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TheBolivianslackedmilitarymanpowerinAcre,andthoseBolivianswhowerethere
were functionaries rather than fighting men. The battalions in place were suffering from
beriberi and malaria. But rumors were flying, and Romero had irritated widely. The
Acreanspreparedanuprising.Arevolutionaryjunta,formedbythemembersofthelead-
ingcommercial housesandthelargerestate owners,begantoorganize menandmateriel
and to smuggle arms into the backwaters. Plácido de Castro was placed at their head.
Although he was making his fortune as a surveyor, and although as a gaucho he pre-
ferred a caudillo style of governing, he was taken up in the revolutionary possibilities
and rhetoric of the moment. It certainly helped that several of the estate surveyors, in-
cluding Plácido himself, formeditsstrike force,since theyknewtheterrain, hadtropical
backwoods skills, and had the maps. 35
The Brazilians yearned to attack on Bastille Day as they had when led by Galvão, but
they were not quite ready and so chose August 8, 1902—symbolic in its own way, as it
was the Independence Day of Bolivia. And so on that day, before Bolivian officials had
even gotten up, Plácido and his rebels arrived. “It's a bit early for the party, don't you
think?” quipped the sleepy superintendent. Plácido replied: “It's no party, Commandant,
it'srevolution!” 36 Heandhisrebelstookthecapital,Xapuri,atownwhoserevolutionary
bonafideswouldlastintotheendofthetwentiethcenturyasthecenteroftherubbertap-
pers' movement, the home of labor organizer and environmentalist Chico Mendes and
the site of his assassination. With the capture of Xapuri, Plácido declared the Independ-
ent State of Acre with the usual florid manifesto. This revolution was carried out with
the intention of annexation of the independent republic by Brazil. 37
Figure 9.1. Plácido de Castro (on white horse) and his revolutionaries.
The battles were not yet over, and Pando himself chose to lead battalions down into
the Amazon a few months later, in January 1903. Defeating the guerrillas in the absence
of absolutely overwhelming force could hardly be done in a place as physically com-
plexastheupperAmazon,where,asdaCunhanoted,thosemostformallytrainedwould
be its least capable soldiers. Military men from the Andes found the thousand-kilometer
slogthroughtheOrtonandMadredeDioswatershedsgrueling,andtroopsdeserted(and
died) by the score. As with the Paraguay War and the battles of Canudos, these tropic-
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