“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

and others.” These men “insinuated to the President of the Corporation [Guimaraens] that
they believed (and not in error) that [Larrondo] was engaged in some sort of abuses contrary
to the interests of the general public.” In this way, Gomez implicitly aligned Guimaraens
with the interests of Salto’s prominent vecinos. Gomez deliberately sought to place himself
and his allies on the JEA in the position of protectors of the community and its economic
interests. 8
Gomez then drew an explicit contrast between these virtuous local leaders and
Guarch and his supporters. Gomez made clear that the struggle over the Raffo tract and
others was about which group the city could properly trust to manage local economic
resources. Gomez went into detail about the specific land transactions conducted by the
“speculative circle” around Larrondo and his allies. He noted that Larrondo had himself
claimed some 14 tracts of land on which “old vecinos” had settled. He further claimed that
Emilio Thevenet, a prominent local official and ally of Guarch’s on the JEA, had conspired
to claim another tract of land from a local widow. Gomez alleged that Thevenet had used
his claims to extort some 500 pesos from the woman. Finally, Gomez referenced the Falcon
group’s actions against Raffo. 9
Gomez’s accusations again touched on the shared principles and values rooted in
personal reputations and reciprocity that made up notions of vecindad. Gomez assailed the
reputation of the Guarch faction. He stressed their assault on the property rights of
established vecinos. He took pains to note instances in which they sought to defraud women
of their rightful claims. Gomez’s implication was clear: as outsiders motivated by their
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
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