Latin-American Studies

Juan Manuel de Rosas was born on March 30, 1793 to one of the richest families in the Rio de la Plata Region. His original full name was Juan Manuel Jos Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y Lpez de Osornio but later change his family name from Rozas to Rosas after her mother accused him of stealing some of their cattles. He worked as an arriero1 at a young age in the fields and then married Mara de la Encarnacin de Ezcurra y Arguibel. Later on, he built a meat-salting plant that flourished in a short period of time. His business was so successful that ranch owners created laws to terminate his plant. He then lived as a gaucho2 after establishing his own ranch. In 1820, a civil war surfaced then Rosas formed a company of gauchos, earning their respect and becoming a hero because of his actions to reinstate piece in his country. He became the governor of Buenos Aires from 1829 to 1832. In spite of the peoples support to Rosas, he did not run for a second term while still having his status as a strong leader. He was then offered absolute power in 1835 and created a militia that tortured and killed anyone who opposed him. During the end of his regime in 1852, some of his trusted officials turned their backs on him and formed an army to overthrow Rosas. After the defeat at the Battle of Caseros, Rosas lost his powers and was exiled to United Kingdom until his death on 1877.

During the regime of Rosas, the Platine region (Argentina and its neighboring countries Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil) was sort of in turmoil. Juan Manuel de Rosas desired to put into reality an old Argentine dream, to restore the past Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. Achieving this dream would make Argentina the center of a dominant and powerful republican nation. Rosas scoured the region to search for people who also have his ideology. He became engrossed even to the neighboring countries domestic politics to gain their trust, thus making them allies. To further get their attention, Rosas, in the long run, financed rebellions and civil wars.

The first term of Rosas as governor of was from 1829 up to 1932. His administration was deemed as one of the most successful in terms of his capability to preserve the harmony among Buenos Aires and the other countryside areas. He was supported by former dictators Facundo  Quiroga and Estanislao Lopez. During his years out of position, Rosas formed a military movement whose goal was to exterminate the indigenous or aboriginal people located in the south of Argentina. They annihilated ethnic groups of nomadic horse-mounted Indians. Because of his actions, he became a man with an astonishing character meeting the requirements to the manners and appeal of the gauchos. He gained a limitless reputation in his nation, thus giving him dictatorial powers.

During the time he was not in position, the country was a total mess so the people reinstated him as the governor. This time, he was different in terms of his policies and actions than during his first term. He became a dictator who necessitated the support to his Federalist government to all of the people. During the time of Rosas second term, citizens are forced to put on the red Federalist insignia. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento described in his book Facundo Or, Civilization and Barbarism The red ribbon is a materialization of the terror that accompanies you everywhere, in the streets, in the bosom of the family it must be thought about when dressing, when undressing, and ideas are always engraved upon us by association3. The streets of Buenos Aires were full of Juan Manuel Rosas pictures. To further implement his will and actions, Rosas created a secret organization of spies and thugs supervised personally by Rosas. The militia was called mazorca4 and its roles on Rosas regime were to put the dictators enemies and critics to jail or exile to other countries, torture and ultimately murder them. Repression of the media was present.

Anyone who opposed the tyrant Rosas was tortured, murdered, or exiled. Some the dissidents during Rosas regime were  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiDomingo_Faustino_Sarmiento o Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento,  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiJosC3A9_MarC3ADa_Paz o Jos Mara Paz Jos Mara Paz, HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiJuan_Bautista_Alberdi o Juan Bautista Alberdi Juan Bautista Alberdi,  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiBartolomC3A9_Mitre o Bartolom Mitre Bartolom Mitre,  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwindex.phptitleSalvador_M._del_Carrilactioneditredlink1 o Salvador M. del Carril (page does not exist) Salvador M. del Carril, and  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiEsteban_Echeverria o Esteban Echeverria Esteban Echeverria. On the last fractions of his tyranny, several trusted officials of Rosas betrayed him and formed an army to put him out of position. One of these was General Urquiza, the governor of the Entre Rios province. Much further, the other provinces as well as Brazil and Uruguay joined the movement to take the throne out of Rosas. Then, the last battle participated by Rosas was his defeat at the Battle of Caseros. He lost his war and was forced to exile to the United Kingdom until he died in 1877.

Life under the cruel regime of the dictator Juan Manuel Rosas was violent. Sarmiento wrote his book Facundo to attack the rule of Rosas. Through his book, Sarmiento introduced education and civilized class to contradict Rosas action of brute force and total political power to get rid of his critics. Rosas had the ideology of recreating the Rio de la Plata, but through the course of his goals, he became cruel and selfish that gave the consequences to the people he was suppose to serve.