“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

including Uruguaiana and its prosperous hinterlands, Alegrete was equally a strategic center
for borderlands politics and the legal proceedings that intertwined with them. Like in the
rest of Rio Grande do Sul, the political divisions between the Liga and Contra-Liga appeared
in Alegrete during the 1852 elections. Although the town itself was staunchly Liberal,
factions divided along lines of personal loyalty to competing political heads as they struggled
to control and expand networks of privilege and political patronage.
In Alegrete, the Contra-Liga or progressistas centered on Bento Manuel Ribeiro, his son
Severino Ribeiro de Almeida and his nephew Francisco Ribeiro de Almeida. Bento Ribeiro
had fought for both the imperial government and the Farrapos rebels during the provincial
revolution. He had switched sides three times as military fortunes shifted. Following the
war, the family continued its military service. Bento remained an officer in the imperial
army. Severino in turn served as a commander in the National Guard along the border near
Uruguaiana, as well as in Alegrete. The Ribeiros were also successful ranchers. During his
travels, Avé-Lallemant passed through their ranch located between Uruguaiana and Alegrete.
He described the family as the “most esteemed throughout the region.” 21 The traveler
particularly noted the Ribeiro’s wealth. He commented: “the ranch is a model of order and
provision. The residence is massive and well constructed. I even found a library there, a
sign of considerable progress in such wild regions.” 22 As political lines sharpened after the
1860 elections, the Ribeiros remained committed to the progressistas, backing their slate in
regional and national elections.
Opposing them in Alegrete was a second group loosely aligned with the Liga. They
were locally led by Joaquim dos Santos Prado Lima, a former Farrapos official. Like the
21 Avé-Lallemant, Viagem Pela Província do Rio Grande do Sul, 314.
22 Ibid.
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