Mariano Vera ( Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz,

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called " Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, i ...

c. 1780 – Cayastá, Santa Fe, Argentine Confederation 26 March 1840) was a ''

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

'' and governor of the

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, between 12 April 1816 and 23 July 1818, all during a period of change driven by revolution and civil war in this portion of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. Vera was a supporter of federalism, against the idea of a centralized government. After the proclamation of the first national government junta, in 1810, Santa Fe was ruled by lieutenant governors sent from the capital

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, which did not sit well with many local citizens and worked to increase the influence of the federalist leader

José Gervasio Artigas José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a political leader, military general, statesman and national hero of Uruguay and the broader Río de la Plata region. He fought in the Latin American wars of in ...

, based on the Eastern Bank (today's

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

). The Supreme Directorship invaded Santa Fe in March 1815; the next month Artigas liberated it and set up as governor. Candioti was in turn ousted and replaced by the centralist . Vera and other political leaders, notably

Estanislao López Estanislao López (26 November 1786 – 15 June 1838) was a ''caudillo'' and governor of the , between 1818 and 1838, one of the foremost proponents of provincial federalism, and an associate of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civ ...

, gathered the support of Candioti's followers, and rebelled in March 1816, helped by Artigas's troops coming via

Paraná, Entre Ríos Paraná () is the capital city of the Argentine province Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province. The city has a population of 247,863 (). Hist ...

. Buenos Aires's occupation forces under

Juan José Viamonte Juan José Viamonte González (February 9, 1774 – March 31, 1843) was an Argentine general in the early 19th century. Life and Politics Viamonte was born in Buenos Aires and entered the army in his youth following in his father's footstep ...

were defeated, and Mariano Vera was elected governor of Santa Fe. Soon afterwards, the governments of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires signed treaties by which Buenos Aires acknowledged Santa Fe as a "free and independent" entity until a national constitution was drawn by the upcoming

Congress of Tucumán The Congress of Tucumán was the representative assembly, initially meeting in San Miguel de Tucumán, that declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America (modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, part of Bolivia) on July 9, 1816, fro ...

. Santa Fe would send a deputy to the Congress, and the economically essential roads passing through Santa Fe towards

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and

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would not be closed to traffic. Governor Vera thus adopted a pragmatic equilibrium stance between Artigas and Buenos Aires, prioritizing the interests of the province rather than ideological concerns. Santa Fe, an agricultural region beside the Paraná River, needed to have access to the port of Buenos Aires and at the same time could not allow Buenos Aires to centralize power, which would make its port the only one allowed to function (as it happened decades later, during the rule of Juan Manuel de Rosas). However, the government of Buenos Aires delayed the ratification of the treaties, and started a campaign to retake power in Santa Fe, first through a failed military operation in August 1816, and then giving support to Vera's political enemies and to uprisings in Santa Fe and other provinces. Vera turned decidedly to support the cause of Artigas, sending troops, guns and supplies to the

Eastern Bank Eastern Bank is a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts. Before de-mutualizing in 2020, it was the oldest and largest mutual bank in the United States and the largest community bank in Massachusetts. With 95 branches, Eastern had a 3.2% market sh ...

(modern-day

). The hostilities continued. In March 1818 Buenos Aires sent new military missions to Santa Fe and Entre Ríos. Governor Vera, weakened, was eventually ousted by his former ally

, who would prevail over the centralist army and rule the province for twenty years.

Sources

''In Spanish unless otherwise noted.'' * Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina
El caso de Santa Fe
etc. * País Global

{{Authority control Vera, Mariano