Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas y López de Osornio (born Juan Manuel Ortiz de Rozas, 1793-1877) was a conservative Argentinian politician who ruled Argentina from 1829 to 1852. Rosas was one of the first of famous caudillos in Latin America.

Rosas came on to the national scene as a powerful cattle rancher. He controlled the cattle frontier pampa of Argentina, allowing him rule over the capital, Buenos Aires. Rosas defeated the European expeditionary forces in 1820 with the help of gauchos.

In 1829, Rosas became governor of Buenos Aires. In subsequent years, Rosas went in and out of power over this period but remained a strong leader. During his years out of office (1832-1835) Rosas fought against indigenous population in southern Argentina.

As a conservative leader, Rosas portrayed himself as a man of the people who could relate to the working class of gauchos and African Americans. Rosas used "his man of the people ideal to unify Argentina during his era. Rosas supporters called themselves Rosistas. Rosas rule was filled with violence -- he killed his opponents and anyone who would not support him. A story related by Charles Darwin in his travel journals, tells how Rosas had himself put in the stocks for inadvertantly breaking his own rule of not wearing knives on Sundays. This appealed to his men's sense of egalitarianism and justice.

Rosas attempted to reincorporate Uruguay and Paraguay as Argentinean provinces and this lead to two European blockades of Buenos Aires. During Rosas ruling the Falkland Islands were captured by England. Rosas wanted to rid Argentina of European influence and cultivate a feeling of nationalism among Argentinians.

Rosas opponents during his rule were liberals such as Juan Bautista Alberdi, Bartolomé Mitre, and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. Rosas liberal opponents were exiled to other countries such as Uruguay and Chile.

In 1852 Rosas was overthrown by Justo José de Urquiza under the support of Uruguay and Brazil; his army was defeated at Monte Caseros. Rosas spent the rest of his life in exile in England as a farmer in Southampton.

See also

History of Argentina