Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tion of the viceroyalty - revolutionary national-
ists vs. royalists;
criollos
vs.
peninsulares
; and
unitarios
(supporters of a strong central gov-
ernment in Buenos Aires) vs.
federales
(sup-
porters of a loose confederation of autonomous
provinces). Political
juntas
came and went until
July 9, 1816 when the Congress of San Miguel
de Tucumán declared Argentina's independ-
ence from Spain. Two months earlier, Juan
Martín de Pueyrredón had been appointed
Supreme Dictator of the United Provinces of
the Río de la Plata.
Although not a nation at peace with itself,
Argentina did take the lead in freeing other
parts of the continent from Spanish rule. Led by
General José de San Martín
(
El Libertador
-
The Liberator), the Argentine Army crossed the
Andes and joined the Chilean army under
Bernardo O'Higgins to defeat the Spanish in
February 1817; and then braved the 1,500-mile
trip to Lima to free Peru in 1822. San Martín
also inspired his northern counterpart, the
Venezuelan
Simón Bolívar
who helped free
Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.
After years of continued conflict between the
federales
and the
unitarios
,
Bernardino
Rivadavia
was elected the first president of
the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in
February,1826 by the constituent congress in
Buenos Aires. Rivadavia, with the backing of
the unitarians, proposed that Buenos Aires be
designated the federal capital of the United
Provinces. A Unitarian Constitution was
