Chuquisaca Revolution

The La Plata Revolution, commonly known as the Chuquisaca Revolution, was a popular uprising that occurred on May 25 and 26, 1809 in the city of La Plata (today Sucre, capital of Bolivia), belonging to the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The revolutionary judges of the court of the Royal Court of Charcas, with the support of the university faculty and hidden minority sectors of independentists, dismissed the president of the Royal Court, and transformed it into a Government Board called Governing Court b>.

The revolutionary movement would be in the name of the King of Spain Ferdinand VII, but its actions also included ignoring the Supreme Central Board and the viceroy of the Río de la Plata, this because the oidores would manage to jointly govern the Royal Court. Audiencia de Charcas as before the Bourbon reforms and, to achieve this, they instilled in the population suspicions that the president of the Royal Audience Pizarro and the viceroy of the Río de la Plata Liniers planned to hand over the throne to the infanta Carlota Joaquina de Borbón - although The viceroy maintained intentions of doing so. The revolutionary plan would also serve the hidden sector of independence supporters, who, even though they were a minority, instilled their ideas later.

For Spanish-American independence historiography, this event is usually known as the First Libertarian Cry of America. However, there are other historians who consider the Oruro Rebellion of 1781 as the first libertarian cry of America.

Background

French invasion of Spain

The Chuquisaca revolution was a popular uprising that occurred on May 25 and 26, 1809 in the city of La Plata (today Sucre), belonging to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The revolutionary judges of the court of the Royal Court of Charcas, with the support of the university faculty and minority sectors of independence, dismissed the president of the Royal Court and formed the so-called “Governing Court” or board of government.

The revolutionary movement would be in the name of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, but its actions also included ignoring the Supreme Central Board and the viceroy of the Río de la Plata, this because the oidores would manage to jointly govern the Royal Court as before. of the Bourbon reforms and, to achieve this, they instilled in the population suspicions that the president of the Royal Court Pizarro and the viceroy of the Río de la Plata Liniers planned to hand over the throne to the infanta Carlota Joaquina de Borbón – although the viceroy maintained intentions of do it. The revolutionary plan would also serve the independence sector, who, even though they were a minority, instilled their ideas later.

For Spanish-American independence historiography, this event is usually known as the First Libertarian Cry of America. However, there are other historians who consider the Oruro Rebellion of 1781 as the first libertarian cry of America.

On October 18, 1807, French troops under the command of General Junot entered Spain, an ally of the First French Empire. Napoleon Bonaparte's primary objective was to occupy the Kingdom of Portugal, which was resisting implementing the continental blockade against Great Britain.

On October 27, 1807, Minister Manuel Godoy signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau, by which Spain committed its support to the attack. However, Junot's forces were taking effective control of cities and strategic points in the country, which prompted the royal house to retreat to Aranjuez (Madrid) and plan their emigration to America, following the strategy of the Portuguese court that after The entry of the French into their country, on November 23, 1807, had moved to Brazil.

When the rumor became known, on March 17, 1808, the Aranjuez Mutiny took place, which forced the resignation of Godoy and the abdication of Charles IV to his son Fernando VII. Given the events, on March 23 the French occupied Madrid and Napoleon ordered the transfer of the royal family to Bayonne.

On May 2, a bloody repressed uprising of the population took place in Madrid, while on May 6, in the events known as the Bayonne abdications, Ferdinand recognized his father as legitimate king, so—given that he had ceded his rights to Napoleon—the crown fell to the emperor, who appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain and the Indies.

Government Boards in Spain

Neither the renunciation nor the abject servility that Fernando demonstrated were enough to move the population to accept the dynastic change. On May 25, the first government board was established in Oviedo, Asturias, and within days, others emerged, provincial or local, in Murcia, Villena, Valencia, León, Santander, La Coruña, Segovia, Valladolid, Logroño, etc.

On May 27, 1808, Seville created its own board with the name of the Supreme Board of Spain and the Indies, which intended—like the rest—to govern in the name of Ferdinand VII and preserve his rights to the throne, a policy that led her to declare war on Napoleon on June 17.

Under these circumstances, in 1809, first in Chuquisaca, and then in many other American cities under the rule of the Spanish Empire, a political crisis detonated due to the institutional crisis in the metropolis and the revolutionary tensions that had been maturing in colonial societies.

Goyeneche in Upper Peru

When the forces of the northern French division under the command of Joaquín Murat occupied the city of Madrid, on March 23, 1808, militia captain José Manuel de Goyeneche was on duty in the city.

He was of American origin, a native of Arequipa, in Lower Peru, and descendant of a wealthy family of European origin: his father, who was a royalist, sent him to be educated in the peninsula, where he stood out in part for his natural loquacity. and his evident talent for intrigue, and largely because of his contacts.

Goyeneche approached the French general Joaquín Murat, advisor to José Bonaparte, and managed to gain his trust. The Emperor wanted to extend his control to Spanish America to take away markets from his adversaries and maintain the flow of royalties, but - without naval resources to ensure it - he depended entirely on managing to shift the loyalties of the Americans towards it, either through the expedient of maintain obedience to the monarch, whatever it may be; or, if necessary, encouraging the independence party.

Murat then commissioned Goyeneche to the governments and peoples of South America to achieve his submission to the new dynasty, issuing him the corresponding credentials.

Being already in Cádiz, and the French-flagged ship that was to take it to America was ready, the uprising of May 27, 1808 in nearby Seville took place and the subsequent formation of its governing board.

Exposed before his compatriots, Goyeneche headed to Seville where he presented himself before the new junta as a faithful vassal, victim of his fidelity to the royalist cause. Given the difficult circumstances, it was not difficult for him to convince the board, especially when one of the members—and one of the most intriguing—Father Gilito, was a close friend of an uncle of his.

The Junta of Seville appointed him its special commissioner in America, promoting him extraordinarily to the rank of brigadier - the jump from militia captain to brigadier of the royal army was exceptional even in that situation - with instructions to ensure the proclamation of King Ferdinand VII in that of the Río de la Plata and in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and the recognition of the claims of the Junta of Seville to govern in the name of the monarch, for which it lacked all title and right.

The scope of his mandate was such that he was empowered, although not by right at the request of his principals, to dismiss and imprison any official who expressed any opposition to Ferdinand VII as the legitimate king of Spain, regardless of whether those officials had command emanating from the king himself (Charles IV), as in the case of the viceroys.

With his two sheets, Goyeneche returned to Cádiz and finally embarked in the company of Murat's French emissary.

While passing through Rio de Janeiro on his way to Buenos Aires, in August of that year, he met with the Infanta Carlota Joaquina de Borbón, sister of Fernando VII and queen regent of Portugal in Brazil, with ambitions to assume the titles of his brother in American lands. Carlota gave Goyeneche letters with her claims, addressed to the colonial authorities that he was going to visit. Carlota's main office stated, among other things:

"I tell the loyal and faithful vassals of the Catholic King of Spain and Indias,... As my beloved Fathers, brothers and other individuals of my real family of Spain are deprived of their natural freedom without being able to exercise their authority or less to attend to the defense and preservation of their rights... therefore consider me sufficiently authorized and obliged to exercise the times of my august Father and real family of Spain as the most procsima representative of his on this continent of America for his faithful and vassal loved ones, it has been convenient to me or I also beseech you and commissioned with the utmost care that you continue as until here in the right administration of justice in accordance with the laws, those that you will take care of and celareis remain unharmed and in their vigor and observance, taking care of the public tranquility and defense of these domains, until my beloved cousin, the provident Pedro Carlos, or another person arrives among you to fix the affairs of the government of these domains..

Letter from Carlota Joaquina de Borbón, August 19, 1808

Goyeneche accepted the assignment, without committing himself—according to his statements—to anything other than acting as a messenger. However, his position was probably purely opportunistic, as in the case of the Murat or Seville sheets. A confidential letter that Carlota wrote to her private secretary José Presas states:

"Press, the letters I want them every morning to dispatch Cortés and Cerdan, after tomorrow, as well as the two letters for them and also that of Abascal, for them to carry them: that of Goyeneche that is well played, and at the same time grateful for the good success of our business. "

José Presas. Secret memories of the Infanta Carlota, in May LibraryPage 797.

Since the first news about the events in Spain arrived in Río de la Plata, the governor of Montevideo, Francisco Javier de Elío, had intensified the conflict he had with his superior, Viceroy Liniers. The first-voting mayor of the Buenos Aires Cabildo Martín de Álzaga, with the agreement of several of the main lobbyists, traveled to Montevideo and stayed there for about a month, promoting the formation of a board as the first step towards the creation of a board. supreme and the call for a congress in Buenos Aires.

The arrival of an emissary from Bonaparte exacerbated the conflict, with Elío becoming openly rebellious and going so far as to call Liniers a traitor. However, on August 21, Fernando VII was finally sworn in Buenos Aires, and on September 2, 1808, war on France was decreed in Buenos Aires.

Brigadier Goyeneche arrived in Montevideo armed with three specifications for each reserved mission, to be used according to his interest. He accredited himself there to Francisco Javier de Elío as a representative of the Junta of Seville, encouraging him in his intention to become independent of Buenos Aires and not recognize the authority of Viceroy Liniers because he was of French origin:"When he arrived in Montevideo He applauded the zeal of Governor Elío and his neighbors in having formed a board and stated that his coming was aimed at promoting the establishment of others in the cities of that kingdom." After this, Goyeneche went to Buenos Aires. Aires.

On September 21, 1808, the first Juntista movement took place in the Viceroyalty. In Montevideo, an open Cabildo formed a Board and named Governor Francisco Javier de Elío as its president, reaching the point of daring to circulate seductive orders to the provinces of this viceroyalty to do the same as them., who have ignored such sinister deliberations, all with the aim of forcing this capital to depose the viceroy, since they indicated this to this council, telling them that only by setting up a meeting with the name of Suprema would they obey, which was despised."

A note from the Royal Court of Buenos Aires on October 27, 1809 would say "...the fire that Don Javier Elio lit in Montevideo spread to the interior provinces of the viceroyalty."

Arrived in Buenos Aires, he tried to make use of the instructions he had from King José, but disconcerted by the loyalty of Viceroy Santiago de Liniers—born French—he began to proclaim himself a pure royalist and staunch supporter of Fernando's cause.

A good part of the population, upon receiving news that a government subsisted in Spain, made it their own beyond its illegitimacy.

In order to secure the necessary funds to continue his mission, Goyeneche did not hesitate to now condemn Elío: "Transferred to Buenos Aires, his language was different, and united with Liniers and the oidores, of who expected funds and credits to continue their mission to Lima, blasphemed the conduct of the head of Montevideo and characterized him as refractory." However, he had dealings with Álzaga, whom he hinted that the peninsular government would see with pleasure that any American government about whose loyalty there might be doubts should be deposed: "Not for that reason he stopped hinting privately to the individuals of the Cabildo who were already extremely alarmed with the actions of Liniers, that it would be correct and very in accordance with the ideas of the metropolis, the suspicious leaders were separated in America and popular governments were erected to oversee public security." Exactly what Álzaga wanted to hear to move forward with his plan, which would lead to the aborted revolution of January 1 of the following year.

Finally, the intriguing Goyeneche continued towards Upper Peru, on his way to Lima. He would say Dean Gregorio Funes in his Historical Essay of the American Revolution: & # 34; He was a Bonapartist in Madrid, a federalist in Seville, in Montevideo an aristocrat, in Buenos Aires a pure realist and in Peru a tyrant & # 3. 4;.

Revolution in Chuquisaca

Upper Peru

The territory of Upper Peru, today an integral part of Bolivia, was made up of four municipalities or provinces and two military-political governments. One of the provinces was Chuquisaca, in whose capital Chuquisaca — also called La Plata or Charcas and today Sucre, 19°2′35″S 65°15′33″W / -19.04306, -65.25917— the Royal Court of Charcas had its headquarters.

The Municipality of Chuquisaca had the Yamparáez districts (16 "doctrines" including the parishes of San Lorenzo and San Sebastián, located in the limits of the capital itself), Tomina (eleven towns), Pilaya and Paspaya (7 doctrines), Oruro (4 towns), Paria (8) and Carangas (6).

Upper Peru belonged to the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776. By royal decree of August 8, when the new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created, the territory of Upper Peru became an integral part of this new viceroyalty. The royal ordinance of January 28, 1782 established that the administration of matters relating to government, war and police was in the hands of mayors, with the ultimate agreement of the viceroy.

Just as the importance of Potosí lay in the wealth of its hill, that of Chuquisaca revolved around the Audiencia and the Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, which—reputed at the time as one of the best in the world—attracted students from the Viceroyalties of Lima and Buenos Aires, which is why the city was called the "American Athens".

At that time it had a population of around 14,000 to 18,000 inhabitants, of which around 800 were students and 90 were graduate members of the Senate.

Thus, the economic activity of the city was supported by the salaries of the judges, curial and civil employees, the costs of the trials, the university, those attending literary and constitutional events, ecclesiastical income, etc.

For some time there had been strong disagreements between the president of Charcas, Ramón García de León y Pizarro, and the Royal Court; and between the archbishop of Charcas Benito María Moxó y Francolí and the ecclesiastical chapter, produced largely by jealousy and ambition, which took on greater magnitude due to the state of anarchy and disorder in which Spain found itself.

Both and other contenders invoked the help of the people to make their goals triumph: in one of the pamphlets that circulated in Chuquisaca in 1808, the people were asked to support the oppressed clergy, concluding by exclaiming "Long live ! Long live freedom!".

The conflict begins

The news also reached Alto Perú and, in agreements of September 18 and 23, the Royal Court of Charcas opposed the recognition of the Junta of Seville and Goyeneche as legitimate commissioner "having other provincial boards independent of that of Seville.

The news of his interview with Carlota from Brazil raised alarm in the population. In the middle of the 18th century, the province of Chiquitos, in the plains east of Chuquisaca, had been reached by the incursions of Brazilian bandeirantes, who had kidnapped the aboriginal population to enslave, a memory that aroused suspicion in the population of the city.

