“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

that department, Colonel Diego Lamas.” 154 Teixeira argued that Lima entered into an
agreement with Lamas to remove cattle from da Silva’s lands. He concluded that his client,
“[found] himself beyond the law, like so many others, when Lamas destroyed all of their
possessions.” 155
The district court in Alegrete agreed with Teixeira’s version of events. It concluded
that Lima’s purported property rights instead represented the poisonous fruit of illegal blanco
coercion. Much like he had done against Prado Lima in their local dispute, Teixeira again
demonstrated his faction’s ability to dictate private law rights by obtaining a verdict in da
Silva’s favor. By effectively providing legal patronage to factional allies, Teixeira could
enhance his own faction’s political position in Alegrete’s comarca. This time, however, the
Alegrete court’s decision impacted the property rights of two Brazilians across the border in
Uruguay. The determination of property rights in the neighboring republic represented an
important front in the clashes between the Ribeiros and Canabarro to control the
administration of justice in Alegrete. Their interventions in conflicts over land, herds and
other rights, particularly within the large Brazilian community located in the northern
Uruguayan borderlands, provided the rival factions with a means to bolster reciprocal ties.
Teixeira’s emphasis on blanco coercion also underlined how these legal maneuverings
to win allies in Brazilian struggles fed back into local legal clashes occurring on both sides of
the border. The persistent violence between blancos and colorados created a wealth of
opportunities for Brazilian elites to intervene in disputes in the neighboring republic. As the
governing blancos attempted to adjudicate property rights in the Uruguayan Republic, the
constant interventions by the Ribeiros and Canabarro provided factional rivals with a
154 Ibid.
155 Ibid.
221