Arequito revolt facts for kids

The Arequito Revolt (called Motín de Arequito in Spanish) happened on January 8, 1820, in a town called Arequito in Santa Fe Province, Argentina. It was a military rebellion by officers from the Army of the North. These officers refused to keep fighting in the civil war against the federales (people who wanted more power for the provinces). Instead, they wanted to go back to fighting the royalists (people loyal to the Spanish king) in Upper Peru (which is now Bolivia). However, they couldn't achieve this goal. This revolt was a big step towards the end of the Supreme Directorship (the central government of Argentina at the time). It also helped cause the central government's defeat at the Battle of Cepeda.

Why Provinces Wanted More Power

After the May Revolution, Argentina's governments tried to rule all the provinces that used to be part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. They believed that since the king was no longer in charge, the power went back to the people. However, the city of Buenos Aires often wanted to control the whole country with very little input from other cities.

The cities in the interior of the country wanted to have an equal say in the national government. They also wanted to choose their own local leaders. For many years, the governments in Buenos Aires did the opposite. They appointed all the governors themselves. Also, Buenos Aires always had more representatives than other areas in the meetings that followed.

Sometimes, governments in Buenos Aires were overthrown by sudden changes of power (called coups d'état). The new national leaders were always chosen by the local council (called the cabildo) of Buenos Aires.

The provinces eventually reacted to Buenos Aires's control. The first strong response came from the Banda Oriental (now Uruguay). There, a powerful leader named José Artigas said that Buenos Aires had no right to govern his province. By 1815, after more than a year of civil war, he fully controlled his province.

Other nearby provinces followed Artigas's example. This started with Entre Ríos, where several leaders removed the governors put in place by the central government. Francisco Ramírez became the main leader there. Soon after, Corrientes Province also stopped obeying the central government.

The disagreements spread to Santa Fe Province. They rebelled against Buenos Aires's control in 1815 and again in 1816. Mariano Vera led them first, and then Estanislao López took over. The central government strongly disagreed with their separation. This was because Santa Fe was an important route to communicate with the rest of the country. Buenos Aires sent five military groups to stop Santa Fe's resistance, but none of them succeeded.

The northern provinces also started to govern themselves. Salta set up its own government under General Güemes. The Province of Cuyo refused to let their governor, José de San Martín, be replaced. And Córdoba chose its own governor, José Javier Díaz, who supported Artigas.

The Army of the North and the Civil War

The Army of the North was originally created to fight for Argentina's independence against the Spanish Empire in Upper Peru. But after a big defeat at the Battle of Sipe-Sipe, the army became weak. Its main base was in Tucumán. Its job was to wait for the right time to restart the fight to take back the provinces in Upper Peru.

However, the central government, called the Directorio, decided to use this army to stop rebellions inside the country in 1816. A part of the army helped put the governor of La Rioja Province back in power. Early the next year, they did the same for the governor of Santiago del Estero Province. Later, another part of the army helped remove the governor of Córdoba Province and support his replacement.

In 1818, the Director Pueyrredón decided to attack Santa Fe Province from two sides. One army would attack from the south. A division of the Army of the North would attack from the west. But Estanislao López reacted quickly and stopped the attack. López even captured the commander of the western group from Córdoba, Juan Bautista Bustos. López then managed to stop the attack from the south. Another similar attempt by the central government was also stopped in 1819.

Most of the Army of the North was stationed in Córdoba. Many soldiers were annoyed because they were far from the Spanish royalist enemies. In April, a peace agreement between Buenos Aires and Santa Fe gave hope that the internal fights would end. The officers believed they would finally go back to the northern front.

The agreement brought peace between Buenos Aires and Santa Fe. But Artigas, who saw himself as López's leader, and the Directorio were not happy. Artigas wanted the national government to unite against the Portuguese. The Portuguese had invaded his province from Brazil. The new Supreme Director, José Rondeau, wanted to defeat Santa Fe with help from the Portuguese. He asked the Army of the Andes for help, but its commander, San Martín, refused. Rondeau also ordered the commander of the Army of the North, Manuel Belgrano, to march south.

Following Artigas's orders, Ramírez crossed the Paraná River and entered the north of Buenos Aires Province, but then retreated. Rondeau gathered his army in the capital and marched to face the threat. The Army of the North then entered Santa Fe Province.

The Revolt Begins

On January 8, 1820, when the Army of the North reached Arequito, General Bustos led a military rebellion. He was supported by Colonels Alejandro Heredia and José María Paz. In the middle of the night, they arrested Colonels Cornelio Zelaya and Manuel Guillermo Pinto. They then went a short distance from Fernández de la Cruz's camp and decided to talk with him.

They told Fernández de la Cruz that they refused to continue fighting in the civil war. They wanted to return to the northern front to fight against the Spanish royalists instead. They clearly stated that they were neutral in the fight between the Federalists and the Directorio. This was to avoid being accused of helping the enemy. At this time, Bustos had about 1,600 men, and Fernández de la Cruz had slightly fewer than 1,400.

