“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ... “MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
Rivera defeated and across the border in Brazil, Guarch left the Uruguayan capital and proceeded to rent several tracts of land from Vázquez between Salto and Brazilian border. From this position in the borderlands, Guarch began to serve as an important factional middleman. He leveraged his connections to merchants in Montevideo like Vázquez along with ties to Rivera to foster commercial relationships with the Brazilian ranching community. When the initial power struggle in Rio Grande do Sul gradually deepened into a full blown civil war in 1836, Guarch was well-placed to secure commercial linkages with the rebellious ranchers just across the border. To that end, Vázquez issued a power of attorney to Guarch in order to negotiate the sale of his lands around Salto to Farrapos supporters seeking to move their herds across the border to avoid the conflict. Guarch immediately traveled north, crossing the border into Brazil. There, he met with Manoel José de Carvalho, a wealthy rancher with extensive lands between Alegrete and Uruguaiana. The men negotiated the sale of 12 leagues of Vázquez’s land. 26 Guarch consummated the deal with Carvalho in May of 1836. The men agreed for Carvalho to purchase the property through two payments in 1837 and 1838, with the final amount to be determined once the actual property boundaries were affixed through a formal survey. The following year, Carvalho tendered the first payment of 14,000 silver patações, a massive sum, for Vázquez’s tract. 27 26 Carvalho in fact operated one of the largest ranching operations in the region. At the time of his death, Carvalho possessed the second largest estate in Alegrete for the period between 1831 and 1870. Farinatti, "Confins Meridionais", 54. 27 APRGS. Alegrete. Tabelionato. Registros Diversos, Registro de hum recibo passado por D. Fructuoso Rivera e D. Elias dos Reis a Manuel José de Carvalho (April 23, 1840), 83. Patações are the Portuguese term for one of the “national” currencies from Argentina circulating throughout the region – the patacón. These were originally silver dollars. Later there were paper bills that in theory could be converted into an equivalent amount of specie. 76
Guarch’s deal with Carvalho reveals how forging cross-border linkages provided a critical mechanism for borderlands ranchers and traders to cope with pervasive political violence. Specifically, the transaction allowed Carvalho to escape the revolution in his home province while simultaneously securing political and commercial allies in the Estado Oriental to protect his assets there. Arrangements like the one between Carvalho and Guarch provided peripheral inhabitants with room to maneuver as military fortunes on either side of the porous border shifted. They were part of the strategies developed in the periphery to deal with the crisis of order sweeping the region. Conversely, the specifics of Guarch’s land transaction also reveal how cross-border commercial ties and factional conflicts in the borderlands often reinforced one another in a dialectical fashion. Rather than receive the money directly, Guarch and Vázquez arranged for Rivera, the original donor of their lands along the Estado Oriental’s northern border, to receive payment directly from Carvalho. 28 Throughout 1838, Guarch further secured several loans for Rivera in exchange for lands in the northern borderlands. 29 These transactions aimed to bolster Rivera’s position as his colorados and their allies throughout the Río de la Plata basin attempted to take advantage of shifting political circumstances to overthrow Rosas and Oribe. Thus, as Carvalho moved to seek refuge from conflicts in Rio Grande do Sul, his efforts financed a growing colorado insurrection in the Estado Oriental. In this case, international tensions paved the way for Rivera to regain power across the border. As Rosas tightened his control over Buenos Aires province, he equally imposed tariff measures designed to secure porteño control over rivertine trade along the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers. The French government, which sought direct access to the interior markets 28 Ibid. 29 Sala de Touron, Alonso Eloy, and Rodríguez, El Uruguay Comercial, 245. 77
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Guarch’s deal with Carvalho reveals how forging cross-border linkages provided a<br />
critical mechanism for borderlands ranchers and traders to cope with pervasive political<br />
violence. Specifically, the transaction allowed Carvalho to escape the revolution in his home<br />
province while simultaneously securing political and commercial allies in the Estado Oriental<br />
to protect his assets there. Arrangements like the one between Carvalho and Guarch<br />
provided peripheral inhabitants with room to maneuver as military fortunes on either side of<br />
the porous border shifted. They were part of the strategies developed in the periphery to<br />
deal with the crisis of order sweeping the region.<br />
Conversely, the specifics of Guarch’s land transaction also reveal how cross-border<br />
commercial ties and factional conflicts in the borderlands often reinforced one another in a<br />
dialectical fashion. Rather than receive the money directly, Guarch and Vázquez arranged<br />
for Rivera, the original donor of their lands along the Estado Oriental’s northern border, to<br />
receive payment directly from Carvalho. 28 Throughout 1838, Guarch further secured several<br />
loans for Rivera in exchange for lands in the northern borderlands. 29 These transactions<br />
aimed to bolster Rivera’s position as his colorados and their allies throughout the Río de la<br />
Plata basin attempted to take advantage of shifting political circumstances to overthrow<br />
Rosas and Oribe. Thus, as Carvalho moved to seek refuge from conflicts in Rio Grande do<br />
Sul, his efforts financed a growing colorado insurrection in the Estado Oriental.<br />
In this case, international tensions paved the way for Rivera to regain power across<br />
the border. As Rosas tightened his control over Buenos Aires province, he equally imposed<br />
tariff measures designed to secure porteño control over rivertine trade along the Paraná and<br />
Uruguay Rivers. The French government, which sought direct access to the interior markets<br />
<br />
28 Ibid.<br />
29 Sala de Touron, Alonso Eloy, and Rodríguez, El Uruguay Comercial, 245.<br />
77 <br />
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