Artigas,
José Gervasio
Soldier and revolutionary leader who is regarded as the father of
Uruguayan independence, although that goal was not attained until several years after he
had been forced into exile.
As a youth Artigas was a
gaucho, or cowboy, in the interior of what is now Uruguay. In 1797 he entered the Spanish
military forces, which then were mainly engaged in exterminating bandits. Several years
later (1810) he offered his services to the Buenos Aires junta that was leading an
independence movement against Spain. After winning a brilliant victory at Las Piedras, he
besieged Spanish-held Montevideo for a time. In the face of superior Portuguese forces
(called in from Brazil by the Spaniards), Artigas led a dramatic withdrawal of about
16,000 people from the region into Argentine territory.
Artigas then became the champion
of federalism against the efforts of Buenos Aires to assert centralized control over the
whole Río de la Plata region. In 1814 this struggle became a civil war. At first Artigas
ruled over about 350,000 square miles (900,000 square km) of what is now Uruguay and
central Argentina. His hold, however, was weakened by his insistence on decentralized
government and was finally broken by a Portuguese invasion, which he resisted for three
years. From 1820 he lived in exile in Paraguay; the independence of his native Uruguay was
finally achieved on Aug. 27, 1828.
Lavalleja, Juan Antonio
, c. 1786–1853, Uruguayan
revolutionist. After serving under José Gervasio Artigas, Lavalleja was imprisoned for a
short time by Brazil, then in control of Uruguay. Subsequently he led a small
group—the Thirty-three Immortals—in a declaration of independence from Brazil in
1825. To secure support from Buenos Aires the declaration accepted the sovereignty of the
United Provinces of La Plata (Argentina). After the victory of Ituzaingó (1827), Uruguay
became (1828) an independent buffer state. Two bitter rivals sought the presidency in
1830—Lavalleja and Fructuoso Rivera. Rivera ultimately won power, and the disgruntled
Lavalleja twice (1832, 1834) revolted unsuccessfully. From exile in Buenos Aires he joined
Manuel Oribe against Rivera. A long civil war (1843–51) ensued during which two
parties developed: the Blancos [whites], led by Lavalleja, and the Colorados [reds], led
by Rivera. These rival factions have dominated Uruguayan politics to the present day. When
war ended, Lavalleja was one of a triumvirate chosen (1853) to govern Uruguay, but he died
before serving.
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