The thirty-three Orientals
The Thirty-three Orientals (Spanish: Los Treinta y Tres Orientales ) was a group of freedom fighters led by Juan Antonio Lavallejas , who perpetrated an armed uprising in 1825 from what is now Argentina . The goal was the independence of the eastern provinces of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (the area of today 's Uruguay and part of the current Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul ), which were under the rule of Brazil at that time .
The history
Between 1816 and 1820 the United Kingdom invaded Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve and occupied the Oriental province. The Brazilian armed forces defeated the soldiers of José Gervasio Artigas , who gave up the province after his defeat in 1820 and went into exile in Paraguay .
In 1822 and 1823, a separatist movement directed by supporters of the various United Provinces of the Río de la Plata was subdued by the Brazilians . The aim of the movement was to unite the Oriental Province with the United Provinces.
In February 1824, the Oriental Province was again annexed to independent Brazil under the name Cisplatina . It had the same name at the time under the former Portuguese colonial government.
The organization
One of the group's military leaders was Juan Antonio Lavalleja, who had already fought against the Portuguese and Brazilians under José Gervasio Artigas . He organized a military expedition from the province of Buenos Aires with the aim of driving the Brazilians out and connecting the Brazilian province of East with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, as the movement of 1822 and 1823 had already attempted.
The expedition had the support of the ranchers and some saladeros ( salt shops ) in the province of Buenos Aires, who saw the Brazilian occupation of the province of Cisplatina as a threat to their interests. The ranchers feared competition from their neighbors from Rio Grande del Sul, who were supplied with beef from Cisplatina. Juan Manuel de Rosas , one of the most important representatives of this group, became an important financier of the anti-Brazilian movement.
The landing
According to Juan Spikerman, a first group under Manuel Oribe set out from San Isidro on April 1 and then camped on the island of Brazo Largo in the Rio Parana. The second group under Lavalleja was held up by a violent storm and did not arrive on the island until April 15th. On April 18, 1825, the men embarked from the island and carefully navigated the islands of the Parana Delta during the night so as not to be discovered by the Brazilian fleet. They crossed the Uruguay River in two boats and landed on the morning of April 19th on the Agraciada bank, also known as "Arenal Grande", in Soriano Department . She unfolded the flag from three horizontal stripes of blue, white and red, colors traditionally used by federalists since the time of Artigas, not only in the eastern province but also in other areas of the La Plata region. Later, in 1877, the event was portrayed by the painter Juan Manuel Blanes .
The action and its consequences
The Treinta y Tres expedition was intended to win the country's inhabitants over to the cause of independence from the Brazilians. The group made their way to Montevideo , where they arrived on May 20, 1825. On June 14, a Provisional Government was installed in the La Florida community , which in turn led to elections. This gave rise to the House of Representatives, better known as the Florida Assembly. The purpose of the meeting was to rewrite the laws of the Oriental Province.
On August 25, the assembly declared the independence of the Oriental Province from Brazil and its alliance with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. The United Provinces then recognized the inclusion of Oriental Province on October 24, 1825. This led to a declaration of war by the Brazilian Empire in December of the same year. The Argentine-Brazilian War had begun.
How many and who were the Thirty-three Orientals?
The actual number of participants in the 1825 expedition has been the subject of controversial discussion as several different lists of members were published between 1825 and 1832. While the number thirty-three is officially accepted, the names differ from one list to another. One of the reasons for this is that some participants later became apostate and efforts were made to erase their names.
Not all participants were from the disputed area; there were also several Argentinians from the islands in Paraná and even Paraguayans. The list includes:
Juan Antonio Lavalleja , Manuel Oribe , Atanasio Sierra, Paul Zufriategui, Simón del Pino, Manuel Freire, Manuel Lavalleja, Jacinto Trápani, Pantaleón Artigas, Manuel Meléndez, Gregorio Sanabria, Santiago Gadea, Juan Spikerman, Andrés Spikerman, Ignacio Núñez, Juan Acosta, Felipe Carapé, Juan Rosas, Celedonio Rojas Avelino Miranda, Agustín Velázquez, Santiago Nieves, Ignacio Medina, Luciano Romero, Juan Ortiz, Ramón Ortiz, Basilio Araujo, Carmelo Colman, Andrés Cheveste, Francisco Lavalleja, Tiburcio Gomez, Joaquin Artigas and Dionisio.
Honor
Today's Uruguayan department Treinta y Tres is named after the group, like its capital , the place 19 de Abril after the date of landing.
Marian title
The " Virgen de los Treinta y Tres " has been venerated in Uruguay since the 19th century . In 1988 she was designated the patron saint of Uruquay by Pope John Paul II , the Santuario Nacional de la Virgen de los Treinta y Tres is a Catholic national shrine in the city of Florida .
literature
- Aníbal Barrios Pintos : Historia de los pueblos orientales: Sus orígenes, procesos fundacionales, sus primeros años, Aníbal Barrios Pintos Libros de la academia , Academia Nacional de Letras, 2000
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b History of Treinta y Tres ( Memento from December 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish accessed on March 15, 2011)
- ↑ Picture assignment of the people, Los Treinta y Tres Orientales (Spanish : accessed on March 15, 2011)
- ^ History of Treinta y Tres ( Memento of August 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), official website of the municipality (Spanish: accessed on March 15, 2011)