The Treaty of Pilar (in Spanish, ''Tratado del Pilar'') was a pact signed among the rulers of the Argentine provinces of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and

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 ...

, which is recognized as the foundation of the federal organization of the country. It was signed in the city of Pilar, Buenos Aires on 23 February 1820 by governor Estanislao López for Santa Fe, ''caudillo'' Francisco Ramírez for Entre Ríos, and provisional governor Manuel de Sarratea for Buenos Aires, after the dissolution of the national government caused by the Battle of Cepeda. A reference to it was included in the Preamble of the Argentine Constitution of 1853 as one of the "pre-existing pacts" fulfilled by it. TratadoPilar1

The treaty established national unity, the end of hostilities between the provinces, the withdrawal of military forces from Buenos Aires, a general amnesty for politically persecuted people, and the free navigability of the rivers Paraná and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

by the signatories. It also called for deputies sent by them to be gathered in a congress in San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, 60 days afterwards, to decide on a federalist form of government. It noticeably excluded

José Gervasio Artigas José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood. Born in Montevideo, Artigas enlisted in the Spanish ...

, former leader of the federalist Free Peoples' League, who had recently been defeated in the Battle of Tacuarembó ( Eastern Bank, present-day

) by the Brazilian-Portuguese Empire. Artigas, who had been fighting along Santa Fe and Entre Ríos against the centralist government in Buenos Aires, denounced the pact as a treason on the part of his allies. López wrote back to him explaining that the treaty was for the common good, and wondering whether Artigas was aware of the situation in the provinces. The Treaty of Pilar was soon followed by the Treaty of Benegas, for the mutual defense of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires against the expansionist Entre Ríos and, two years later, by the Quadrilateral Treaty (including Pilar's signatories, plus Corrientes Province).

References

* ''Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina.'
''Las relaciones de Santa Fe con Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos y la Banda Oriental''
{{Argentine Civil War Argentine Civil War 1820 in Argentina Treaties between Argentine provinces 1820 treaties February 1820