Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
were expected to do the same. The resulting official South American
trade route was inefficient, indirect, illogical, expensive, and laden with
corruption—and it lasted for 200 years.
Illegal Trade at Buenos Aires
The humble village of Buenos Aires would never have developed into
Spain's greatest port in South America if it had depended on Spanish
policy. The fleet system did not work as effectively as royal officials
had hoped; scarcity and high prices led to smuggling in many areas.
There began early in the 17th century a common complaint that was to
endure the entire colonial period: Río de la Plata merchants and cattle-
men should be allowed free and direct trade to Spain and Europe.
Royal authorities responded grudgingly by permitting only a small
number of ships into the harbor at Buenos Aires. Eventually they gave
licenses to trade between Argentina and Brazil—but not in silver bul-
lion. Foreign vessels could only put into the estuary of the Río de la
Plata for repair, not for trade. Later, the Crown permitted the import of
African slaves to Buenos Aires, again under costly official licenses. Each
small concession led to abuses of fantastic proportions. In the end,
Spanish officials were powerless to stop contraband, and containment
of smuggling proved impossible. Underpaid local Spanish officials,
therefore, chose the sensible alternative: They, too, engaged in illegal
commerce.
Porteño
governors (
porteño,
from “port,” was the term resi-
dents of Buenos Aires used for themselves) freely granted permission to
foreign and unlicensed ships to put in at Buenos Aires and also bought
and sold merchandise, using their political positions to avoid the usual
customs charges. Participation in contraband commerce reached all lev-
els among the well-to-do. Local merchants short-manifested their car-
goes and paid customs agents to look the other way. The Jesuit college
at Buenos Aires was said to have been one of the largest clearinghouses
for the illegal export of silver specie.
From almost the beginning, foreigners have played an important role
in the commercial development of Buenos Aires. The Portuguese were
the first, and their favored commerce was in African slaves. That the
Spanish royal court extended the slave trade monopoly to a Portuguese
merchant house only encouraged illegal trade. The slave license autho-
rized the Portuguese to exchange slaves for local Spanish American
products—such as hides, (poor-quality) wine, and wheat—but not for
silver bullion. Yet, silver smuggling consumed much of the Portuguese
