Friday May 18, 1810
Viceroy Cisneros attempted to conceal the news from the people; however, the rumour had already spread throught Buenos Aires. He decided then to give his own version of the facts through a proclamation, while trying to calm down the Criollos. He asked for allegiance to King Ferdinand, but popular unrest continued to intensify. Despite being aware of the news, he only said that the situation in the Peninsula was delicate, but did not confirm the fall of the Junta.
Saturday May 19
During the night of May 19 there were further discussions at Rodríguez Peña house. It was requested to Viamonte to call Saavedra, who joined the meeting. There was a number of both military leaders, such as Rodríguez, Ocampo, Balcarce, Díaz Vélez, and civil ones such as Castelli, Vieytes, Alberti or Paso. It was decided to make Belgrano and Saavedra met with senior alcalde Juan Jose de Lezica, and Castelli with the procurator, Julián de Leyva, calling for support of the cabildo. They wanted to ask Viceroy to open a cabildo, saying that if not granted, it would be demanded by the population itself. During the Revolution Leyva would act as a mediator for both sides, being both a confident of Cisneros and a trusted negotiator for the moderate revolutionaries
Sunday May 20
Lezica sent Cisneros the request he had received, and he consulted Leyva, who favored the making of an open cabildo. Before deciding, the Viceroy summoned military commanders to come forward at seven o’clock in the evening at the fort.
There was a new meeting at Rodriguez Peña’s home at midnight, where the military leaders explained the events that took place. Castelli and Martín Rodríguez were sent to the Fort for a new interview with Cisneros. The guardians let them pass unannounced, and they found Cisneros playing cards with brigadier Quintana, prosecutor Caspe and aide Coicolea. Castelli and Rodríguez demanded an open cabildo and Cisneros reacted in anger, considering their request an outrage, but Rodriguez interrupted him and forced him to give a definitive answer. After a short private discussion with Caspe, Cisneros reluctantly gave his consent to the creation of the open cabildo. It would be opened on May 22.
On the same night there was a theatre production on the theme of tyranny, called “Rome Saved”, which was attended by many of the revolutionaries. The police chief tried to convince the actor not to appear and, with the excuse of being ill, to replace the work with “Misanthropy and repentance,” by the German poet Kotzebue. Rumors of police censorship spread quickly, so Morante came and performed the work planned, in which he played Cicero. In the fourth act, Morante made a patriotic roman speech, talking about Rome being menaced by the gallus and the need to have a strong leadership to resist the danger. This scene flared the revolutionary spirits, which led to frenzied applause to the work. Juan José Paso stood up and shouted “¡Viva Buenos Aires libre!” (“Long live free Buenos Aires!”), which produced a small fight with other people present.
After the play, the revolutionaries were called once again to Peña’s house. They learned the result of the last meeting, and were unsure if Cisneros really intended to keep his word. As a result, they decided to organize a demonstration for the following day, in order to ensure that the open cabildo was celebrated as decided
Monday May 21
On May 21 invitations were distributed among 450 leading citizens and officials in the capital. The guest list was compiled by the Cabildo, trying to guarantee the result by selecting people that would be likely to support the Viceroy. For this, they prepared a list a guests taking into account the most prominent residents of the city. However, the revolutionaries countered such move by making a similar one on their own: Agustín Donado (French and Beruti colleague), in charge of printing the invitations, printed many more than requested and distributed the surplus among the Criollos. By the night, Castelli, Rodríguez, French and Beruti visited all the barracks to harangue the troops and prepare them for the following day.
Tuesday May 22
According to official acts, of the 450 invited guests at the open cabildo, only about 251 attended. French and Beruti, commanding 600 men armed with knives, shotguns and rifles, controlled access to the square, with the aim of ensuring that the open cabildo had a majority of Criollos.
The meeting lasted from morning to midnight. There were two main positions, those who argued that the situation should remain unchanged, supporting Cisneros in his office of Viceroy, and those who believed they should form a Junta to replace him, as in Spain; and a measured one between both. The promoters of the change did not recognize the authority of the Regency Council, arguing that the colonies in America were not consulted in its formation. The debate also covered, tangentially, the rivalry between Criollos and the peninsular Spanish, as proponents of keeping the Viceroy considered that the will of the Spanish should prevail over that of the Criollos.
In the Open Meeting, after intense discussion, a vote was taken, but given the extent of the sessions that day, and the lateness of the hour, she left her ballot for the next day.
Wednesday May 23
The debate took all day, and the vote counting took place very late in the night. After the presentations, a vote was taken by the continuity of the Viceroy, alone or associated, or dismissal. The voting lasted for a long time, and decided to dismiss the Viceroy by a large majority: 155 votes to 69.
At dawn on May 23 a document was released, stating that the Viceroy should end his mandate. The authority would temporarily fall into the Cabildo, until the designation of a government Junta.[67] After completing the open cabildo, notices were placed at various points throughout the city that reported the creation of the Junta and the call to deputies from the provinces, and called to refrain from attempting actions contrary to public policy.
Thursday May 24
On the 24th the Cabildo, following a proposal by the liquidator Leyva, interpreted the results of the open cabildo and formed the new Junta, which was to be maintained until the arrival of deputies from the rest of the viceroyalty.
The provisional ruling junta which included Cisneros, Creole leader Juan Jose Castelli and commander Cornelio Saavedra was created.
Friday May 25:
The citizens of Buenos Aires did not want former Viceroy Cisneros to continue in any capacity in the new government, so the original junta had to be disbanded. Another junta was created, with Saavedra as president, Dr. Mariano Moreno and Dr. Juan José Paso as secretaries, and committee members Dr. Manuel Alberti, Miguel de Azcuénaga, Dr. Manuel Belgrano, Dr. Juan José Castelli, Domingo Matheu and Juan Larrea, most of whom were creoles and patriots. The junta declared itself rulers of Buenos Aires until such time as Spain was restored. The junta would last until December, 1810, when it was replaced by another one.
No comments:
Post a Comment