrientes, which fell into the hands of soldiers related to the central power of Buenos Aires, expelled the Unitarians and replaced Governor Juan Bautista Méndez with the help of the flotilla of the Irish privateer Peter Campbell and 2,000 guaraníes from the old missions. Until 1819 he would exercise the military government of the province, propitiating an agrarian reform and freeing aboriginal and black slaves. In April 1819 Guazurarí occupied the mission towns of San Nicolás and San Luis Gonzaga, for which the Luso-Brazilians counterattacked. Guazurarí was the only caudillo prepared to face them, so he advanced to the border and tried to besiege Chagas Santos. The Brazilians, supported by fresh troops recently arrived from Porto Alegre and Alegrete, surprised him on June 6, 1819 at the Itacurubí pass of the Camacuá river (Itacurubí combat). The unequal encounter was disastrous for the forces of Guazurarí; Many of his men, among them the ruvichá Vicente Tiraparé, fell in combat and he was forced to abandon the field, with the idea of re-forming his troops on the western bank of the Uruguay River. However, he was taken prisoner by the Brazilians when he tried to cross the Uruguay River on June 24, 1819.
He was sent wrapped in a rawhide skin (which when dry made it difficult for him to breathe) to the Porto Alegre prison, and from there to Rio de Janeiro. It is believed that he died a prisoner in the dungeons of the Ilha das Cobras (Island of the Cobras), probably in 1821. The same year of his defeat, the so-called Treaty of the Lighthouse was signed in Montevideo, by which those born in the Banda Oriental who abandoned José Gervasio Artigas and became part of the pro-Brazilian Club del Barón (forerunner of the Colorado Party) ceded the Eastern Missions to the kingdom of Brazil in exchange for the construction of a lighthouse on the Isla de Flores.
The handover of the Missions, as well as the Banda Oriental (today the Republic of Uruguay), were part of the agreement by which Brazil annexed territories and Buenos Aires eliminated its main federal focus of resistance to its centralism. Artigas, with the remains of his army, took refuge in Paraguay in 1820, never to return.
Legacy
In Argentina
A city in the northeast of the current Argentine province of Misiones pays homage to him with the eponym: Comandante Andresito. Near this town, the Comandante Andresito International Bridge crosses the San Antonio River, joining it with Brazil.
In 2003 the stadium of the Crucero del Norte club in the city of Posadas was named Andrés Guacurarí [sic, for Guazurarí] in homage to the hero.
In Posadas (Misiones) Law VI no.
On September 28, 2012, in the city of San Cosme (Corrientes province) the name of a street ―called Conquista del Desierto― was changed to Andrés Guacurari (sic, for Guazurarí).
On June 29, 2014, through Resolution No. 1,136, the then mayor of the City of Corrientes, engineer Fabián Ríos, promulgated Ordinance No. National Law No. 27,116 that declared the so-called "Comandante Andresito" a National and General Hero, post mortem. At the same time and in his honor, an iron colossus made by artisans of the & # 34; Vallese Culture & # 34; movement, in which the figure of General Andrés Guazurarí.
On December 17, 2014, Law 27,117 was enacted, article 1 of which establishes that the date November 30 is taken as "National Mate Day" in commemoration of the birth of Andrés Guacurarí [sic, for Guazurarí] and Artigas, in order to promote the permanent recognition of the customs of Argentina.
In Uruguay
In Uruguay, Route 4 is named after Andrés Artigas.
In the department of Flores there is a town called Andresito.
In the city of Montevideo (capital of Uruguay) there is a street Andresito Guacarari [sic, for Guazurarí].
Also in Uruguay, Rural School no. ».
In the city of Rivera, school #45 is called Andresito. The street where it is located is also called Andresito, both in homage to Commander Andrés Guazurarí.
In the city of Paysandú there is a street and a neighborhood called Andresito, both in honor of Commander Andrés Guazurarí.
Unsuccessful search for his remains
The province of Misiones issued a decree to investigate the whereabouts of his body, and to repatriate his remains. Deputy Iturrieta, in the Delia Parodi room of the National Chamber of Deputies, reported that on November 21, 2008, the General Legislation Commission unanimously ruled that "the recognition of the military rank of Commander General Andrés be considered Guaçurarý (or Andrés Guazurarí) and is vindicated in the history of emancipation, as well as the creation of a special commission with the objective of repatriating the remains of the missionary hero ».
Documentary Looking for Commander Andresito (2011)
In 2011, the Argentine documentary Buscando al comandante Andresito was released, narrated and starring singer-songwriter Victor Heredia. In it, Heredia travels looking for the footprints of Andrés Guazurarí in the lands of Corrientes and Misiones, while trying to decipher why official history wanted to erase his name from the memory of the Argentine people. The film was produced by the company Payé Cine, and has the participation of the prominent historian Norberto Galasso.
Promotion to General n#34;post mortem#34;
In Argentina on April 1, 2014, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner promoted him postmortem to General of the Argentine Army.
Similarly in Uruguay, at the initiative of Tabaré Vázquez, he was awarded the rank of General of the Uruguayan Army in 2016.
Andresito Guazurarí Day
November 30 was established as National Mate Day in Argentina, in commemoration of the birth of Andrés Guazurarí Artigas.