Joaquín Madariaga
Encyclopedia
Joaquín Madariaga was a soldier and Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 politician. Madariaga was Governor of the Corrientes Province
Corrientes Province
Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...

 and leader of the provinces resistance against the national government of Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...

.

The Revolution of Madariaga

Madariaga was a soldier from a young age in the city of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, and participated in the acts known as the 'Anarchy of 1820'. He returned in 1824 to Corrientes, where he worked as a lawyer without having qualified as one and became a judge in the provincial capital.

Years later he relocated to Curuzú Cuatiá
Curuzú Cuatiá
Curuzú Cuatiá is a city in the south of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 36,000 inhabitants as of the , and is the head town of the Curuzú Cuatiá Department....

, where he dedicated himself to rural work. He was deputy in the Provinivial Legislature during the governorship of Genaro Berón de Astrada and after the governor's death he supported the revolution that overthrew the federal governor Romero. Pedro Ferré named Joaquín's brother, Juan Madariaga, as commander of Mercedes
Mercedes, Corrientes
Mercedes is a city in the center of the . It is a first-class municipality with a population of about 35,000 inhabitants , and the head town of the department of the same name, which also includes the towns of Felipe Yofre and Mariano I. Loza...

 and Curuzú Cuatiá. He helped Juan Lavalle
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...

 form the army with which he conducted the campaign of Entre Rios
Entre Rios
Entre Rios may refer to:*Entre Rios, Santa Catarina, a city of the Santa Catarina State, Brazil...

 in 1840.

Upon the arrival of José Maria Paz
José María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil War.-Childhood:...

 in Corrientes
Corrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...

, he participated in the campaign against the first invasion of the Governor of Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....

, Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe, was an Argentine soldier and politician. He served as Governor of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe provinces and Minister of War and Navy during the governments of Urquiza and Derqui...

. Alongside his brother, Juan fought in the Battle of Caaguazú
Battle of Caaguazú
The Battle of Caaguazú took place in Mercedes Department, in Corrientes Province, Argentina on 28 November 1841, during the Argentine Civil War, between the forces of Entre Ríos Province, commanded by brigadier Pascual Echagüe and Corrientes Province, under brigadier José María Paz, with a sound...

, Paz's most brilliant victory. In 1842 they were defeated in the Battle of Arroyo Grande. They retreated toward Corrientes but they were denied by the Ferré government, forcing them to retreat to their ranches to save their family and property. From there they fled to Brazil, residing for some time in Alegrete
Alegrete
Alegrete is a town and a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul located in southern Brazil. Its medium altitude is 102 m. Its estimated population in 2008 was 78,984 inhabitants and the total area is 7,803.967 km² . Its inhabitants are called Alegretenses.Alegrete was settled in 1816 and became a...

.

On April 1, 1843, the Madariaga brothers and some more officials crossed the Uruguay River
Uruguay River
The Uruguay River is a river in South America. It flows from north to south and makes boundary with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of the Mesopotamia from the other two countries...

 near Uruguaiana
Uruguaiana
Uruguaiana is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located on the left-hand shore of the Uruguay River that forms the border with Argentina. Opposite Uruguaiana, and joined to it by a road/railway bridge, lies the Argentine city of Paso de los Libres, Corrientes...

, on what would later be known as the 'Paso de los Libres'. With the support of some leaders like Nicanor Cáceres and Benjamín Virasoro, within thirteen days they occupied the entire province, forcing Governor Pedro Cabral to flee toward the Entre Ríos. The last federal resistance was defeated at the beginning of May in the battle of Laguna Brava.

Campaigns against Rosas

The Madariaga brothers convened a supportive legislature that named Joaquín Madariaga as governor. He assumed that position August 1, 1843. His first measure was to annul any measures enacted by Cabral, and sanction Ferré for having abandoned the province.

He formed a unitarian party distinct from that which had supported Ferré among which were Juan Pujol, Valdez and Acosta; later, this would be the base of the liberal party, and their opponents, such as the supporters of Ferré and Virasoro, would become the autonomist party.