On the 24th, the archbishop of Charcas, Benito María Moxó y Francolí, ordered recognition of the Junta of Seville and its representative, Goyeneche, summoning the clergy under penalty of excommunication. The Royal Agreement of September 23 drew a line between the oidores on the one hand and the Viceroy, President Ramón García de León y Pizarro and Archbishop Moxó y Francolí, around the acceptance of the Junta of Seville.

At the beginning of November Goyeneche was received pompously, but the Audiencia remained in its position, which also challenged the authority of Viceroy Liniers, who had accepted him. Goyeneche even threatened to have the regent arrested, which led to a public demonstration. The presentation of the Infanta Carlota's documents and the death of the judge Antonio Boero - as a result of the discussions - worsened the situation:

The Seville Board was recognized not only without contradiction, but still with joy, and throughout the virreynato only an elder and respectable magistrate, the Regent of Charcas, dared to censor the lightness and improperity of this step: his singular firmness cost him very expensive because he died of stifling for the insults that Goyeneche did to him as he passed through that city.

The Cloister intervenes

President Pizarro submitted Carlota's specifications to the University and Doctors' Senate, asking for their opinion. The Cloister—following the position of its trustee, Dr. Manuel de Zudáñez—not only rejected the terms of the order of the sister of Fernando VII, but also described the Infanta's communication as subversive in its agreements: in effect, having sworn to Ferdinand VII as king of Spain and the Indies, by ignoring that right and stating that his father was forced to cede the crown to Ferdinand due to an uprising in Aranjuez, provoked for that purpose, was certainly treason.

The main observations of the Cloister regarding the "irregular and unjust intentions and aims of the Court of Portugal against the sacred and inviolable rights of our August Master and Natural Lord, Fernando Séptimo" were:

That acknowledging and swearing as the only and legitimate monarch of Spain and Indias, to Lord Fernando Seventh by virtue of the premeditated, legal and spontaneous renunciation that in his favor made of the Crown Lord Don Carlos, when in the Royal site of Aranjuez to 19 March of next year eight hundred eight, which no Spanish or American can put in doubt without being seen and treated as a reop of high treason.".

It admires and amazes that the Princess of Brazil, Doña Carlota Joaquina, in her so-called manifesto addressed to these provinces, attributes such a solemn and authoritative resignation, to a revolt or tumult raised in the Court of Madrid to force Mr.Don Carlos Cuarto to abdicate the crown: subversive proposition that excites the noble indignation and horror of the worthy vassals of Fernando Séptimo.

That the iniquitous retention of the sacred person of our Augustus Fernando Seventh in France does not prevent the fact that his vassals of both hemispheres, inflexibly recognize his sovereign authority, worship his person, comply with the observance of the laws, obey the respective authorities, tribunals and chiefs that govern them in peace and quiet, and above all to the Central Board established lately that governs the name of Fernando Séptimo

Response from the University of Chuquisaca, AHN Cons. Leg. 21392.85 f. 76.

The University finally expressed not only its opinion but also dared to order the policy to be followed:

As a result, reflecting on the pernicious effects that may have on the detriment of sovereignty and public tranquillity that circulate the above-mentioned roles of the Princess of Brazil, they agreed, commanded and ordered that Ms.Prince Doña Carlota Joaquina be not answered.

The Cloister also denied the rights of Infanta Carlota due to the Salic Law, sanctioned in 1713 by Philip V, which excluded women from the succession. In this regard, Benito María Moxó y Francolí and Pedro Vicente Cañete — honorary judge and advisor to the mayor of Potosí—assured that pragmatics was repealed by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1789, sanctioned by the Cortes of Madrid, at the request of Charles IV. Although this was true, it was officially unknown at the time—even at the University—given that at the time Charles IV had given orders that the resolution remain confidential. It was ignored even by the Central Board, which—given the Portuguese ambassador's statement in that sense—had to seek advice on its veracity by summoning two people who had participated as attorneys of said courts.

The statements of Moxó and Cañete, far from subtracting the opposition's arguments, generated more distrust, assuming that the unknown repeal that was brought to light was only a pretext to justify the usurpation.

The final act of the University, written by Dr. Jaime de Zudáñez, after being approved and signed by all the doctors, was sent by the rector to the governor and directly submitted to the viceroy. Liniers, seeing the use of words like treason—and referring to none other than the Infanta—ordered that they be erased and destroyed, so Pizarro ordered that the minute book and all related papers be taken to him, and that the government notary plucked the leaves and destroyed them.

During his stay in Chuquisaca, Goyeneche met on several occasions with Ramón García de León y Pizarro and with the archbishop of Charcas, Benito María Moxó y Francolí. Both previously had conflicts with the judges of the Royal Court and with the ecclesiastical council, respectively.

It is impossible to know if in those meetings, always reserved, the handover of the viceroyalty to Princess Charlotte was planned, but it is likely that it was only a matter of how each person would retain their position while awaiting the outcome of events. in the Peninsula, judging by the previous and subsequent behavior of these characters.

Goyeneche's proceedings were short, since the Royal Court and its president Ramón García de León y Pizarro recognized the authority of the peninsular Board; and Infanta Carlota's communications did not go beyond mere formalities that were dispatched before the plenipotentiary continued on his way to Lima, where the viceroy of Peru, José Fernando de Abascal, confirmed him in the rank of brigadier and granted him the provisional presidency. of the Royal Court of Cusco.

Events in Buenos Aires

On January 1, 1809, when the new authorities of the Buenos Aires Cabildo were to take office, the uprising took place in Buenos Aires, known as the Álzaga Asonada. Although most of its participants were native Spaniards, many Creoles, such as Mariano Moreno, supported it. Part of the Spanish militias supported the rebellion: the Galician, Biscayan and Miñon thirds of Catalonia. But the Creole militias - headed by Cornelio Saavedra - and the third of Andalusians supported Liniers, so the movement failed. Álzaga and the leaders were banished to Carmen de Patagones and the rebellious military bodies were dissolved.

The third movement would occur in the provinces of 'above', in Upper Peru: in Charcas, on May 25; in La Paz on July 16; and it would spread to Quito on August 10, with the Installation of the First Autonomous Government Board of Quito after the lifting of the Royal Court of Quito.

The events in Buenos Aires were not unrelated to those in Chuquisaca. On the one hand, the advisor to the mayor Pedro Vicente Cañete, hated by the oidores proprietaries wrote on January 25 the "Apologetic consultative letter" supporting Liniers.

Similarly, Álzaga's supporters maintained contacts with merchants from Upper Peru, especially Potosí. Many of the students were natives of the Río de la Plata, and almost all of the graduates from the capital had studied in Chuquisaca and had been related to a greater or lesser extent with independence circles. Such was the case of Mariano Moreno, who was considered by the latter as a true commissioner.

May 1809

Arrest of Zudáñez

The revocation ordered by Viceroy Liniers of the expulsion of Cañete agreed by the Court and the spread of a rumor that President Pizarro would arrest the oidores aggravated the situation.

