The Sociedad Popular Restauradora ( es, Popular Restorer Society) was an Argentine

security agency A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...

that worked for

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...

in the mid-nineteenth century. It is usually equated to the organization called the "Mazorca", which was actually the security and military force working for it. It was created by

Encarnación Ezcurra María de la Encarnación Ezcurra (March 25, 1795 – October 20, 1838) was an Argentine political activist, wife of Juan Manuel de Rosas. She was the daughter of Juan Ignacio Ezcurra and Teodora de Arguibel. She married Juan Manuel de Rosas, Ro ...

, Rosas' wife, during the

Revolution of the Restorers The Revolution of the Restorers ( es, Revolución de los Restauradores) was a rebellion that took place in Buenos Aires in 1833. The governor Juan Ramón Balcarce was ousted from office and replaced by Juan José Viamonte. The rebellion was motiv ...

, and disbanded by Rosas in 1846. It was focused in locating people (mostly Unitarians, but also opposing Federals) involved in conspiracies against Rosas. Modern historical investigations that set apart the executions performed by the Mazorca and executions carried out by other forces loyal to Rosas number those deaths at nearly 20 in 1840 and 20 more in 1842. Although some thought that the word ''Mazorca'' derived from "más horca" (more gallows), the more sinister (and orthographically plausible) belief was that the ''mazorca'' (Spanish for "corncob") referred to their chosen instrument of rectal torture. As explained by General J.T. O'Brien (the Uruguayan Agent in England) for the benefit of the British Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen:

The Masorcas ic or secret affiliation, in support of Rosas's government, derives its name from the inward stalk of the maize, when deprived of its grain, and has been used by members of the clubs as an instrument of torture, of which your Lordship may form some idea when calling to mind the agonizing death of
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
.According to some historical accounts Edward II was murdered by the insertion of a red-hot poker in his anus.

O'Brien, who claimed to have known Rosas for 25 years, added:

My Lord, I know of these tortures being inflicted. At the time that Oribe invaded the Banda Oriental, with the army and the Masorca iccommissioners of Rosas, I was residing on my estate in the country. I was aware of wretches being staked into the ground forty-eight hours before their heads were sawed, not cut, off; – of the lasso being flung over persons' necks, and then drawn by horse at full speed until life became extinct; – of spikes being driven into the mouths of human beings, and they, whilst living, thus nailed to trees.

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* * * {{Commons category, Sociedad Popular Restauradora Juan Manuel de Rosas Defunct law enforcement agencies of Argentina Political repression in Argentina 1833 establishments in Argentina 1842 disestablishments in Argentina

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