Pedro de Melo de Portugal y Vilhena (29 April 1733 in

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populati ...

– 15 April 1797 in

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 ...

) was a Spanish soldier and politician, who served as viceroy in the Rio de la Plata. Coat of Arms of Pedro Melo de Portugal 2

Biography

He was a member of the Melo de Portugal family, a minor branch of the Portuguese

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Am ...

. Pedro de Melo served in many military roles in Spain before moving to South America in 1770. He was designated as governor when the

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 ...

was created. He was member of the Real Audiencia and worked for the creation in 1794 of a Royal Counsel with viceroy

Nicolás Antonio de Arredondo Nicolás Antonio de Arredondo, Pelegrin, Ahedo Zorilla de San Martin y Venero (17 April 1726 – 4 April 1802) was a Spanish soldier and politician born in the village of Bárcena de Cicero on Spain's Atlantic Coast. He was the fourth viceroy ...

. He was designated viceroy after the resignation of Arredondo, on 16 March 1795. He kept the main policies of previous viceroys: improve the streets of Buenos Aires, or fortified defenses for Montevideo, but he had to face Portuguese incursions on the Banda Oriental. He created laws to deal with the shortage of bread, improved the viceroyal residence, and received ships from the Pacific Ocean. Pedro de Melo was interested in expanding the colonization towards the coastline of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, ordering

Félix de Azara Félix Manuel de Azara y Perera (18 May 1746 – 20 October 1821) was a Spanish military officer, naturalist, and engineer. Life Félix de Azara was born on 18 May 1746 in Barbunales, Aragon. He joined the army and attended a Spanish military ...

to design plans for that purpose. However, Pedro de Melo died before being able to futfill them. Pedro de Melo died on 15 April 1797, still being viceroy. The Real Audiencia took power for a brief period, to prevent a power vacuum in the meantime that the news arrived to Spain and a new viceroy was designated. Antonio Olaguer Feliú arrived shortly after.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melo de Portugal, Pedro 1734 births 1797 deaths Knights of Santiago Viceroys of the Río de la Plata Governors of Paraguay Spanish generals