Anonymous pamphlets and pamphlets circulated, sometimes written in Charcas itself. Most of them accused the rulers of "Carlotism", but in some cases they were to a greater or lesser extent revolutionary. The main one that circulated those days was the famous Dialogue between Atahualpa and Ferdinand VII on the Champs Elysées, written by the republican Bernardo Monteagudo, graduated in 1808, which closed with the words:

"Habiters of Peru: if you have denatured and insensitive to the day with calm and serene semblance the desolation and misfortune of your disgraceful homeland, awaken already from the plightful liturgical in which you have been submerged. The painful and naughty night of usurpation disappears, and the day of freedom is light and clear. Break the terrible chains of slavery and start enjoying the delicious charms of independence. Your cause is just, equitable, your designs. Rejoin, therefore, the great work of living independent. "

Dialogue between Atahualpa and Fernando VII in the Champs-Elysées.

On May 16, the lawyer and councilor of the Cabildo Manuel Zudáñez persuaded the Cabildo that his arrest was imminent, so they asked the Court to protect their persons, which began to carry out official inquiries and plan the president's imprisonment. Garcia Pizarro

On May 20, Manuel de Zudáñez Ramírez learned of the destruction of the minutes containing the Senate's resolution against Carlota's claims and immediately denounced the President's attitude. What happened decided the opponents to give definitive credence to the possible handover of power to Carlota and represented a break in the governor's relations with the Senate, the University, the Court, the Cabildo and public opinion.

On May 23, President Ramón García de León y Pizarro began to take measures to anticipate events by requesting the mayor of Potosí, Francisco de Paula Sanz, to mobilize his troops to Chuquisaca, because:

(...) all the signs are that they try to take away my command (...) and ignore the authority of the superior government.

Taking of the Palace

On the night of the 24th, the Court ordered patrols led by the councilors to avoid arrests, while preparing a document, written by López de Andreu, requesting the president's resignation. On May 25, Father Félix Bonet, provincial of Santo Domingo, together with Captain Santiesteban, warned Pizarro about the conspiracy and secret agreements that had been brewing days before.

Ramón García de León y Pizarro reinforced the palace guard with 25 men, sent his son Agapito to Potosí carrying a letter reserved for Governor Francisco de Paula Sanz and at approximately 3:00 p.m. he summoned the lawyers Esteban Gascón and José Eugenio Portillo, to whom he informed about the night meeting held by the judges and where his suspension was ordered. The President required the advice of lawyers for the arrest of the judges José Vicente Ussoz and José Vásquez de Ballesteros, the prosecutor Miguel López Andreu, the members of the Secular Council, Manuel de Zudáñez and Domingo Aníbarro and the lawyer Jaime de Zudáñez, defender of the poor.

At 6 in the afternoon García de León y Pizarro ordered the conspirators to be imprisoned, for which six commissioners accompanied by guards came out. The news spread quickly and the suspects took refuge wherever they could. The judges Váquez Ballesteros, Ussoz and Mozi and the prosecutor Andreu were not found at their homes, since they were at a meeting at the house of dean José de la Iglesia. Later, Vásquez Ballesteros took refuge in a corner of that house, Ussoz and Mozi moved to the convent of San Felipe Neri and López Andreu fled the city.

Thus, only Jaime de Zudáñez could be arrested, whom a commission led by officer Pedro Usúa took with their weapons pointed to the veterans' barracks. They were followed a few meters away by Zudáñez's sister who was shouting for help for her brother, with which a crowd began to form, which is why Zudáñez was transferred to the court prison (so called because it was in the building that served to the royal audience and where the president also lived), in front of which the population began to gather and shouted for the intervention of the Archbishop, who met with Ramón García de León y Pizarro.

While the population was stoning the building, Ramón García de León y Pizarro agreed to release Jaime de Zudáñez, whom he also considered the least important of the conspirators, and asked him to calm the mob. Zudáñez left with the archbishop and the count of San Javier and Casa Laredo through a false door, because the stone throwing continued, and when he was seen he was carried away like a hero.

When the news of Zudáñez's arrest became known and the lack of other people who were supposedly detained was noted, a large number of citizens mobilized to the Plaza Mayor in tumult. Bernardo de Monteagudo and other followers of republican ideals stood out who repeated the motto "Death to bad government, long live King Ferdinand VII!" asking for the release of the prisoners and the resignation of García de León y Pizarro.

To summon the people, the bells of the main churches were rung loudly: Juan Manuel Lemoine, sword in hand, forced the resistance of the friars of the Temple of San Francisco and managed to gain access to their bell, which he rang until it cracked, which is called for that reason and since then Liberty Bell, while the Frenchman José Sivilat and a servant of Jaime de Zudáñez did the same in the cathedral. At the sound of the bells even more people came and Mariano Michel Mercado, blunderbuss in hand, sent the young people to ring the bells of the remaining churches.

The people that the subdelegate of Yamparáez, Colonel Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales, had stationed on the outskirts of the city invaded the streets, while the principals met again at the house of José de la Iglesia, where it was decided to send a note to President Ramón García de León y Pizarro demanding the delivery of the weapons existing in his residence. Arenales himself, Mayor Antonio Paredes and Father Polanco demanded that the president hand over the weapons and when he refused, Judge Ballesteros was present to accompany the request as the only way to calm the tumult.

The mutinous population in which the Zudáñez and Lemoine, Malavía, Monteagudo, Toro, Miranda, Sivilat, etc. stood out, became increasingly excited, to which in many cases the situation contributed and in others the liquor that was mixed with Gunpowder was being distributed to them.

The president ordered the main door to be opened and allowed the requested cannons to be taken out, but once the rifles had been handed over, the protesters invaded the government palace grounds, so the guard fired into the air, which was responded to with artillery.

The conspirators wrote a message to the President demanding the immediate handover of political and military command. Ramón García de León y Pizarro refused and suggested a meeting the next day (May 26), in order to analyze the problem. The listeners insisted on the request to avoid "disastrous events". Faced with a new refusal, a third demand was sent, meanwhile the people managed to demolish, with two cannon shots, the false door of the residence. Finally, just as the groups entered through the opening, the messengers emerged, displaying the resignation document. At that moment it was three in the morning.

Only the Marquis Ramón García de León and his guard defended their president, given that the Chuquisaqueño officer Manuel Yáñez, in charge of the barracks, did not let the soldiers go out into the street.

García de León y Pizarro surrendered to the judges, and was detained at the University. On the morning of the 26th the Audiencia assumed power as "Governing Audience", appointing Álvarez de Arenales as general commander and the dean of the Audiencia, José de la Iglesia as governor of Charcas. The president was put on trial for treason and the garrison was disarmed, passing the weapons to the people. Only President Ramón García de León y Pizarro and the commander of the militia battalion Ramón García were separated from their duties. Álvarez de Arenales organized the defense by forming the militias of Chuquisaca and Yamparáez with nine infantry companies organized by the offices of his members: I Infantry (under the command of Joaquín Lemoine), II Academics (Manuel de Zudáñez), III Silversmiths (Juan Manuel Lemoine), IV Weavers (Pedro Carbajal), V Tailors (Toribio Salinas), VI Hatters (Manuel de Entre Ambas Aguas), VII Shoemakers (Miguel Monteagudo), VIII Painters (Diego Ruiz) and IX Various Guilds (Manuel Corcuera). Three groups of light cavalry were also formed under the command of Manuel de Sotomayor, Mariano Guzmán and Nicolás de Larrazabal, an artillery corps under the command of Jaime de Zudáñez and a battalion of brown and brown people.

