“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ... “MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
According to Freitas Valle’s complaint, however, Amaral seized upon the event in order to attempt to influence the impending municipal elections. In the process, he transformed what appeared at first to be a simple criminal act into a major political battleground. As both a supporter of the Ribeiro faction and a member of the election board, Freitas Valle represented a tempting target for Prado Lima’s supporters. Freitas Valle argued that with the 1852 election approaching, Amaral, a supporter of the Liga’s candidates, reopened the investigation. He issued a summons against him for “conspiracy to commit attempted murder.” As Freitas Valle pointed out (correctly), conspiracy to commit attempted murder was “a crime that has never existed.” 25 Convinced of his innocence, Freitas Valle sought to continue to serve on the election board despite the charges pending against him. On election day, however, Prado Lima appeared at Alegrete’s church with the juiz de paz and several police officers. When Freitas Valle appeared to assume his post on the election board, Prado Lima presented him with a warrant from Amaral and then placed him under arrest. Despite Amaral’s actions, the Ribeiro faction triumphed in the 1852 elections. The victory probably was cold comfort for Freitas Valle because he continued to languish in prison a month afterwards. However, the Ribeiro’s electoral victory ensured that the factional battle over the Alegrete courthouse and Freitas Valle’s freedom was far from over. Freitas Valle’s attorney, Mathias Teixeira de Almeida, petitioned the provincial president, João Lins Vieira Cansanção de Sinimbú, to conduct a full investigation into the matter. Teixeira’s appearance in the proceeding was no accident. Rather, Teixeira was a central figure in the Ribeiro faction’s strategy to gain political control over Rio Grande do Sul’s borderlands. Born in Cruz Alta, Teixeira only arrived in Alegrete after the end of the Farrapos War. The reasons for his 25 Ibid., at 14-14bis. 162
move to Alegrete were unclear. During Freitas Valle’s trial, Teixeira’s political enemies in Alegrete accused him of murdering a man and then fleeing the town. 26 More likely, Teixeira traveled to Alegrete to deepen his connections to the Ribeiro network. He possessed longstanding commercial ties to both Freitas Valle and the Ferreira Bica family, each of which was politically and socially connected to the Ribeiros. As the judicial seat for much of these families’ commercial and ranching operations, Alegrete offered Teixeira an excellent venue to deploy his legal skills to assist his political allies. 27 Whatever his reasons, Teixeira quickly developed a thriving legal practice supporting the Ribeiro faction throughout the borderlands from his base in Alegrete. Teixeira appeared in numerous cases in Alegrete and Uruguaiana on behalf of the Ribeiros and their factional allies as both an attorney and public prosecutor. Teixeira’s prominence in the town and in the Ribeiro faction attested to the importance of controlling the local courthouse and with it the expression of borderlands legalities. The Ribeiros cared deeply about the law and spent important resources sustaining Teixeira’s position as the public face of their local judicial apparatus. At the same time, Teixeira was more than willing to resort to violence in connection with litigation. In this way, Teixeira reflected the Janus-faced nature of borderlands legalities, with law and violence tightly intertwining in the service of protecting personal reputations, reciprocal connections and local political power. Teixeira’s background also embodied the legal, yet local and partially stateless nature of borderlands legalities. Despite being the most prominent lawyer in Alegrete for nearly three decades, Teixeira lacked formal legal training. However, Teixeira was clearly well versed in the law. Teixeira possessed a large legal library at the time of his death in 1874 and 26 Ibid., Diario do Rio Grande, no. 1250 (January 30, 1853), included with the case. 27 Inventário de Mathias Texeira de Almeida, APRGS. Alegrete. Cartório Civil. Inventários. Maço 29, No. 370 (1874). 163
- Page 121 and 122: status. Public recognition of one
- Page 123 and 124: They reasoned that “one has to re
- Page 125 and 126: unanimous and respected testimony o
- Page 127 and 128: powerful figures like Urquiza, depe
- Page 129 and 130: CHAPTER 3 SOVEREIGN CONFLICTS THE R
- Page 131 and 132: conflicts between peripheral ranche
- Page 133 and 134: further agreed to provide payments
- Page 135 and 136: Sosa almost immediately responded.
