“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

Throughout the early 1830s, the Uruguayan commander and Fructuoso Rivera, the current
president, appeared locked in an escalating struggle to control lands and cattle throughout
the countryside. Whereas merchants like Agustín Guarch and his Brazilian associates around
Uruguaiana and Alegrete had gravitated towards Rivera’s circle, Gonçalves served as
Lavalleja’s ally and protector throughout the borderlands around Cerro Largo. When
Lavalleja prepared to revolt against Rivera’s government in 1832, Gonçalves facilitated
transactions between the Uruguayan commander and Brazilian merchants in order to bolster
his Uruguayan allies’ military and political position. In exchange, Lavalleja promised “that all
the Brazilians who assisted him in his undertaking would receive title to their lands
immediately after the war.” 18 Once again, reciprocal relationships drove borderlands ties on
both sides of the border.
When Lavalleja’s 1832 uprising against Rivera failed, Gonçalves arranged for the
Uruguayan commander to retreat across the border and take shelter in Rio Grande do Sul. 19
The imperial government quickly grew alarmed at the incursion of a foreign force into its
territory. It ordered the provincial president, Manuel Antonio Galvão, to secure their
disarmament and departure from Brazil. The empire could ill-afford a conflict. It was still
recovering from the prolonged war with Argentina over the borderlands. In 1831, Pedro I
had abdicated the throne in the face of growing opposition to his regime’s failed economic
policies. At the time, his son, Pedro II, was only six years old. A regency government
consisting largely of Brazilian liberals took charge of imperial affairs. The new government
18 Ibid., 109.
19 Rivera employed a similar tactic following his 1838 defeat at the hands of Manuel
Oribe. In that instance, Rivera took refuge around Alegrete, reflecting his connections with
the merchants and political leaders in that community.
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