Looking for support

On July 9, the governor of Potosí, Francisco de Paula Sanz, received a communication from Viceroy Liniers dated June 18, 1809:

(...) that in Salta, Tomina and that Villa are approved, and ammunition in each of these Parages two hundred men of their Militias who in charge of Don Jose Francisco Tineo, Don Diego de Velasco, and Don Indalecio Gonzalez de Socasa, and united with the Veteran Companies that exist in that said Villa all at the disposal of V. Señoria interin that there is sent Xe quafe

Letter from the Viceroy Liniers to Governor Paula Sanz of June 18, 1809

In the same sense as what was requested by Pizarro, ordering him to gather a competent force in Potosí to maintain public peace and respect for the authorities, also ordering him to obey the Court in what is would not contradict the higher government. Paula Sanz marched with troops to Chuquisaca to help the president, but upon reaching the vicinity of Chuquisaca the Court ordered her to return to Potosí with his forces, to which she agreed after a conference.

The Juntistas sought and found the support of Elío in the Banda Oriental. The new viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was in Colonia del Sacramento, who approved in principle the conduct observed by the Audiencia of Charcas, ordering the mayor of Potosí to cooperate in the future.

Until now and as it was perceived at that time, at least in the Río de la Plata and even by many of its protagonists, the Chuquisaca movement did not have independence as its objective but on the contrary was inspired by a blind adherence to the cause of King Ferdinand and rejection of the traditional enemy, Portugal, and the policy of the Carlotists. However, many students and citizens of Chuquisaca did aspire to advance towards independence, among them Antonio Paredes, Mariano Michel, José Benito Alzérreca, José Manuel Mercado, Álvarez de Arenales, Manuel Victorio García Lanza and Monteagudo.

With this hidden objective, emissaries were sent to different cities: supposedly with the aim of transmitting their loyal intentions towards Fernando VII and carrying out tasks entrusted by the Court, their mission was to foster independence sentiments among the inhabitants of other cities.

The commissioners formed a secret society, known as the Society of Independents.

Mariano "malaco" left for Cochabamba first. Michel and Tomás Alzérreca and then José Benito Alzérreca and Justo María Pulido. Gregorio Jiménez and Manuel Toro were first sent to La Paz, but they failed in their mission, so it was decided to send Michel with his brother, the clergyman Juan Manuel Mercado, and with the Provincial Mayor of Cuzco, Antonio Paredes. In Sicasica, on the route to La Paz, the priest José Antonio Medina joined them. Paredes then continued to Cuzco. Bernardo Monteagudo was sent to Potosí and Tupiza, with the mission of fomenting the uprising, intercepting royalist mail between Buenos Aires and Lima, and if the movement triumphed, proceeding to Buenos Aires. Joaquín Lemoine and Eustaquio Moldes left for Santa Cruz de la Sierra and as commissioner in San Salvador de Jujuy there was Teodoro Sánchez de Bustamante, in Salta with José Mariano Serrano, in Tucumán with Mariano Sánchez de Loria and in Buenos Aires with the former student Mariano Moreno.

Peace

The government of La Paz was occupied temporarily (due to the death of Mayor Antonio Burgundo de Juan) by Dr. Tadeo Dávila, who was suspected of having revolutionary sympathies, as was his predecessor, due to events that occurred in 1805. A chronicler stated:

"From these machiners (the patriots of peace) there was, for the most part, the tertulia of Mr.Dávila, to whom they carried repeated gossip, slandering the most honored neighbors, and making him understand that they went together to place Mr.Prada in command; and although none of this happened, this was the only thing that concerns Mr.Dávila. "

"The events of Chuquisaca looked at them as a model of what had to happen in this (peace); they saw immediately the flame, and the thick and heated wind of the arsoned atmosphere would embarrass the breath: only the boss was upset, nothing could be said, because depreciating everything, nothing solved. "

"The people came to an end in this way, in nothing they found the treacherous opossess for their attempt; they continued with zeal in their joints and fermented with the arrival of the emissary Dr.Mariano Michel, commanded by the Audience of Chuquisaca, with a real provision to seize several who had escaped on the night of May 26.

Cited in Ramon Muñoz, The 15-year war in Upper Peru.

Michel beyond his official mission, promoted the revolution. He brought to La Paz the document titled Proclamation of the city of La Plata to the brave inhabitants of La Paz , which acquired fame known as Proclamation of the Tuitive Board of La Paz :

"So far we have tolerated a kind of banishment within our homeland. We have seen with indifference for more than three centuries our primitive freedom to despotism and the tyranny of an unjust usurper who degraded us from the human species, has reputed us by savages and looked like slaves; we have kept a silence quite analogous to the stupidity that is attributed to us by the incult.

"It is time, therefore, to shake yoke from so frightful to our happiness, as favorable to the national pride of Spanish; it is time to organize a new system of government based on the interests of our homeland, highly depressed by Madrid's politics; it is time, finally, to lift the banner of freedom in these unfortunate colonies, acquired without the least title and preserved with the greatest injustice and tyranny. "

"Woeful inhabitants of La Paz and of the whole empire of Peru relay your projects for execution; take advantage of the circumstances in which we are; do not look with disdain at the happiness of our soil; do not ever lose sight of the union that must reign in all to be in the future happy as misfortunes to the present."

Facsimile of the Proclamation of the City of La Plata to the courageous inhabitants of La Paz, according to a Coetaneous Judiciary (1809, General Archive of the Argentine Nation), Revista Expressionspecial edition No. 11 and 12; June 2008. Publication of the Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca (Sucre, Bolivia)

The mission was a success, and after a month Michel returned to Chuquisaca. On July 12, the independentists met at the house of Juan Antonio Figueroa and agreed to carry out the final coup on July 16, taking advantage of the fact that the troops would be discharged after the Cármen procession, which is one of the most solemn in Bolivia. Mariano Graneros and Melchor Jiménez were nevertheless commissioned to probe the attitude of the battalion's soldiers.

The main conspirators were Pedro Domingo Murillo, Melchor Giménez (alias "el pichitanga"), Mariano Graneros (alias el "chaya-tegeta" 34;) and Juan Pedro de Indaburu. On the scheduled date, the militia battalion under the command of its second leader Juan Pedro de Indaburu took over the veterans' barracks while the population poured into the square. Governor Dávila was arrested by the revolutionaries and an open Town Council meeting that same night deposed him from command as well as Bishop Remigio de la Santa y Ortega, the ordinary mayors, the subdelegates and all the public employees appointed by the king. He abolished all the debts contracted in favor of the treasury until that day, and on the morning of the 20th he ordered the documents and papers related to them to be burned in the main square for everyone to see.