- Page 137 and 138: funds, the imperial government took
- Page 139 and 140: Throughout the early 1830s, the Uru
- Page 141 and 142: Fernandes Braga, the provincial pre
- Page 143 and 144: Frustrated by the lack of progress,
- Page 145 and 146: cataloguing illegal property confis
- Page 147 and 148: also provided prominent local elite
- Page 149 and 150: As the 1850s dawned, the persistent
- Page 151 and 152: traffic along the Uruguay. Rosas fi
- Page 153 and 154: would order, they intend to be resp
- Page 155 and 156: economic and political relationship
- Page 157 and 158: fed back into broader political dis
- Page 159 and 160: advance their visions for a new nat
- Page 161 and 162: Estado Oriental and had fought at C
- Page 163 and 164: Brazilian officials opened secret n
- Page 165 and 166: The 1855 occupation reinvigorated e
- Page 167 and 168: end political violence in the inter
- Page 169 and 170: important) but also dealt with defi
- Page 171: Ribeiros, Prado Lima possessed land
- Page 175 and 176: verification of filings in his foru
- Page 177 and 178: “intimate friend and relative.”
- Page 179 and 180: men. They were capable of protectin
- Page 181 and 182: Nolasco and Vianna responded that t
- Page 183 and 184: in 1834. Joaquim dos Santos Prado L
- Page 185 and 186: Vital de Oliveira, securing his ele
- Page 187 and 188: controlled the appointment of distr
- Page 189 and 190: military control. By engaging in th
- Page 191 and 192: faction’s strength. In particular
- Page 193 and 194: mattered greatly to their own power
- Page 195 and 196: the parties and the public, with ea
- Page 197 and 198: matter, he was an outsider. Tristan
- Page 199 and 200: Tristani then attempted to attack h
- Page 201 and 202: litigation in Alegrete, questions o
- Page 203 and 204: throughout the country that his wor
- Page 205 and 206: his wife. He claimed that she “wa
- Page 207 and 208: and the titles of each litigant in
- Page 209 and 210: judgment declaring their rival’s
- Page 211 and 212: CHAPTER 5 POLITICAL POWER AND PROPE
- Page 213 and 214: property of Joaquim dos Santos Prad
- Page 215 and 216: acknowledged by both court and poss
- Page 217 and 218: Paulo, Sá Brito was one of the few
- Page 219 and 220: Teixeira claimed that Prado Lima ha
- Page 221 and 222: the trial court’s judgment. The c
move to Alegrete were unclear. During Freitas Valle’s trial, Teixeira’s political enemies in<br />
Alegrete accused him of murdering a man and then fleeing the town. 26 More likely, Teixeira<br />
traveled to Alegrete to deepen his connections to the Ribeiro network. He possessed<br />
longstanding commercial ties to both Freitas Valle and the Ferreira Bica family, each of<br />
which was politically and socially connected to the Ribeiros. As the judicial seat for much of<br />
these families’ commercial and ranching operations, Alegrete offered Teixeira an excellent<br />
venue to deploy his legal skills to assist his political allies. 27<br />
Whatever his reasons, Teixeira quickly developed a thriving legal practice supporting<br />
the Ribeiro faction throughout the borderlands from his base in Alegrete. Teixeira appeared<br />
in numerous cases in Alegrete and Uruguaiana on behalf of the Ribeiros and their factional<br />
allies as both an attorney and public prosecutor. Teixeira’s prominence in the town and in<br />
the Ribeiro faction attested to the importance of controlling the local courthouse and with it<br />
the expression of borderlands legalities. The Ribeiros cared deeply about the law and spent<br />
important resources sustaining Teixeira’s position as the public face of their local judicial<br />
apparatus. At the same time, Teixeira was more than willing to resort to violence in<br />
connection with litigation. In this way, Teixeira reflected the Janus-faced nature of<br />
borderlands legalities, with law and violence tightly intertwining in the service of protecting<br />
personal reputations, reciprocal connections and local political power.<br />
Teixeira’s background also embodied the legal, yet local and partially stateless nature<br />
of borderlands legalities. Despite being the most prominent lawyer in Alegrete for nearly<br />
three decades, Teixeira lacked formal legal training. However, Teixeira was clearly well<br />
versed in the law. Teixeira possessed a large legal library at the time of his death in 1874 and<br />
<br />
26 Ibid., Diario do Rio Grande, no. 1250 (January 30, 1853), included with the case.<br />
27 Inventário de Mathias Texeira de Almeida, APRGS. Alegrete. Cartório Civil. Inventários.<br />
Maço 29, No. 370 (1874).<br />
163 <br />
Change language