Bustos demanded to receive half of their weapons, ammunition, and cattle. Cruz seemed to agree at first. However, at noon, he started marching south even though the promised supplies had not been given.

Bustos ordered Heredia to chase his former commander. This happened when Cruz was already surrounded by López's federalist troops. They were deep inside Santa Fe Province, which was a federalist stronghold. Seeing that he couldn't go forward, Fernández de la Cruz decided to give his army to Bustos. He returned to Buenos Aires almost alone, with only a few loyal officers like Lamadrid following him.

The next day, Bustos started his journey back to Córdoba. On January 12, he reached Esquina, at Córdoba's border. From there, he wrote to López and Rondeau to explain what had happened. He also shared his plans to return to the fight in the north. In one of his letters, he clearly stated:

"The weapons of the motherland, distracted from their main objective, as they were not used but to spill the blood of their citizens, the same ones from which sweat and labor insured their subsistence."

After the Arequito Revolt

After meeting with López's messengers at La Herradura, near the Tercero River, Bustos moved his army into Córdoba Province. He was welcomed there as a hero. The governor, Manuel Antonio Castro, had recently resigned. A new temporary governor, José Javier Díaz, who was a leader of the local Federalists, was chosen. An assembly in Córdoba declared:

"as a free and sovereign province (Córdoba) does not know dependency nor owes subordination to another; and sees as one of its principal obligations the fraternity and union with all and the most close friendship with the provinces, while all united in a General Congress abide by the treaties for a true federation in peace and in war, which aspires to the conformity of all the others. Which will respond with all its efforts and what depended on its resources to fight the enemies of common freedom, even when the federation had not yet been organized in the provinces...."

This statement showed the same feelings that Bustos and the other soldiers in the Arequito rebellion had. They wanted provinces to have more freedom and to unite as a federation.

Meanwhile, Rondeau faced Ramírez and López with his own forces at the Battle of Cepeda. He was completely defeated. Just a week later, he resigned, and the Congress of Tucumán was dissolved. There would not be a new Supreme Director. Because of pressure from López and Ramírez, Buenos Aires chose a provincial governor. This governor signed the Treaty of Pilar with the Federalists.

While in Córdoba, Bustos learned that the Directorship had ended. He then started a plan to reorganize the country. This delayed the Army of the North's return to the northern border. At the same time, temporary Governor Díaz announced that he was thinking of joining the Littoral leaders (from Santa Fé, Entre Ríos, and Corrientes Provinces) in their fight against Buenos Aires. This meant signing an alliance with José Gervasio Artigas, Ramírez, or López.

This was not Bustos's goal, so he strongly opposed Díaz's plans. He looked for allies and found the Federalists of Juan Pablo Bulnes, who were not close to Díaz's group. He also gained support from various local politicians and important business people. With their help, Bustos was elected governor on March 19.

Bustos then focused on governing and organizing the province. He also helped mediate between López and the Buenos Aires Province government, who were still fighting. He sent Colonel Heredia with some of the army to the northern provinces. This was an advance group for the promised march to restart the war with the royalists. Sadly, Heredia did not get to fight the Spanish. His forces were used by Martín Miguel de Güemes in a rebellion against the governor of Tucumán.

The remaining forces of the Army of the North were used to defend Córdoba Province. They fought against native tribes from the Pampas and Chaco regions. The following year, they also helped repel a combined attack by Francisco Ramírez and José Miguel Carrera.

Why the Revolt Was Important

Early historians often wrote about the Arequito Revolt in a negative way. Some called it a betrayal or just a secret plan to make Bustos governor of Córdoba. Historians in the late 1800s, like Bartolomé Mitre and Vicente Fidel López, also criticized it. For a long time, no one defended Bustos and his followers. Since the federalist side lost the civil wars, this negative view continued.

Many years later, a new group of historians in Argentina started to see the Arequito Revolt differently. Historians from Córdoba also valued their first independent governors, who had supported or been part of these events. By the mid-1900s, with new ways of looking at history, and with great respect for San Martín (who also refused to fight in the civil war), the Arequito Revolt was seen as a very important step in forming modern Argentina.

The rebellion of the Army of the North allowed the provinces to finally have their say over the central government in Buenos Aires. It led to the disappearance of the very centralist (and almost king-like) constitution of 1819. It also allowed Buenos Aires Province to have its own independent government. This event helped make the rights of all people more equal. It also opened the way for provinces to have more equal relationships with each other. This path was difficult, and it took another 50 years of civil wars in Argentina.

If the Army of the North had continued its march north, the war between Buenos Aires and the federalists from the Littoral provinces might have lasted much longer. This would have made it harder for Argentina to become the modern federal nation it is today.

See also

In Spanish: Motín de Arequito para niños