“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

Bica had used commercial and political alliances throughout the borderlands to
rebuild his personal reputation and commercial connections in Corrientes. He then used his
renewed power to undermine his blanco rivals back across the Uruguay River in Salto. A case
in 1859, the same year Bica became juez de paz in Monte Caseros, shows how Bica deployed
his personal reputation and connections to challenge his factional rivals. The case began
when Manuel Rodriguez petitioned officials in Salto for a dismissal from the local militia.
Rodriguez argued that his conscription into the Uruguayan army was illegal because he was a
Brazilian citizen. 221 In order to pursue his petition, Rodriguez appeared before the Brazilian
vice-counsel in Salto. He obtained a letter establishing his national identity. Blanco officials
were unimpressed. Lucas Piris flatly refused to acknowledge the letter, arguing bluntly that
he knew Rodriguez and his family personally and that they were Uruguayan. He ordered
Rodriguez arrested. 222
Bica seized Rodriguez’s case as an opportunity to challenge the blanco officials in
Salto that had driven him across the river into Corrientes. Bica first ensured that the
Brazilian vice-counsel in Salto investigated the matter. He then sent written evidence to
Salto with Teodoro Bravo, an entrerriano merchant. The documents purported to establish
that Rodriguez in fact had been born across the border in Alegrete. He further arranged for
Rodriguez’s mother to draft a petition on her son’s behalf. Given that Rodriguez’s mother
was illiterate and required assistance even signing her name, Bica likely played a substantial
role in drafting her statements. Not surprisingly, the petitioned echoed Bica’s claims that
221 Celador Manuel Rodriguez, sumaria información para declarasen la nacionalidad de dicho
individuo en virtud de haber presentado carta de ciudadano Brasileño, AGN. Salto. Jefatura, No. 240
(1859).
222 Ibid., 4.
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