“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

part of a broader narrative of confiscation of Brazilian property by Uruguayan officials. 52
This was a typical colorado refrain. It echoed their support for appeals nearly a decade earlier
by Brazilian ranchers to imperial officials to protect their property across the border and in
the process intervene to weaken the blancos then controlling the countryside.
This new proceeding presented another opportunity for Sañudo and his factional
allies to not only protect their commercial interests, but also attack their blanco rivals by again
linking them to violations of the rights of Brazilian residents. Not surprisingly, Judge Chirif
seized the chance Sañudo presented him. He ordered the estate assets returned to Sañudo as
Benita’s trustee. Yet the new order still did not resolve matters. Aguirre responded that he
could not carry out the request. Enraged, Sañudo complained that the court should not
tolerate a response from Aguirre “as brutal as it is stupid.” 53 Chirif then issued a second
order demanding that the juez de paz comply with the decision and eject the trespassers.
Aguirre continued to drag his feet. It appeared that the two Uruguayan judicial officials
might come to blows over the property dispute. The file then suddenly ends, perhaps
indicating that Sañudo and Chirif finally succeeded in enforcing their rights or more likely
grew tired of litigating them. 54
Sañudo’s and Fermin’s respective uses of citizenship to support their positions
revealed how much a threat debates over the boundaries of citizenship could be for internal
order. As Fermin attempted to protect himself and other Brazilians of color from the slave
system across the border, he disturbed cross-border economic connections and produced
new rounds of factional violence. Faced with the seizure of his property, Sañudo equally
turned to distinctions between citizen and foreigner to articulate a basis for legal protection.
52 Benton, "The Laws of This Country."
53 Felizberta Benita da Mota por la casa de Joaquim Gonzaga Ferreira, 11.
54 Ibid., 13-14.
281