The people requested and obtained the resignation of the prelate as well as that of Governor Dávila, proclaiming Murillo to be chief of arms, a position in which he was recognized by order of the Cabildo. This accident, which somewhat disappointed Indaburo's hopes, brought, as will be seen later, fatal consequences and was the origin of disastrous events.

A pro-independence government board called Junta Tuitiva was formed, chaired by Colonel Pedro Domingo Murillo, with Sebastián Aparicio appointed as Secretary, Juan Manuel Cáceres as Secretary, and Gregorio García Lanza, Melchor León de la Barra (priest of Caquiavire) as members.), José Antonio Medina (Tucuman, priest of Sicasica), priest Juan Manuel Mercado (chuquisaqueño), Juan Basilio Catácora and Juan de la Cruz Monje y Ortega.

Other substitute members or added citizens were later named: Sebastián Arrieta (treasurer), Dr. Antonio de Avila (lawyer), Francisco Diego Palacios and José María Santos Rubio (merchants), Buenaventura Bueno (Latin teacher) and Francisco X Iturres Patiño (sochantre).

Murillo was elevated to the rank of colonel and military chief of the province and Indaburo to that of lieutenant colonel, his second. This decision was based on the one hand on Murillo's popularity but also on distrust of Indaburo, considered an ambitious, dominant and impetuous man.

Potosí

While the movement found echo and radicalization in La Paz, in Potosí Francisco de Paula Sanz acted quickly and decisively. After ignoring the Audiencia of Charcas and the Tuitiva Junta of La Paz, he quartered the militia battalion under the command of Colonel Indalecio González de Socasa and separated the American officers to replace them with Europeans. As the leaders of the Azogeros battalion expressed their support for what happened in Chuquisaca, Sanz also ordered the arrest of Colonel Pedro Antonio Ascarate and Lieutenant Colonel Diego de Barrenechea. He also had the royal lieutenant Joaquín de la Quintana, the assayer of the Banco Salvador Matos, four brothers named Nogales and the notary Toro among other citizens arrested.

While adopting these measures, Sanz asked the viceroy of Peru José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, later Marquis of La Concordia, for help. Abascal feared that the revolutionary movement that reached his borders would spread to the provinces of Puno, Arequipa and Cuzco, where the uprising of Túpac Amaru II was still remembered, so he resolved not to wait for a definition from Buenos Aires and to immediately begin the uprising of an army and the suppression of the rebellion. To this end, he appointed the president of the Royal Court of Cuzco, José Manuel de Goyeneche, as general in chief of the expeditionary army, ordering Colonel Juan Ramírez, governor of Puno, to place himself at his command with the troops under his command, arranging The same with respect to those of Arequipa. While he was arranging the mobilization, to cover the formalities of what was in fact the invasion of another jurisdiction without any powers, he ordered Goyeneche to offer his troops to the new viceroy of the Río de la Plata Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, who accepted them on September 21.

Repression

Goyeneche willingly rushed to accept the commission entrusted to him and immediately set out for the Desaguadero River, the dividing line of both viceroyalties. The troops that Goyeneche brought to combat the insurrection in La Paz consisted of 5,000 well-armed and ammunitioned men from Cuzco, Arequipa and Puno, while the revolutionaries only had 800 very poor rifles and 11 pieces of artillery in no better condition.

Faced with the threat, on September 12, the Cabildo of La Paz resolved at the request of the patriots José Gabriel Castro, Landaeta, Cossío, Arias, and Ordóñez to declare war on the province of Puno and order Sergeant Major Juan Bautista Sagárnaga move towards the Desaguadero. On September 24, the expedition left while only ten companies remained in the city.

When Goyeneche's vanguard under the command of Colonel Fermín Piérola with one hundred men and two pieces of artillery arrived at the Desaguadero bridge, it was already occupied by a small force of the revolutionaries from La Paz who, inexperienced and poorly armed, They could not resist the enemy artillery and retreated to La Paz, abandoning the point to the invaders.

Until mid-October Goyeneche occupied himself with disciplining his army, establishing his general camp in Zepita, from where he only moved on the 13th of the same month in the direction of La Paz.

A realistic chronicler relates:

"Goyeneche before attack made peaceful propositions that were rejected with loudspeaker.""The most committed were always committed to sustaining that the riot of July 16 was the result of the faithfulness, zeal and honour of that population, moved by the distrust inspired by the secret intelligence that was supposedly warned between the court of Rio and the superior heads of the vice-reynato of Buenos Aires. Such was the sense in which the municipality of La Paz itself had written to the Marques de la Concordia, further ensuring that it had in view irrefragable justifications of the meeting of Portuguese troops at the limits of Matto Grosso and other points of the border of Mojos, of the existence of Infante Don Antonio in class of incognito in the city of Buenos Aires, of the arrest of the Spanish frigate Testof the insults made to the person of Pascual Ruiz Huidobro, and of the repetition of expressions from Brazil to the capital of the Virreynato"

Garcia Cambá, Memory for the history of Spanish weapons in America.

In Buenos Aires "When the news of the first movement in the city of La Plata arrived in Buenos Aires in June...Liniers...spoke out against that movement, classifying it as an attack scandalous in the report he addressed to the Court of Spain on the following July 10. However, Liniers suspended the sending of troops because he had news that his successor, the new viceroy, had arrived in Montevideo. sent by the Central Board, Cisneros. This, distrusting Liniers and the Creole party, only went to Buenos Aires on July 29 and moved with great delay.

Cisneros placed Marshal Vicente Nieto in command of the expeditionary force, and frigate captain José de Córdoba y Rojas as his second.

The expedition was ready to march in mid-August, but on September 11, an important reform of the militias was carried out, aimed at reducing the large deficit and weakening the Creole forces (mainly Patricians and hussars) and few days later, on September 24, 1809, "on the occasion of the city of La Paz, in Peru, a dependent province of this Viceroyalty, a supreme Board was formed, titled Tuitive Board of Alto Perú, refusing To obey this superiority, the first troops left, a company of infantry and another of veteran dragoons.

Only on October 4, 1809, the main contingent left under the command of Marshal Vicente Nieto, designated the new president of the Audiencia of Charcas:

"The Marshal inspected his army in the Plaza Mayor of the capital, composed of two companies of patricios, one of the locals, one of mountaineers and another of Andalusians, a picket of sailors and three pickets of veterans of the fixed, artilleros and húsares of the king, integrating a force of 400 to 500 men, with the power to increase it in the towns of transit...

Ignacio Núñez, Historical news of the Argentine Republic, in May Library, page 402.

But the slowness in their decisions left the repression in the hands of Goyeneche:

"It was not bad the disposition taken by Cisneros nor the election of Vicente Nieto, in order to appease the innovations of La Paz, Alto Perú, bad was the calm of Cisneros, who named at the end of February rescien at the beginning of July came to Montevideo and lost all month in that city and the Colony in precautions, so he sent it late, when the naughty Goyeneche had anticipated exploiting "

Sunday Matheu, Autobiographyin paragraph 126, May Library, page 2285/6.

