Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But as the economy of the Río de la Plata region became more
complex, the Jesuit empire made more enemies. Penurious colonial
officials at Asunción envied the order's exemptions from taxes, small
merchants disliked its commercial advantages, and modest ranchers
resented its control of Indian workers. The Jesuits were on guard to
avoid antagonizing competitors with “unfair” trade practices; nonethe-
less, local political opposition grew, and in 1721, the so-called Revolt
of the Comuneros, or “townspeople,” broke out in Asunción against
the Spanish governor who was perceived as being in the pocket of the
Jesuits. The revolt was led by modest mestizo ranchers, farmers, and
merchants, who rose up against the governor. The governor was killed
and his place taken by locally born citizens. Indeed, on this occasion,
the poorest elements among the mestizo farmers seemed to participate
in local politics with such relish that even the local elite had second
thoughts. Not until 15 years later, in 1735, did crown officials reestab-
lish authority in Asunción.
The
comuneros
were not Guaraní. The Indians' loyalties remained
with the Jesuits, their paternalistic benefactors; in fact, armed Guaraní
from the missions helped reestablish Spanish authority at Asunción,
no doubt adding to the humiliation of the Paraguayan mestizos.
Subsequently, mission Indians helped build fortifications at Montevideo
(in Uruguay) and Buenos Aires, and the Guaraní militias fought in
1742 to drive the Portuguese out of Colônia do Sacramento, a port the
latter had established on the estuary of the Río de la Plata.
Despite Guaraní loyalty to the Crown, the 30,000 Indians who
inhabited the seven mission towns east of the Uruguay River became
angry when their own Jesuit superiors ordered them to retreat to
Paraguay. Spain and Portugal had signed the Treaty of Madrid in 1750.
It recognized Portugal's claim to Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina
in exchange for its renunciation of all designs on Uruguay. The Guaraní
affirmed their loyalty to the Catholic Church and to the Spanish king
but rebelled against their own priests. The Guaraní rebellion lasted
from 1754 to 1756. Indian caciques ordered the wagons burned and
shot arrows at Spaniards who attempted to move them from the towns.
They turned their religious fervor against the very Spanish authorities
who had forced Catholicism on them in the first place. The Guaraní
claimed that God had given them the land and refused to believe that
their beloved Christian king would make them abandon their churches
to the godless Brazilians. “If the Portuguese want our towns and our
lands,” they told their priests, “then they will pay for them with their
blood” (Ganson 1994, 235).
