José Moldes (January 1, 1785 - April 18, 1824) was an Argentine military leader. He was born in the

Salta Province Salta () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa Province, Formosa, Chaco Province, Chaco, Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Es ...

, and moved to Spain in his infancy. His father was Antonio Moldes y González, from Barro (Barro is a municipality in Galicia,

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 ...

in the province of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

). He served in the Spanish army, and joined lodges in Cádiz opposed to the absolutist monarchy. He left Spain and moved to Buenos Aires, supporting the faction of

Mariano Moreno Mariano Moreno (; September 23, 1778March 4, 1811) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution. Moreno was bor ...

after the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

. He was exiled by the 1811 coup, but returned to the

Assembly of the Year XIII The Assembly of the Year XIII, () also known as the General Constituent and Sovereign Assembly of the Year 1813 (''Asamblea General Constituyente y Soberana del Año 1813''), was a congress of deputies of the United Provinces of the Río de la P ...

. He was proposed in 1816 as a possible

Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata The Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata () was a title given to the executive officers of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata according to the form of government established in 1814 by the ' (Assembly of Year XI ...

by deputies of the

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, ...

, but

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

feared that his strong feud with Buenos Aires may break national unity, and opposed his candidacy.Galasso, pp. 166-167

References

Bibliography

* 1785 births 1824 deaths People of the Argentine War of Independence Argentine people of Galician descent {{Argentina-mil-bio-stub