Martín de Barúa (d.

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Governorate of the Río de la Plata The Governorate of the Río de la Plata (1549−1776) (, ) was one of the governorates of the Spanish Empire. It was created in 1549 by Spain in the area around the Río de la Plata. It was at first simply a renaming of the New Andalusia Gove ...

, August 18, 1739) was a Spanish soldier and administrator in the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Santa Fe between 1714–1716 and 1717–1722, and as

Governor 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 ...

between 1725–1730. Under his direction as governor, the cities of

Carapeguá Carapeguá (, '' Guaraní: Karapegua'') is a city and ''district'' of the Paraguarí Department, Paraguay, located 84 km from Asunción. It was founded in 1725. Settled by the Caañabé river and over the Route 1 "Mariscal Francisco Solano ...

and

Itauguá Itauguá () is a city of the Central Department, Paraguay. Founded in 1728, it is known for the ñandutí, a form of traditional lacemaking, and its music. The San Rafael Museum shows various objects from the Colonial Age. The National Hospit ...

were founded, on May 14, 1725 and June 27, 1728, respectively.

Biography

Barúa's early life is unclear. In early 1712, he was apparently a Captain and served as a judge in the ''Consejo Supremo de Hacienda'', a tax court. Captain Barúa was appointed by Governor of the Río de la Plata

Alonso de Arce y Soria Alonso de Arce y Soria (1654 - 1714) was a Spanish army's officer and politician, who served during the Viceroyalty of Peru as governor of Buenos Aires. Biography He was born in Cañete, Cuenca, Spain, the son of José de Arce and María Lóp ...

to be Lieutenant Governor of the city

Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (; usually called just Santa Fe, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is situated in north-eastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies f ...

. He was sworn in on September 28, 1714. He served in this role until 1722, although

Juan de Lacoizqueta ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

took it over for a roughly year-long period between 1716–1717. By the order of the Viceroy of Peru,

José de Armendáriz, 1st Marquis of Castelfuerte José de Armendáriz y Perurena, 1st Marquis of Castelfuerte (sometimes ''marqués de Castel-Fuerte'') (? in Ribaforada, Navarre – 1740 in probably in Madrid) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator. From May 14, 1724, to February 4, 17 ...

, Barúa was sent to Paraguay as governor after the troubles with disgraced 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 , ...

that had eventually flared into armed resistance to the Empire.

Bruno Mauricio de Zabala Bruno Mauricio de Zabala y Gortázar (6 October, 1682 – 31 January, 1736) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata from 1717 to 1734 and founded the city of Montevideo, ...

was serving as interim governor after leading an army to intimidate and depose Antequera, but Zabala was Governor of the Río de la Plata (having replaced Acre), a wealthier and more important province than Paraguay. So that Zabala could return to his duties, Barúa was sent to

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 ...

. His term as interim governor would last longer than expected, as two intended replacement governors failed to arrive: the first due to being arrested after beating his wife, and the second died in transit from Europe to South America. As Governor, Barúa pursued a conciliatory policy with Antequera's supporters. The most heated issue in the province was the treatment of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, who ran the nearby

Jesuit reductions The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

. Barúa proved popular with the Paraguayans for defying the Jesuits, similar to Antequera. He only allowed the Jesuits back into their college in Asunción at the direct insistence and order of the Viceroy. Barúa's policy helped keep the peace for 5 years, but did not resolve the fundamental split the province had between the Viceroy's policy and the Paraguayan's desired anti-Jesuit policy. When a replacement governor,

Ignacio de Soroeta Ignacio de Soroeta was a Spanish administrator who was a corregidor in Cuzco and then briefly Governor of Paraguay in 1731. Soroeta's governorship was in name only; he never ruled nor was accepted as governor within colonial Paraguay. Biography ...

, was sent, the province of Paraguay was once more deeply unhappy; the settlers asked for Barúa to stay on as governor. Barúa, knowing that Antequera was rotting away in a jail cell, had no desire to commit treason against the Spanish Crown, and insisted that if he kept the governorship, it would only be to hand it over to Soroeta. He eventually resigned in disgust and left the province. The replacement of Barúa and the rejection of Soroeta would go on to become the beginning of the second phase of the Revolt of the Comuneros of Paraguay.Lopez, p. 107–115.

References

* * Cabildo de Santa Fe en ''"Actas del .."'' (Santa Fe de Vera, Río de la Plata) {{s-end Governors of Paraguay Year of birth unknown 1739 deaths