In December 1843, both brothers invaded Entre Ríos, taking advantage that Urquiza was in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 pursuing Rivera. The Entrerrianan reserve of Eugenio Garzón was defeated, but upon arriving at Concepción del Uruguay
Concepción del Uruguay
Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina.It is located in the Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 65,000 inhabitants .-History:...

 they learned that Urquiza had defeated Rivera and was returning. The retreat that followed transformed into a flight and they lost all they had gained.

Just after returning to Corrientes, it confiscated a Paraguayan shipment that sailed through the Parana River. The government of Carlos Antonio López was about to declare war but Santiago Derqui
Santiago Derqui
Santiago Rafael Luis Manuel José María Derqui Rodríguez was president of Argentina from March 5, 1860 to November 5, 1861. He was featured on the 10 Australes note, which is now obsolete....

 was able to negotiate a peace treaty, a navigation and commerce treaty and a little later an alliance against the Rosas.

In November 1844 General Paz arrived at Corrientes, and immediately, Madariaga put him in control of the provincial forces. The General dedicated many months to training the inexperienced troops. In June 1845 he sent an expedition to Santa Fe under former Governor Juan Pablo López
Juan Pablo Lopez
Juan Pablo López is an undefeated Mexican professional boxer in the Light Welterweight division.-Professional career:On April 10, 2010, Lopez beat Daniel Eduardo Yocupicio by 2nd round K.O...

's command, though without success.

At the beginning of the following year, a force of 3,000 Paraguayans was established under the control of the son of the current president and future president Francisco Solano López
Francisco Solano López (politician)
Francisco Solano López Carrillo was president of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was officially the eldest son of president Carlos Antonio López, whom he succeeded...

. A little later, Urquiza invaded Corrientes and both defeated and took Juan Madariaga prisoner at Laguna Limpia. He did not try to attack the defensive positions of Paz but rather turned back. He promptly set free the brother of the governor and signed a peace treaty.

General Paz decided to overthrow the Madariaga brothers. To his surprise, the troops remained loyal and he had to flee to Paraguay. President Lopez retired his army and cancelled the alliance.

Potrero de Vences

Free from the arrogance of Paz, the negotiations advanced rapidly, and in August 1846 the Treaty of Alcaraz was signed. Through this Corrientes was reincorporated in the Confederation and the control of foreign relations was given back to Rosas; however, Corrientes was released from the obligation to support the Great War in Uruguay. Rosas demanded modifications to the treaty but they were rejected by Madariaga.

In March of the following year, Rosas ordered Urquiza to attack Madariaga in Corrientes. Colonel Virasora joined the forces with Urquiza in the invasion that began by the end of that year. On November 27, 1847, Urquiza shredded the Corrientian army controlled by the Madriaga brothers in the Battle of Vences or the Potrero de Vences. The Corrientians suffered 700 deaths and 2,200 prisoners, many of which were executed after the battle.

The following day, Colonel Miguel Virasoro occupied the government that he would leave to general Benjamín Madariaga one month later. Almost alone, the ex governor Madariaga fled to Paraguay and directed himself to Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...

, where he planned to drag President López into the war against Rosas. He failed and went to Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he died in February 1848.

Sources

  • Castello, Antonio Emilio, Hombres y mujeres de Corrientes, Ed. Moglia, Corrientes, 2004.
  • Beverina, Juan, Las campañas de los ejércitos libertadores 1838-1852, Bs. As., 1923.
  • Bosch, Beatriz, Urquiza y su tiempo.
  • Castello, Antonio Emilio, Historia de Corrientes, Ed. Plus Ultra, Bs. As., 1991.
  • Bosch, Beatriz, Historia de Entre Ríos, Ed. Plus Ultra, Bs. As., 1991.
  • Zinny, José Antonio, Historia de los gobernadores de las Provincias Argentinas, Ed, Hyspamérica, 1987.
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