By then, under pressure from Goyeneche, the Tuitiva Junta of La Paz had dissolved, conferring political and military command on its President Murillo. Murillo only had about a thousand men and to avoid desertions he placed himself with the bulk on the outskirts, in the town of Chacaltaya in the heights of La Paz, leaving Indaburu with a company in the city. On October 18, Indaburu, in agreement with an emissary from Goyeneche, betrayed the movement. He arrested the revolutionary leaders who remained in the city, among them the patriots Jiménez, Medina, Orrantia, Cossío, Rodríguez, Iriarte and Zegarra, and the next day he managed to execute Pedro Rodríguez, condemned by a council made up of Mayor Diez. of Medina, Goyeneche's aide-de-camp Miguel Carrazas, Indaburo and advisor Baltasar Aquiza.

José Gabriel Castro, who had remained in Los Altos, received the news of the betrayal by José Manuel Bravo and after quickly gathering a force of 250 men, he descended on the city, attacked the trench on Calle del Comercio where he was concentrated. the resistance and killed Indaburo.

The divisions and clashes between the rebels reduced the limited possibilities of resistance they had:

"Their authors, however intentional they were when they committed such a dangerous company, were divided into interests, and occupied the time, that they should employ in the organization of forces to carry it forward, and to make it embrace in the bordering peoples, in other petty discussions, that made it miserably abort. In La Paz these took such a bloody and ferocious character, that the various warlords who alternatively disputed the command, made it alive and by means of bowel fighting, in which at the same time they completely demoralized and weakened to with some probability resist the forces that already rushed quickly to beat them. "

Dámaso de Uriburu, Memories 1794-1857, in May Library, page 632/3.

On October 24, 1809, a revolutionary division left Chulumani, in the Yungas, composed of fifty armed men and two thousand Indians led by the protector of natives Francisco Pozo and under the command of Apolinar Jaén.

In La Paz, Goyeneche finally attacked Murillo's disorganized forces, whom he easily defeated and dispersed on October 25 in the Altos de Chacaltaya. On those same dates, Jaén's troops were defeated at Chicaloma (16°27′0″S 67°29′0″W / -16.45000, -67.48333) then after a long fight, retreating again to Chulumani on October 26.

A rebel division under the command of Manuel Victorio García Lanza, José Gabriel Castro, Mariano Graneros and Sagárnaga among other patriots, headed after the dispersion of Chacaltaya to the Yungas with the aim of revolting the indigenous people. Castro became strong in Coroico, Sagárnaga in Pacollo and Lanza in Chulumani. Goyeneche sent his cousin Colonel Domingo Tristán after them on October 30 with a force of 550 men who converged on Irupana (16°28′0″S 67°28′0″W / -16.46667, -67.46667) and on November 14 another of 300 men under the command of Narciso Basagoitia to neighboring Chulumani.

On November 11, Tristán attacked with the cooperation of La Santa, the deposed bishop of La Paz, who even turned some priests into soldiers, and defeated the patriots in the Battle of Irupana (16°28′0″S 67°28′0″W / -16.46667, -67.46667), killing the leaders.

When the Chuquisaca revolutionaries learned of the disastrous end of those from La Paz, they released Pizarro and recognized the authority of the new president of Charcas, Nieto, who was in Tupiza.

On December 14, the troops from Buenos Aires arrived in Potosí, where they received the news of the submission of the Royal Court of Charcas. Nieto left on the 17th in the company of Archbishop Moxó who followed him and entered Chuiquisaca on the 21st. His troops had entered days before. On February 10, having received the mail from La Paz, Nieto ordered that all the judges of the Royal Court be arrested and placed incommunicado, Juan Antonio Fernández, Joaquín Lemoine, Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales, Domingo Aníbarro, Ángel Gutiérrez, Dr. Ángel Mariano Toro, the two Zudáñez (Manuel died in prison), Antonio Amaya, Dr. Bernardo Monteagudo, the Frenchmen Marcos Miranda and José Sivilat and others who were able to escape.

After having been subjected to a rigorous prison, they were for the most part banished and sent to Lima as prisoners. The ministers of the audience were confined to different points, with the exception of the Count of San Javier and Casa Laredo and the oidor Monte Blanco, and advisor Bonard and commander Arenales were sent to Lima. For the exile, the origin and destination were taken into account: "(Goyeneche) designated the Paceños to Buenos Aires, because their relations with this city were remote, the second (Nieto) designated the Chuquisaqueños to Lima, because these They would find many fellow students in Buenos Aires."

Many were saved "buying each other the grace of life with donations of considerable sums in jewelry and money..

In this way the patriotic revolution of 1809 ended with the sacrifice of many Americans and the exile of others, more than 30, condemned to the prisons of Boca Chica (Cartajena), the Philippines and Morro de la Habana.

On January 29, 1810, among others, Murillo, Mariano Graneros, Juan Bautista Sagárnaga and García Lanza were executed.

May 1810

In Buenos Aires, taking into account Cisneros's conciliatory measures for those involved in the Juntista revolt of January 1, 1809, which culminated on September 22 with a complete amnesty, he was supposed to take similar provisions in Upper Peru: "Everything in Buenos Aires is settled...the prisoners from day 1 are free and we are all friends, and the same will be done with those in Peru...the half-bullies in La Paz and Chuquisaca are quiet, if I could speak, I would say what causes those noises, but from afar."

When the news of the repression became known, the reaction was profoundly negative in all parties and, if this behavior had been adopted by Cisneros in order to intimidate and strengthen his authority, it turned out to be counterproductive:

"At the end of January the vague news of the pacification of La Paz and Chuquisaca begin to come; but all those who are not predisposed by a personal spirit believe that they must have treated them as the wicked of this city in 1 January 1809 and that both the virrey Cisneros and Nieto have proceeded unfailingly leaving those possessions to the Goyeneche women and Abamous

Matheu, Autobiographyin paragraph 129, May Library, page 2286/7.

Manuel Moreno stated in the same sense that "Such acts of barbarism made Cisneros's authority odious and soon turned the coldness of the inhabitants towards a leader without support into contempt. The unfortunate events of the metropolis came to precipitate the conclusion of the scene. In effect, upon learning of the fall of Seville and the dissolution of the Central Board, in the open Town Hall on May 22, the Cisneros and on the 23rd a meeting was formed chaired by the former viceroy. Short-lived, it allowed Cisneros (signing as viceroy and not as president so that his order would be obeyed), through pressure, to commute the exile arranged for the priest Medina. On May 25, 1810, a new board was formed without Cisneros, the first chaired by an American.

