“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

They requested that the Junta appoint a new viceroy that would be friendlier to the European
Spaniards’ interests than Liniers.
Representatives from Montevideo finally succeeded in convincing Spanish officials
that the French-born Liniers was a traitor who would tender the viceroyalty to Napoleon
and his brother. The Junta Central appointed Baltasar de Cisneros, a veteran of Trafalgar, as
the new viceroy. Cisneros’ arrival in Montevideo in 1809 temporarily defused the tensions
between the two ports. Despite accusations of treason, Cisneros successfully arranged for a
peaceful transition of power. Liniers renounced his office and Cisneros pardoned the militia
commander. Once in office in Buenos Aires, Cisneros faced the delicate task of bridging the
growing chasm between European and Creole Spaniards. He was not up to it. Lacking
funds, Cisneros was forced to continue to rely on the Creole militias in the capital to
maintain order. At the same time, the European faction continued to demand that the new
viceroy restore their privileged position within the colonies.
Caught between the two factions, Cisneros sided with the Creoles, particularly on the
issue of trade. In November of 1809, he acceded to American demands to open Buenos
Aires’ port to free trade. This action, aimed directly at the trading privileges of peninsular
elites, heightened tensions between political rivals both in Buenos Aires and between the
viceregal capital and European-controlled Montevideo. It also revealed the eroding political
power of the viceregal office, now almost wholly dependent on Creole militias to maintain
control in the capital. 12
The colonial apparatus was wobbling. In May of 1810, the rush of events in Spain
finally knocked it over. News arrived in the Río de la Plata of the collapse of Spanish
resistance on the peninsula and the disbandment of the Junta Central. Rumors swirled
12 Halperín Donghi, Rovolución y Guerra.
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