“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

the concept of “honorable vecinos” appearing in local fora to offer reputational testimony.
The jury dismissed the charges against Cardoso outright. However, it did authorize charges
against Figuero on much weaker evidence. In response, Figuero produced ample proof that
at the time of the invasion he was conducting operations around Santana do Livramento,
making it “impossible” for him to have participated. 33 The Alegrete jury then dismissed the
case. The acquittal effectively ratified the actions of the Brazilian commanders. It publicly
manifested the support of the local community for the california raids. In the process, it
bolstered the commanders’ personal prestige as defenders of the local community and its
cross-border rights.
As Oribe and his blancos struggled to control Uruguay’s northern borders, their
efforts increasingly clashed with the borderlands legalities underpinning the authority of
prominent Brazilians. Throughout 1848, the collisions between these two sovereign
conceptions progressively escalated. By 1850, Francisco Pedro de Abreu, one of the most
prominent frontier commanders, had organized a fighting force of some 1,500 men to
conduct raids to seize cattle and affect reprisals against Uruguayan violations of Brazilian
properties. The repeated raids and reprisals once again destabilized the borderlands.
Imperial officials again found themselves being pulled into the political conflicts raging
throughout the Río de la Plata. This time, however, the empire would side with its
borderlands subjects in their struggles against the extension state-centered sovereignties and
putative national divisions.
Towards Caseros
33 Justiça c. Hypolito Firio Cardoso e Cándido Figuero. Figuero’s alibi actually was not very
good. The jury without a doubt knew that Cardoso could have easily crossed the border and
participated in the raids from Santana do Livramento.
138