By mail that arrived in Chuquisaca on June 23, Nieto and Sanz learned of Cisneros' dismissal. They placed themselves under the orders of the Viceroy of Peru, described Buenos Aires as insurgent and asked for help. On the morning of the 26th, the troops of the patrician and arribeños corps of Buenos Aires were disarmed and their troops were 'quinted', that is, one out of every five was drawn and those who had the right number, between fifty to sixty men, were sent with handcuffs in their hands and walking to Potosí, where Paula Sanz sent them to work in the mines of the Cerro de Potosí, where more than a third died in less than three months. In On the night of the 25th, the soldiers had toasted Cornelio Saavedra upon learning that he was presiding over the meeting but without knowing if it was legal or not.

Given the news, Nieto released Fernández, Aníbarro, Gutiérrez, Toro and Amaya and confined the oidores to the provinces of Peru of his choice and the others, including Dr. Pedro José Rivera detained in Oruro, he dispatched them to Lima at the disposal of Abascal, who sent them to the Casas Matas prison, from where they left by amnesty decree of the Cortes of Cádiz on October 15, 1810.

With his troops and four companies from Potosí under the command of Colonel González Socasa, Nieto headed to Santiago de Cotagaita, about 400 km north of San Salvador de Jujuy, where he had trenches built across the width of the ravine and ditches opened. in front of the river, while Abascal sent the bodies of the Fijo or Real de Lima, organized others in his provinces and addressed proclamations to the towns of Upper Peru, including one in which he stated that the Americans had been born to be slaves, words that only served to give impetus to the revolution.

The fate of the Buenos Aires revolutionaries in the hands of Nieto to win this was not going to be different from that of the people of La Paz. After having "quintado" To the patricians, about which he publicly flattered himself, he stated in a letter to Montevideo of July 26: "I will command the entire army as general in chief, bringing in its divisions leaders of my satisfaction, such as the Mr. Brigadier José Manuel de Goyeneche, accustomed to diligently correcting the same crimes. And then:"With Santa Fe taken, which must be one of my main goals, Buenos Aires remains..., they will be more or less narrowed so that they can enter into their duties, without forgetting the punishment of the authors of so many evils: I have in my possession several offices of the revolutionary Junta that I have not put to their proper use, because I hope to have the satisfaction of making them eat in equal proportions to the dirty and vile insurgents who have sent them to me...."

Meanwhile, the Army of the North or Army of Peru, advanced rapidly in its "First auxiliary expedition to Upper Peru". When the patriot advance became known, new movements that adhered to the Junta of Buenos Aires began to break out. On September 14, 1810, the Cochabamba revolution took place; on September 24, a junta was formed in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in which Juan Manuel Lemoine and the envoy of the First Junta of Buenos Aires, Eustaquio Moldes, participated. On October 6, Oruro also spoke out and on October 14, after the rebel victory in the Battle of Aroma, the siege on the royalist rearguard was closed.

Around a thousand men commanded by Antonio González Balcarce and Eustoquio Díaz Vélez, with Juan José Castelli as representative of the Junta, faced Nieto's troops on October 27 in the Battle of Cotagaita. After bombarding the enemy trenches with little artillery and failing to capture the position, the revolutionary forces withdrew to the south. On November 5, the Peruvian forces advanced after Balcarce and entered Tupiza. On November 7 they faced each other in the battle of Suipacha, where the Argentine army obtained its first victory over that of José de Córdoba, who had raised a flag of war to the death and advanced to the Desaguadero River, the limit of the viceroyalty. General Juan Martín de Pueyrredón was named president of the Charcas Court.

When news of the defeat reached him, Nieto destroyed the fortifications in Cotagaita and with the parish priest of Tupiza and some officers he tried to flee but was captured in Lípez. A party went out in search of the prisoner, made up of soldiers from the companies of patricians that Nieto had sent to work in the Potosí sinkhole four months before.

Córdoba fled with the remains of his army to Cotagaita and the day after the battle he wrote to Balcarce:

"You came into the lid and now I'm giving the most active orders to join what the unworthy President has spread. I recognize the Board, I submit to it, the same as this marine, and the same as the troops that I have commanded, for this I have given very narrow orders. "

Castelli told him to surrender to the generosity of the Junta Government but rightly fearing for his fate he tried to flee to Chuquisaca, being arrested near Potosí. Paula Sanz delayed her departure from Potosí, so when on November 10 a letter from Castelli arrived in the city announcing his imminent arrival and ordering the council to arrest the governor, Paula Sanz was also arrested. Nieto, Córdoba and Paula Sanz were thus detained in the Potosí Mint for a month.

Courts at the Potosí General Headquarters, on December 14, 1810, the aforementioned Sanz, Nieto and Córdoba were sentenced as prisoners of high treason, usurpation and public disturbance even with violence and hand. armed, to suffer the death penalty"and on December 15, 1819 at 10 in the morning they were put on their knees in the Plaza Mayor and shot.

Controversy

This event, known in Bolivia as the First Libertarian Cry of America, or the Spark of American liberation, is considered by much of the historiographic tradition as the first of the independence movements in Hispanic America.

Many agree with that position. The radical independence leader, and a main participant in the events, Bernardo de Monteagudo considered it, already in 1812, as the beginning of the Río de la Plata Revolution when writingEssay on the Río de la Plata Revolution from the May 25, 1809, in the newspaper Mártir o Libre, on the third anniversary of the revolution. Foreign historians such as Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna call Chuquisaca, the "volcanic cradle of the revolution". On May 25, 1825, Antonio José de Sucre himself ordered that the events of the Revolution of 1809 be publicly commemorated, and he paid his personal tribute to the revolutionaries of Charcas, for having been the first to proclaim the independence of America.

However, in recent historiography a revisionist current has emerged that calls this event a monarchical revolution due to its expressions of loyalty to the monarch. They affirm that it was a revolt that pitted Fernandistas and Carlotistas in a context far from independence intentions, criticizing its current status as a patriotic civic festival. It is contrasted with the July 16 revolution in La Paz, which is considered an openly pro-independence revolution, and the Tuitiva Junta is pointed out as the first 'free government' of South America and origin of Spanish-American independence.

In order not to fall into a controversy that may turn out to be sterile and artificial, it is obvious that the public and private motivations of the participants in this movement were dissimilar, concurrent and in many cases contradictory: the Carlottist threat, fear for the fate of Spain, the illegitimacy of the mandate of the Junta of Seville and its arrogance, the pre-existing confrontation between the governor and the oidores, supported by the Cloister, which confronted the bishop and the ecclesiastical chapter, localism and the ambition to maintain the margins of independence of Buenos Aires and Lima achieved since the English Invasions, economic interests, jealousy, hatred and personal affections, etc. And without a doubt, also desires for independence, whether for some in the form of meetings faithful to the monarch, or for others on the path to the republic. Commissioners to other cities were of the latter position.

The same can be said with the variants of the case of the movements of July in La Paz (where the mask of fidelity to the monarch was also maintained in official letters to the authorities), of May 1810 in Buenos Aires, and in general of any American uprising.

On the other hand, although the revolution in La Paz was more radical in its goals and in its development, it was that spark ignited in Chuquisaca that made it explode. In one way or another, the events of May 1809 in which some patriots gave up their lives or suffered imprisonment and exile, were with greater or lesser "revolutionary purity" a legitimate antecedent of the American independence movement.