Diego de los Reyes y Balmaseda ( 1690–1733) was the Governor of Paraguay from February 5, 1717 to August 20, 1721. His governorship was deeply unpopular with the inhabitants of

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, and an investigation by judge

José de Antequera y Castro José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

of the

Real Audiencia of Charcas The Real Audiencia of Charcas () was a Spanish '' audiencia'' with its seat in what is today Bolivia. It was established in 1559 in Ciudad de la Plata de Nuevo Toledo (later Charcas, modern-day Sucre) and had jurisdiction over the Governorate o ...

concluded that Reyes had abused his office, and he was deposed. Antequera took the governorship of Paraguay upon himself afterward, the beginning of the

Revolt of the Comuneros The Revolt of the Comuneros (, "War of the Communities of Castile") was an uprising by citizens of Crown of Castile, Castile against the rule of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its hei ...

. Reyes never recovered his governorship, and was eventually exiled from the province after a year-long imprisonment.

Biography

Diego de los Reyes y Balmaseda was born in

El Puerto de Santa María El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, but moved when he was very young to

in the

Governorate of Paraguay The Governorate of Paraguay (), originally called the Governorate of Guayrá, was a governorate of the Spanish Empire and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its seat was the city of Asunción; its territory roughly encompassed the modern day cou ...

, where he resided for the majority of his life. Reyes became a wealthy merchant who exported

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba maté (), ''Ilex paraguariensis'', is a plant species of the holly genus native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot water to make a bev ...

from Paraguay and imported manufactured goods back to Paraguay. He married Francisca Benitez, another inhabitant of Asunción. In 1717, he purchased the vacant governorship; purchase of office was a practice that had spread throughout the Spanish Empire at the time, although Reyes was considered qualified regardless. However, Reyes proved an unpopular governor. He acquired a reputation for enriching himself using the powers of his office to control trade. He also was seen as too friendly to the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s, who were quite unpopular themselves in Paraguay. Two of his wife's uncles were members of the Jesuit order, and several of his most important advisers were Jesuits. Reyes' Jesuit advisors instigated him to order an attack on the

Payaguá The Payaguá people, also called Evueví and Evebe, were an ethnic group of the Guaycuru peoples in the Northern Chaco of Paraguay. The Payaguá were a river tribe, living, hunting, fishing, and raiding on the Paraguay River. The name ''Pa ...

Indians of the Chaco despite a tenuous truce established three years earlier in 1717; all of the captured Payaguás were remitted to the Jesuits for conversion to Christianity and mission life. The settlers received no captives to be enslaved in the

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

system, although it had been the settler militia that risked their lives fighting the Payaguás and colonial trade and outlying farms would now be threatened by retaliatory Payaguá raids. Reyes also acquired a reputation for enriching himself using the powers of his office to control trade. Reyes also taxed important members of the Paraguayan elite to fund the construction of defensive fortifications. In a bid to keep his position, Reyes accused his chief antagonists of treason and had them imprisoned. Important members of the cabildo (town council) of Asunción complained to the

in 1720, accusing Reyes both of imprisoning the cabildo members without good cause, as well as general unlawful conduct as governor. The Audiencia of Charcas sent judge

to investigate of Reyes. The charges given were as expected: the unlawful war against the Payaguás, accusations of corruption with his wife's continuing trade, establishing new taxes without authority, impeding the trade of those merchants who opposed him, and attempting to stop complaints about his rule from reaching the Audencia. Antequera, interviewing only the witnesses for the plaintiff first, found the charges so compelling he shortly demanded Reyes removed from office without even hearing Reyes' witnesses. Antequera eventually convicted Reyes of the crimes, and claimed the governorship of Paraguay for himself, a bit of self-dealing that enraged Reyes and his supporters. Reyes fled Asunción before he could be arrested, and continued to plead his case. The Viceroy of Peru found that Antequera's proceedings had been illegal due to his ability to both try the governor and succeed him, and merchant supporters of Antequera had their goods impounded at Reyes' behest downriver of Asunción in

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragui, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

. Annoyed at this, Antequera sent men to Corrientes, where they kidnapped Reyes and brought him back to Asunción, where he was kept nearly in solitary confinement for more than a year. Reyes was only released after Antequera was deposed as governor, but not wishing to incite the Paraguayans to revolt, he was quietly told by the Spanish government to move somewhere else. Little is known as to what happened to Reyes afterward; he moved to

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

and in 1733, the Viceroy, the Marquis of Castelfuerte, issued an official document absolving him of all the accusations made against him during the Revolt of the Comuneros and by Antequera. Reyes never returned to Asunción; aside from this, his time and place of death are unknown. However, his son Don Carlos de los Reyes Balmaseda did return to Asunción, and became a member of its cabildo in 1740.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes y Balmaseda, Diego de los Governors of Paraguay People from El Puerto de Santa María Paraguayan people of Spanish descent 17th-century births 18th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown